OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Screenplay by Tracy Letts; Based on August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, August: Osage County

Screenplay by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke: Based on Before Sunrise (1995) written by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan, Before Midnight

Screenplay by Destin Cretton; Based on the 2008 short film by Destin Cretton, Short Term 12

Screenplay by John Ridley; Based on Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave

Screenplay by Terence Winter; Based on The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street

AND THE WINNER IS:

SCREENPLAY BY JOHN RIDLEY; BASED ON TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE BY SOLOMON NORTHUP, 12 YEARS A SLAVE

This is the first win and nomination for John Ridley.

Adapted by John Ridley from the book of the same name by Solomon Northup, Ridley was able to take this terrifying story of this ordeal of slavery and make this long history fit into the nearly two and half hour film. The dialogue never tries to modernise the language of the time but takes from the language used during the time to great success. The script of the movie works on another level as the life of this man is told so well and while the film mainly tells the story of a working slave I do love how in smaller details the film shows more types of slavery such as the sex slavery and the different types of slave owners with minor differences which all work together to create the best adapted screenplay of the year.