Copyrighted and Registred trademark of AMPASregistered trademark of Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
81st Annual

Academy Award Winners

and Nominees
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Winners announced February 22, 2009

Best Picture

  1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. Frost/Nixon
    Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
    “Frost/Nixon”
  3. Milk
    Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
    “Milk”
  4. The Reader
    Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris
    “The Reader”

  5. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    Christian Colson
    “Slumdog Millionaire”

Animated Feature Film

  1. “Bolt”
  2. “Kung Fu Panda”

  3. Winner

    “WALL·E”

Documentary Feature

  1. The Betrayal - Nerakhoon
    Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
    “The Betrayal - Nerakhoon”
  2. Encounters at the End of the World
    Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
    “Encounters at the End of the World”
  3. The Garden
    Scott Hamilton Kennedy
    “The Garden”

  4. Winner

    Man on Wire
    James Marsh, Simon Chinn
    “Man on Wire”
  5. Trouble the Water
    Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
    “Trouble the Water”

Foreign Language Film

  1. The Baader Meinhof Complex
    “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Germany)
  2. The Class
    “The Class” (France)
  3. Revanche
    “Revanche” (Austria)

  4. Winner

    Departures
    “Departures” (Japan)
  5. Waltz with Bashir
    “Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)

Directing

  1. Winner

    Danny Boyle
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
  2. Stephen Daldry
    “The Reader”
  3. David Fincher
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  4. Ron Howard
    “Frost/Nixon”
  5. Gus Van Sant
    “Milk”

Visual Effects

  1. Winner

    Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin
    “The Dark Knight”
  3. John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan
    “Iron Man”

Writing
Original Screenplay

  1. Frozen River
    Courtney Hunt
    “Frozen River”
  2. Mike Leigh
    “Happy-Go-Lucky”
  3. Poster: In Bruges
    Martin McDonagh
    “In Bruges”

  4. Winner

    Dustin Lance Black
    “Milk”
  5. Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon
    “WALL·E”

Writing
Adapted Screenplay

  1. Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. John Patrick Shanley
    “Doubt”
  3. Frost/Nixon
    Peter Morgan
    “Frost/Nixon”
  4. The Reader
    David Hare
    “The Reader”

  5. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    Simon Beaufoy
    “Slumdog Millionaire”

Cinematography

  1. Changeling
    Tom Stern
    “Changeling”
  2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Claudio Miranda
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  3. The Dark Knight
    Wally Pfister
    “The Dark Knight”
  4. The Reader
    Roger Deakins, Chris Menges
    “The Reader”

  5. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    Anthony Dod Mantle
    “Slumdog Millionaire”

Art Direction

  1. Changeling
    James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
    “Changeling”

  2. Winner

    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  3. The Dark Knight
    Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
    “The Dark Knight”
  4. The Duchess
    Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
    “The Duchess”
  5. Revolutionary Road
    Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
    “Revolutionary Road”

Actor
in a leading role

  1. The Visitor
    Richard Jenkins
    “The Visitor”
  2. Frost/Nixon
    Frank Langella
    “Frost/Nixon”

  3. Winner

    Sean Penn for Milk
    Sean Penn
    “Milk”
  4. Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Brad Pitt
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  5. Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”
    Mickey Rourke
    “The Wrestler”

Actress
in a leading role

  1. Anne Hathaway
    Anne Hathaway
    “Rachel Getting Married”
  2. Angelina Jolie
    Angelina Jolie
    “Changeling”
  3. Melissa Leo
    Melissa Leo
    “Frozen River”
  4. Meryl Streep
    Meryl Streep
    “Doubt”

  5. Winner

    Kate Winslet
    Kate Winslet
    “The Reader”

Actor
in a supporting role

  1. Milk
    Josh Brolin
    “Milk”
  2. Tropic Thunder
    Robert Downey Jr.
    “Tropic Thunder”
  3. Doubt
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    “Doubt”

  4. Winner

    The Dark Knight
    Heath Ledger
    “The Dark Knight”
  5. Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road
    Michael Shannon
    “Revolutionary Road”

Actress
in a supporting role

  1. Amy Adams in Doubt
    Amy Adams
    “Doubt”

  2. Winner

    Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    Penélope Cruz
    “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
  3. Viola Davis in Doubt
    Viola Davis
    “Doubt”
  4. Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Taraji P. Henson
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  5. Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
    Marisa Tomei
    “The Wrestler”

Costume Design

  1. Australia
    Catherine Martin
    “Australia”
  2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Jacqueline West
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

  3. Winner

    The Duchess
    Michael O'Connor
    “The Duchess”
  4. Milk
    Danny Glicker
    “Milk”
  5. Revolutionary Road
    Albert Wolsky
    “Revolutionary Road”

Film Editing

  1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. The Dark Knight
    Lee Smith
    “The Dark Knight”
  3. Frost/Nixon
    Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
    “Frost/Nixon”
  4. Milk
    Elliot Graham
    “Milk”

  5. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    Chris Dickens
    “Slumdog Millionaire”

Makeup

  1. Winner

    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Greg Cannom
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. The Dark Knight
    John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
    “The Dark Knight”
  3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
    Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz
    “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

Music
original score

  1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Alexandre Desplat
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. Defiance
    James Newton Howard
    “Defiance”
  3. Milk
    Danny Elfman
    “Milk”

  4. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    A.R. Rahman
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
  5. WALL·E
    Thomas Newman
    “WALL·E”

Sound

  1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
  2. The Dark Knight
    Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
    “The Dark Knight”
  3. WALL·E
    Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
    “WALL·E”

  4. Winner

    Slumdog Millionaire
    Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
  5. Wanted
    Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt
    “Wanted”

Sound Editing

  1. Winner

    The Dark Knight
    Richard King
    “The Dark Knight”
  2. Iron Man
    Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes
    “Iron Man”
  3. Slumdog Millionaire
    Tom Sayers
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
  4. WALL·E
    Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
    “WALL·E”
  5. Wanted
    Wylie Stateman
    “Wanted”