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Academy Awards

81st edition

  • February 22, 2009
  • United States

The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and was produced by Bill Condon and Laurence Mark and directed by Roger Goodman. Hugh Jackman hosted the show for the first time. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on February 7, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jessica Biel.

Awards

Movie People Status
Best Picture
Slumdog Millionaire Christian Colson - as producer(s) Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin - as producer(s) —
Frost/Nixon Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner - as producer(s) —
Milk Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen - as producer(s) —
The Reader Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris - as producer(s) —
Best Directing
Slumdog Millionaire Danny Boyle Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button David Fincher —
Frost/Nixon Ron Howard —
Milk Gus Van Sant —
The Reader Stephen Daldry —
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Milk Sean Penn Winner
The Visitor Richard Jenkins —
Frost/Nixon Frank Langella —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Brad Pitt —
The Wrestler Mickey Rourke —
Best Actress in a Leading Role
The Reader Kate Winslet Winner
Rachel Getting Married Anne Hathaway —
Changeling Angelina Jolie —
Frozen River Melissa Leo —
Doubt Meryl Streep —
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
The Dark Knight Heath Ledger Winner
Milk Josh Brolin —
Tropic Thunder Robert Downey Jr. —
Doubt Philip Seymour Hoffman —
Revolutionary Road Michael Shannon —
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Penélope Cruz Winner
Doubt Amy Adams —
Doubt Viola Davis —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Taraji P. Henson —
The Wrestler Marisa Tomei —
Best Original Screenplay
Milk Dustin Lance Black Winner
Frozen River Courtney Hunt —
Happy-Go-Lucky Mike Leigh —
In Bruges Martin McDonagh —
WALL·E Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter —
Best Adapted Screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire Simon Beaufoy Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Eric Roth, Robin Swicord —
Doubt John Patrick Shanley —
Frost/Nixon Peter Morgan —
The Reader David Hare —
Best Animated Film
WALL·E Andrew Stanton Winner
Bolt Chris Williams, Byron Howard —
Kung Fu Panda Mark Osborne, John Stevenson —
Best International Feature Film
Departures Yōjirō Takita Winner
The Baader Meinhof Complex Uli Edel —
The Class Laurent Cantet —
Revanche Götz Spielmann —
Waltz with Bashir Ari Folman —
Best Documentary Feature Film
Man on Wire James Marsh, Simon Chinn Winner
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath —
Encounters at the End of the World Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser —
The Garden Scott Hamilton Kennedy —
Trouble the Water Carl Deal, Tia Lessin —
Best Original Score
Slumdog Millionaire A. R. Rahman Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Alexandre Desplat —
Defiance James Newton Howard —
Milk Danny Elfman —
WALL·E Thomas Newman —
Best Cinematography
Slumdog Millionaire Anthony Dod Mantle Winner
Changeling Tom Stern —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Claudio Miranda —
The Dark Knight Wally Pfister —
The Reader Chris Menges, Roger Deakins —
Best Original Song
Slumdog Millionaire A. R. Rahman, Gulzar - "Jai Ho" Winner
WALL·E Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman - "Down to Earth" —
Slumdog Millionaire A. R. Rahman, M.I.A. - "O Saya" —
Best Sound Editing
The Dark Knight Richard King Winner
Iron Man Christopher Boyes, Frank E. Eulner —
Slumdog Millionaire Glenn Freemantle, Tom Sayers —
WALL·E Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood —
Wanted Wylie Stateman —
Best Sound Mixing
Slumdog Millionaire Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ren Klyce, Michael Semanick, David Parker, Mark Weingarten —
The Dark Knight Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, Ed Novick —
WALL·E Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt —
Wanted Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt —
Best Production Design
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo Winner
Changeling James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis —
The Dark Knight Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando —
The Duchess Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway —
Revolutionary Road Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt —
Best Film Editing
Slumdog Millionaire Chris Dickens Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall —
The Dark Knight Lee Smith —
Frost/Nixon Mike Hill, Daniel P. Hanley —
Milk Elliot Graham —
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Greg Cannom Winner
The Dark Knight John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan —
Hellboy II: The Golden Army Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz —
Best Costume Design
The Duchess Michael O'Connor Winner
Australia Catherine Martin —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Jacqueline West —
Milk Danny Glicker —
Revolutionary Road Albert Wolsky —
Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron Winner
The Dark Knight Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin —
Iron Man John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan —
Best Short Film (Live Action)
Toyland Jochen Alexander Freydank Winner
Manon on the Asphalt Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont —
New Boy Steph Green, Tamara Anghie —
Auf der Strecke (On the Line) Reto Caffi —
The Pig Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh —
Best Documentary Short Film
Smile Pinki Megan Mylan Winner
The Conscience of Nhem En Steven Okazaki —
The Final Inch Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant —
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306 Adam Pertovsky, Margaret Hyde —
Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes Kunio Katō Winner
Lavatory - Lovestory Konstantin Bronzit —
Oktapodi Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand —
Presto Doug Sweetland —
This Way Up Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes —
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
— Jerry Lewis Winner

Slumdog Millionaire
Statistics

Most Awarded

2 or more wins
  • Slumdog Millionaire 8
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3
  • The Dark Knight 2
  • Milk 2

Most Nominated

3 or more nominations
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 13
  • Slumdog Millionaire 10
  • The Dark Knight 8
  • Milk 8
  • WALL·E 6
  • Doubt 5
  • Frost/Nixon 5
  • The Reader 5
  • Changeling 3
  • Revolutionary Road 3

Most Unluckiest

wins / nominations
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 3 / 13
  • The Dark Knight 2 / 8
  • Milk 2 / 8
  • WALL·E 1 / 6
  • Doubt 0 / 5
  • Frost/Nixon 0 / 5
  • The Reader 1 / 5
  • Changeling 0 / 3
  • Revolutionary Road 0 / 3
  • Slumdog Millionaire 8 / 10

Only one nomination

35 movies:
  • Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
  • Australia
  • The Baader Meinhof Complex
  • The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
  • Bolt
  • The Class
  • The Conscience of Nhem En
  • Defiance
  • Departures
  • Encounters at the End of the World
  • The Final Inch
  • The Garden
  • Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • In Bruges
  • Kung Fu Panda
  • Lavatory - Lovestory
  • La Maison en Petits Cubes
  • Man on Wire
  • Manon on the Asphalt
  • New Boy
  • Oktapodi
  • The Pig
  • Presto
  • Rachel Getting Married
  • Revanche
  • Smile Pinki
  • This Way Up
  • Toyland
  • Tropic Thunder
  • Trouble the Water
  • Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • The Visitor
  • Waltz with Bashir
  • The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306

Updated at