In a year which has seen arguably one of the greatest showcases of cinematic achievements, there are several performances that have stood among the rest, and two of those are from a couple of Hollywood's newest rising stars.

Even though there were five nominees for the honor, all eyes were on two actresses, Jennifer Lawrence and the fairly unknown Lupita Nyong'o.

Lupita Nyong'o
Nyong'o won her first Oscar

Nyong'o, who astonishingly received the nod after only appearing in her first ever film, was the winner, and eanred her first Academy-Award.

The clearly shocked recipient firstly said, "It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's."

She then praised the director, Steve McQueen, and addressed him by saying "you charge everything you fashion with the breath of your own spirit, thank you so much for putting me in this position, this has been the joy of my life." Nyong'o also turned to her co-star Chiwetel Ejifor, and thanked him "for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into telling Solomon's story."

She concluded with, "No matter where you're from your dreams are valid."

Watch the trailer for '12 Years A Slave' here

The Kenyan actress played an African American slave in Steve McQueen's extremely raw, yet powerful historical-drama '12 Years A Slave.'

The film depicts the 'real-life' story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Northup), who was kidnapped and forced into slavery, where he went from being a freeman living in New York, to a plantation slave in New Orleans between 1841 and 1853. The 30 year-old portrayed 'Patsy', a young female worker who picked 500 pounds of cotton every day, and is praised by her slave owner 'Epps' (Michael Fassbender), who also repeatedly rapes her. This angers Epp's wife and in jealous rages', she violently abuses 'Patsy'.

Lupita received critical acclaim for this role and she has already earned prizes from the Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.