Taika Waititi credited his mother with his success at the Academy Awards yesterday. 

The 44-year-old filmmaker took home the award for best adapted screenplay for his Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit."

The film is based on the book 'Caging Skies' by Christine Leunens, which was given to Waititi by his mother, Robin Cohen.

During his speech, he thanked her for giving him the book and for getting him to read. 

She was at the Dolby Theatre with her son last night, and told Heather du Plessis-Allan that she is still feeling the highs from his victory. 

"People were saying to me 'maybe he'll get an Oscar', and I was saying 'oh, let's see', and very Kiwi, let's just keep it on the lowdown.

"But when it did happen, I just burst. I threw up my hands and cheered. I didn't expect to be that amazed." 

Cohen says that Waititi has not come down yet and is still happy. 

"Taika's almost never lost for words, but we finally saw him in a situation where he was choking."

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