Guest Author - Lorna London Sloukji
Last night's 81st annual Academy Awards glittered with A-list celebrities, directors, writers, producers, art directors, editors, and media. Hosted by Hugh Jackman, the big winner of the evening was Slumdog Millionaire, a film that went in with ten nominations and achieved best picture and seven other Oscars, including best director, Danny Boyle. Set in Mumbai, India, Slumdog Millionaire is a story of hope amidst dreadful conditions.
One noteworthy story-an anticipated outcome of the Oscars-was the mystique that Heath Ledger's legacy left after his early death. For his performance as the Joker, Ledger became only the second actor in history to win posthumously, an achievement that occurred one year following his accidental overdose. Ledger's parents and sister accepted his Oscar on behalf of his young daughter, Matilda.
"I have to say this is ever so humbling, just being amongst such wonderful people in such a wonderful industry," said his father, Kim Ledger. "We'd like to thank the academy for recognizing our son's amazing work, Warner Bros., and Christopher Nolan in particular for allowing Heath the creative license to develop and explore this crazy Joker character."
Check out the following list of the 2009 Academy Award winners and nominees.
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
Winner, Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Winner, Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Winner, Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Winner, Penelope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)
Best animated feature film of the year
"Bolt" (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
"Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Winner, "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton
Achievement in art direction
"Changeling" (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Winner, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathe and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Achievement in cinematography
"Changeling" (Universal), Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
"Australia" (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West Winner, "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathe and BBC Films), Michael O'Connor
"Milk" (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road"(DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky
Achievement in directing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal), Ron Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
"Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
"The Garden" A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Winner, "Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall in association with Red Box Films Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
"Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Best documentary short subject
"The Conscience of Nhem En" A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
"The Final Inch" Vermilion Films in association with Google.org, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
Winner, "Smile Pinki" A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Achievement in film editing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk" (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production, Germany
"The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
Winner, "Departures" (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
"Revanche" (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
"Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel
Achievement in makeup
Winner, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Alexandre Desplat "Defiance" (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
Winner, "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Cean Chaffin, Producers
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
"Milk" (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
Winner, "La Maison en Petits Cubes" A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato "Lavatory - Lovestory" A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
"Oktapodi" (Talantis Films), A Gobelins, L'ecole de l'image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
"Presto" (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
"This Way Up" A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Best live action short film
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
"Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
"New Boy" (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
"The Pig" An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Hogh
Winner, "Spielzeugland (Toyland)" A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
Winner, “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted" (Universal), Wylie Stateman
Achievement in sound mixing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted" (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt
Achievement in visual effects
Winner, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin "Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt" (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
Winner, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
"Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges" (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
Winner, "Milk" (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
