Los Angeles, Feb 25 : Ben Affleck's thriller Argo won the best film at the 85th Academy Awards on Saturday.

It was a night of redemption for Affleck, as the producer-director-star of `Argo' was a surprise omission in the director's category when the Oscar nominations were announced in January, the LA Times reported.

The movie about a plot to rescue Americans in Tehran during the Iranian revolution has won nearly every major honour this awards season, including the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the Producers Guild Award and the Directors Guild Award.

As he lifted the statuette, Affleck said that he had never thought that he would be back here receiving the award.

The 40-year-old actor has previously won an Oscar 15 years ago with Matt Damon for original screenplay category for `Good Will Hunting,' but since then he has seen several career lows, including the ill-fated `Gigli,' which he made with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez.

`Argo' won three Oscars, including adapted screenplay for Chris Terrio and film editing for William Goldenberg. It's only the fourth time that a movie has won best picture without its director being nominated for the Oscar.

The win also made Oscar history, as it was presented by First Lady Michelle Obama via satellite from the White House.

The Oscar winners are:

1. Best Motion Picture - `Argo'
2. Achievement in Directing - Ang Lee, `Life of Pi'
3. Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Daniel Day-Lewis, `Lincoln'
4. Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Jennifer Lawrence, `Silver Linings Playbook'
5. Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Christoph Waltz, `Django Unchained'
6. Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Anne Hathaway, `Les Miserables'
7. Best Animated Feature Film - `Brave'
8. Original Screenplay - `Django Unchained,' Quentin Tarantino
9. Adapted Screenplay - `Argo,' Chris Terrio
10. Best Foreign-Language Film - `Amour' (Austria)
11. Original Score - `Life of Pi,' Mychael Danna
12. Original Song - `Skyfall,' Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
13. Achievement in Production Direction - Lincoln
14. Achievement in Cinematography - `Life of Pi,' Claudio Miranda
15. Achievement in Costume Design - `Anna Karenina,' Jacqueline Durran
16. Best Documentary Feature - `Searching for a Sugar Man'
17. Best Documentary Short Subject - `Inocente'
18. Achievement in Film Editing - `Argo'
19. Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling - Les Miserables
20. Best Animated Short Film - `Paperman'
21. Best Live-Action Short Film - `Curfew'
22. Achievement in Sound Editing - `Skyfall'
23. Achievement in Sound Mixing - Les Miserables
24. Achievement in Visual Effects - `Life of Pi' (ANI)