SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE took eight Oscars at last night’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, prompting a bizarre celebration by its British director, Danny Boyle.
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Such was the pre-gala hype that there was no surprise in his movie’s victories, so Boyle provided some shock of his own by jumping up and down after being named Best Director.
“I swore if this miracle ever happened I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger,” he explained to the audience.
But what Boyles do best is make films and as well as the director gong, Slumdog took the night’s top prize, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay, plus a clutch of other prizes that helped it obliterate rivals such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which translated only three of its 13 nominations into wins.
Britian’s other main hopeful made good too, Kate Winslet taking the Best Actress award for her portrayal of a former Nazi in The Reader.
“I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way,” said Winslet, who revealed she used to practice Oscar speeches in front of the mirror as a little girl.
“This would have been a shampoo bottle,” she said, holding up her statue. “Well it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”
Full photo credit: For Best motion picture of the year, the Oscar® goes to “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, produced by Christian Colson, Producer (L) with Oscar® winning Director Danny Boyle. The 81st Academy Awards® are presented live on the ABC Television network from The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 22, 2009. Photo – Rick Salyer / ©A.M.P.A.S.
See Also: Red carpet dresses at the 81st Academy Awards
Full list of all the winners:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Sean Penn in Milk (Focus Features)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Kate Winslet in The Reader (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (The Weinstein Company)
Best animated feature film of the year
WALL-E (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton
Achievement in art direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
Achievement in cinematography
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
The Duchess (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
Achievement in directing
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
Man on Wire (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall in association with Red Box Films Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
Best documentary short subject
Smile Pinki A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
Achievement in film editing
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
Departures (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
Achievement in makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
Best motion picture of the year
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
La Maison en Petits Cubes A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
Best live action short film
Spielzeugland (Toyland) A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.), Richard King
Achievement in sound mixing
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
Achievement in visual effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
Adapted screenplay
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
Milk (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Jerry Lewis
