Best Picture
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Christian Colson
ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
This is the first Academy Award
nomination for Christian Colson.
Thank you so much to the Academy. As you can see, our film was a collaboration between hundreds of
people. I'm so happy that so many of them could be with us here tonight to share this moment.
Together, we've been on an extraordinary, an extraordinary journey. When we started out, we had no
stars, we had no power or muscle. We didn't have enough money, really, to do what we wanted to do.
But what we had was a script that inspired mad love in everyone who read it. We had a genius for a
director. We had a cast and a crew who were unwavering in their commitment and whose talents are up
on the screen for all of you to see. We had partners in Film4, in Celador, in Pathé and Fox Searchlight,
who had the courage to support us. And we had a shared love for the extraordinary city of Mumbai,
where we made the movie. Most of all, we had passion and we had belief, and our film shows that if you
have those two things, truly anything is possible. I want to thank, on a personal note, my mum and my
dad for all their love and support over the years. I want to thank my girl, Saskia Mulder, who is my
partner in crime and the light in my life. And I want to thank all of you very much indeed. Thank you.

Actor in a lead role
Sean Penn
Milk
Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk, the camera store
owner whose decision to campaign for a place on
San Francisco's Board of Supervisors becomes a
landmark event within the gay rights movement.
Thank you. Thank you. You commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns. I did not expect this, but I, and I want it to be very clear, that I
do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation and I hoped for it enough that I did
want to scribble down, so I had the names in case you were commie, homo-loving sons-of-guns, and so I want to thank my
best friend, Sata Matsuzawa. My circle of long-time support, Mara, Brian, Barry and Bob. The great Cleve Jones. Our
wonderful writer, Lance Black. Producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.
And particularly, as all, as actors know, our director either has the patience, talent and restraint to grant us a voice or they
don't, and it goes from the beginning of the meeting, through the cutting room. And there is no finer hands to be in than Gus
Van Sant. And finally, for those, two last finallies, for those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think
that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame
and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support. We've got to have equal rights for everyone.
And there are, and there are, these last two things. I'm very, very proud to live in a country that is willing to elect an elegant
man president and a country who, for all its toughness, creates courageous artists. And this is in great due respect to all the
nominees, but courageous artists, who despite a sensitivity that sometimes has brought enormous challenge, Mickey Rourke
rises again and he is my brother. Thank you all very much.

Actress in the leading role
Kate Winslet
The Reader
Kate Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz, a German
woman in her thirties whose teenage lover is
unaware of the dark secret in her past.
Okay, that fainting thing, Penélope. I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech before, I think I was probably eight years
old and staring into the bathroom mirror. And this (holding up her statuette) would've been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a
shampoo bottle now!
I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here. And I'd like to thank some of the people along the way who
had faith in me, my friends and my family, especially my mum and dad, who are in this room somewhere. Dad, whistle or
something, 'cause then I'll know where you are. (He whistles.) Yeah! (Waving to him.) I love you.
I'd also like to thank Hylda Queally, Dallas Smith and the late, much loved, much missed Robert Garlock. And from Peter Jackson
and Emma Thompson to my very own Sam and Stephen Daldry. I'm very lucky to have been given Hanna Schmitz by Bernhard
Schlink and David Hare and Stephen and working with you is an experience I will never forget. There was no division between th
cast and the crew on this film, and that's what made it so special. So, to have been surrounded by a remarkable group of people
who provided an unbroken chain of support from David Kross to Ralph Fiennes, Bruno Ganz, Lena Olin, from hair and makeup to
cinematography, from the art department to the ADs, and from New York to Berlin. And I am so lucky to have a wonderful
husband and two beautiful children who let me do what I love and who love me just the way that I am.
Anthony and Sydney, this is for you. This is for both of you. And I want to acknowledge my fellow nominees, these goddesses. I
think we all can't believe we're in a category with Meryl Streep at all. I'm sorry, Meryl, but you have to just suck that up! And, jus
to the Academy, thank you so much, my God! Thank you!

Directing
Danny Boyle
Slumdog Millionaire
Bouncing up and down) My kids are too old to remember this now, but when they were much younger, I swore to them
that if this miracle ever happened that I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger from \"Winnie-the-Pooh\" and that's what
that was. You've been so generous to us this evening and I wanted to thank you for that and also for an extraordinary,
what a beautiful show you've done. I don't know what it looks like on television, everybody, but in the room, it's bloody
wonderful, really. So, well done, everyone.
Just to make, my, um, Grace, Gabriel and Caitlin, my kids, and their wonderful mom. Gail, thank you so much for letting
me be Tigger for so long. And to my dad, Frank, and to my sisters Maria and Bernadette and everybody in St. Mary's
Social Club in Radcliffe. Big, big, big shout-out to you. I've got to thank Tessa Ross. I've got to thank everybody at Celador.
I've got to thank François and Cameron at Pathé. I've got to thank everybody at Warner Bros. for having the great grace
to pass the film on to the extraordinary guy at Fox Searchlight, Peter Rice, and all his team. Thank you so much. Peter,
wherever you are, thank you so much for bringing all our cast and crew here, or as many of them as we could do. The
film is an absolute tribute to them. There's one guy I should mention, we've mentioned a lot of people. I forgot a guy.
The guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film. He's called Longiness. And I forgot him off the credits. And
I only found out about it two weeks ago. I'm an idiot and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, Longiness. Thank you
so much.
Finally, just to say to Mumbai, \"Unending, inseparable, unborn.\" All of you who've helped us make the film and all of you
of those of you who didn't, thank you so much. You dwarf even this guy (gesturing to the statuette). Thank you very
much indeed.

