Oscars Wiki
Register
Advertisement
81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards poster
 
Date February 22, 2010
Site Kodak Theatre
Hollywood, California
Host Hugh Jackman
Highlights
Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire
Most wins Slumdog Millionaire (8)
Most nominations The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (13)
 < 80th Academy Awards 82nd

The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was televised in the United States on ABC. Actor Hugh Jackman hosted the show.

Best Picture

See also: Best Picture

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireChristian Colson
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonKathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Cean Chaffin
Frost/NixonBrian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
MilkDan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
The ReaderAnthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris[1]

Best Actor

See also: Best Actor

Winner
Sean Penn for Milk
Nominees
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

Best Actress

See also: Best Actress

Winner
Kate Winslet for The Reader
Nominees
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie for Changeling
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Meryl Streep for Doubt

Best Supporting Actor

See also: Best Supporting Actor

Winner
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight[2]
Nominees
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. for Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress

See also: Best Supporting Actress

Winner
Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Nominees
Amy Adams for Doubt
Viola Davis for Doubt
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

Best Director

See also: Best Director

Winner
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Nominees
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant for Milk

Best Original Screenplay

See also: Best Original Screenplay

Winner
MilkDustin Lance Black
Nominees
Frozen RiverCourtney Hunt
Happy-Go-LuckyMike Leigh
In BrugesMartin McDonagh
WALL·EAndrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay

See also: Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireSimon Beaufoy
Nominees
DoubtJohn Patrick Shanley
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonEric Roth, Robin Swicord
Frost/NixonPeter Morgan
The ReaderDavid Hare

Best Cinematography

See also: Best Cinematography

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireAnthony Dod Mantle
Nominees
ChangelingTom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonClaudio Miranda
The Dark KnightWally Pfister
The ReaderChris Menges, Roger Deakins

Best Film Editing

See also: Best Film Editing

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireChris Dickens
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonKirk Baxter, Angus Wall
The Dark KnightLee Smith
Frost/NixonMike Hill, Dan Hanley
MilkElliot Graham

Best Art Direction

See also: Best Art Direction

Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonDonald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
Nominees
ChangelingJames J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Dark KnightNathan Crowley, Peter Lando
The DuchessMichael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary RoadKristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Best Costume Design

See also: Best Costume Design

Winner
The DuchessMichael O'Connor
Nominees
AustraliaCatherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonJacqueline West
MilkDanny Glicker
Revolutionary RoadAlbert Wolsky

Best Makeup

See also: Best Makeup

Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonGreg Cannom
Nominees
The Dark KnightJohn Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden ArmyMike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

Best Original Score

See also: Best Original Score

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireA.R. Rahman
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonAlexandre Desplat
DefianceJames Newton Howard
MilkDanny Elfman
WALL·EThomas Newman

Best Original Song

See also: Best Original Song

Winner
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog MillionaireA.R. Rahman, Gulzar
Nominees
"Down To Earth" from WALL·EPeter Gabriel, Thomas Newman
"O Saya" from Slumdog MillionaireA.R. Rahman, M.I.A.

Best Sound Mixing

See also: Best Sound Mixing

Winner
Slumdog MillionaireIan Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonDavid Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
The Dark KnightLora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, Ed Novick
WALL·ETom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
WantedChris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Best Sound Editing

See also: Best Sound Editing

Winner
The Dark KnightRichard King
Nominees
Iron ManFrank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
Slumdog MillionaireTom Sayers, Glenn Freemantle
WALL·EBen Burtt, Matthew Wood
WantedWylie Stateman

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

See also: Best Visual Effects

Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonEric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
Nominees
The Dark KnightNick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
Iron ManJohn Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan

Best Animated Feature

See also: Best Animated Feature

Winner
WALL·EAndrew Stanton
Nominees
BoltChris Williams, Byron Howard
Kung Fu PandaJohn Stevenson, Mark Osborne

Best Foreign Language Film

See also: Best Foreign Language Film

Winner
DeparturesYôjirô Takita from Japan
Nominees
The Baader Meinhof ComplexUli Edel from Germany
The ClassLaurent Cantet from France
RevancheGötz Spielmann from Austria
Waltz With BashirAri Folman from Israel

Best Documentary Feature

See also: Best Documentary Feature

Winner
Man on WireJames Marsh, Simon Chinn
Nominees
The Betrayal - NerakhoonEllen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the WorldWerner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
The GardenScott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the WaterTia Lessin, Carl Deal

Best Documentary Short

See also: Best Documentary Short

Winner
Smile PinkiMegan Mylan
Nominees
The Conscience of Nhem EnSteven Okazaki
The Final InchIrene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

Best Animated Short

See also: Best Animated Short

Winner
The House of Small CubesKunio Katô
Nominees
Lavatory LovestoryKonstantin Bronzit
OktapodiEmud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
PrestoDoug Sweetland
This Way UpAlan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Best Live Action Short

See also: Best Live Action Short

Winner
ToylandJochen Alexander Freydank
Nominees
Manon on the AsphaltElizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
New BoySteph Green, Tamara Anghie
On the LineReto Caffi
The PigTivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Jerry Lewis

References

  1. The nominations for Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack were made posthumously.
  2. This nomination and award were given posthumously, and accepted by Ledger's father, mother, and sister.
Advertisement