This is representation put resplendently into action, a sign that real change is coming to the film industry. This, only two years after a damning study was released that revealed that only 16% of all female characters in film and television were black, with 7% latina and 7% Asian.

Not so in 2018. 11 of the highest grossing movies were led by women of colour, from Crazy Rich Asians to A Wrinkle In Time. And they made money too: according to new research, films with casts comprised of minority ethnicities received the highest median global box office sales, and they also made the biggest return on investment.

Women of colour belong onscreen, and women of colour belong behind the cameras too, as directors and editors and cinematographers and composers and sound mixers and VFX supervisors and production and costume designers. The wins across the board at the Oscars by women of colour both in front of and behind-the-scenes were a reminder of how much better Hollywood looks when it has diverse voices pushing it forward.

“We won’t have to wait for another first, we have the first,” Black Panther’s Carter said backstage, while celebrating her win. “We’ve opened up the door. Finally, the door is wide open.”

Academy Awards 2019: this was a truly spectacular night for women of colour