A Polish film about a nun who discovers she is Jewish and that her parents were killed in the Holocaust has won the Oscar for best foreign language film.

Ida, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski, tells the story of Anna, a young nun who finds out she is Jewish just before taking her vows in the 1960s.

It started its winning streak in 2013 when it won best film award at the London film festival, before taking home the Bafta for best foreign film two weeks ago.

Accepting the Oscar at the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night, Mr Pawlikowski said: “We make a film about silence and withdrawing from the world and the need for contemplation – and here we are, at the epicentre of world noise and attention. Fantastic. Life is full of surprises.”

Despite its critical acclaim, the film has not escaped controversy. When it was released in 2013, It was targeted by the Polish Anti-Defamation League, who called it anti-Polish. Mr Pawlikowski described their complaints at the time as “a stream of hate in the Polish media from the right”.