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Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul tragically took his own life last year after struggling with depression for a short period.

First-time director Bendjelloul won an Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2013 for Searching for Sugarman, which told the story of a musician who became famous without knowing it.

Searching for Sugar Man won various other awards, including best documentary prizes from Britain's Bafta and the Directors Guild of America, two world cinema prizes at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and a string of prizes from the Guldbagge Awards in Sweden.

Bendjelloul was honoured as one of the great stars when Hollywood at Sunday night's Academy Awards remembered actors and film makers who have passed away in the past year.

His portrait, displayed on the big screens of Dolby Theatre, was joined by Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, who passed away at the age of 83 this January. She rose to stardom when she famously bathed in the Fontana di Trevi in Rome in Federico Fellini's movie La Dolce Vita.

Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in 1960s film La Dolce Vita. Photo: SCANPIX

It was a night of glamour and glitz as the Hollywood elite hit the red carpets on Sunday night. Big winners included Alejandro González Iñárritu who took home four top awards for Birdman, a satire about an ageing movie star's attempt to reinvent himself as a Broadway actor, including best picture and best director.

Meanwhile, Eddie Redmayne's performance as famous physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything secured him a nod for best actor, with Julianne Moore taking home her award for best actress for her role in Still Alice.