Foreign Language film
Departures
Japan
Directed by Yojiro Takita
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Thank you to all the Academy. Thank you to everybody who helped me with this
film. I'm very, very happy. Thank you. I am here because of films. This is a new
\"departure\" for me. And I will, we will be back. I hope. Thank you. Thank you.

Music (Song)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
\"Jai Ho\"
Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar
I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire,
especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole,
all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about
optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice
of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here. God bless.

Music (Score)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
A.R. Rahman
Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my
marriage. There's a dialogue from a Hindi film called \"Mere paas ma hai,\" which
means \"I have nothing but I have a mother,\" so mother's here, her blessings are
there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank
the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz,
I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr. Gulzar, Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in
Chennai and Mumbai. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I
normally say after every award which is ella puhazhum iraivanukke: \"God is great.\"
Thank you.

Film Editing
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Chris Dickens
Thank you so much for this. Thank you everyone who voted for me. This is incredible. I
just want to say I had a fantastic time working on this film. It was, um, I really didn't
want it to end. I had a wonderful time in India and so I'd like to thank my crew in India
firstly. That was Vivek, Udayan, Anuradha, they're all fantastic. And also in England, Tina
and Tom, who worked really hard in the editing with us to get the film finished. And also
my family, my sisters Sally, Ally, Lizzy, my parents, my wife Clio who sort of put up with
all the hours I was working, disappearing. And, um, but especially to Danny, who's over
there, Danny and Christian and Simon and Anthony for just producing such great
material. You know, fantastic stuff to work with. So, I, um, thank you and, um, yeah, you
really inspired me. I'm really proud. Thank you.

Sound Mixing
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
Resul Pookutty:
This is unbelievable. We can't believe this. Ladies and gentlemen... sorry... I share the stage with two magicians, you know,
who created the very ordinary sounds of Bombay, the cacophony of Bombay, into a soul-stirring, artful resonance called
Slumdog Millionaire.
I come from a country and a civilization that given the universal word. That word is preceded by silence, followed by more
silence. That word is \"Om.\" So I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this
is history being handed over to me. My sincere and deepest gratitude to my teachers, Danny Boyle, Christian Colson, Paul
Ritchie, Pravesh... and everybody who has contributed to this film, Glenn Freemantle and all the sound mixers. I dedicate
this to you guys. Thank you, Academy. Thank you very much.
Richard Pryke:
Thank you!
Ian Tapp:
Thank you very much.

Sound Editing
THE DARK KNIGHT
Richard King
Thank you. As a kid growing up in suburban Florida, I was obsessed by movies
and Hollywood seemed like it was a million miles away. I never thought that I
would be here, but I'm so happy to be and thrilled to be a part of the creative
industry that going to work is fun every day. And I'd like to thank my crew,
picture editor Lee Smith, mixers Lora Hirschberg and Gary Rizzo, producers
Emma Thomas, Chuck Roven and Christopher Nolan, who was very fun to work
with and very detail-oriented, just made going to work a joy, and thank you very
much, Chris. Thank you to the Academy

Visual Effects
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN
BUTTON
Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton
and Craig Barron
Oh my God. On behalf of myself, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron, I'd like to thank
the Academy for this incredible honor. I'd also like to thank Edson Williams and his team at
Lola Visual Effects and Nathan McGuinness and his team at Asylum as well as all the other
visual effects teams that worked so hard on this film. I'd like to thank our amazing team at
Digital Domain, my mentor Ed Ulbrich, my wonderful producer Lisa Beroud, the woman
who is my biggest supporter, my wife Roma, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán
Chaffin, for trusting that we could actually pull this off. Brad Pitt for an amazing
performance. And of course David Fincher for giving us all the opportunity to work on this
film. To my kids, Cole and Nicolette, I'd just like to say, \"Work hard, do good work and
never give up.\" Thank you.

Documentary Short
SMILE PINKI
Megan Mylan
Wow! Oh, to be in a room with all this talent. Lucky me, and to tell stories for a living,
lucky me. And to have a family and friends who love me and my movies totally
unconditionally. Documentary, like all filmmaking, is a complete team sport, and I'd like
to thank my editor Purcell Carson, cinematographers Nick Doob and Jon Shenk, field
producer Nandini Rajwade and from HBO Sheila Nevins and Lisa Heller. The same magic
that happens in our film happens every day for children with clefts all around the world
because of a terrific organization called the Smile Train. But most importantly for
documentary filmmakers it's our subjects. The incredible Dr. Subodh and his team,
Ghutaru Chauhan and our heroine Pinki Kumari. Thank you, thank you, thank you for
letting me tell your inspiring story. What a gift. Thank you all so much.

Documentary Feature
MAN ON WIRE
James Marsh and Simon Chinn
James Marsh:
It doesn't feel right to be up here on my own, so Philippe you got about 20 seconds to get up here, as you do. Thank
you to everyone who was in the film. Thank you to everyone who worked on the film. Thank you to my dear wife
Anne Mette and my lovely daughters Anna May and Ida. This is for you, girls. Nothing's impossible.
Simon Chinn:
Time is short, but I want to thank my beautiful wife Lara, my two boys Haroun and Jonah, may they continue to
have big dreams, but may they please not do what this man does.
Phillippe Petit:
The shortest speech in Oscar history: \"Yes!\" But I always the break the rule, I break my own rules very quickly and
of course this film would have not been made without my Kathy. And also, Werner, I always carry the coin you gave
me. And you were right. We won. So now it's time to thank the Academy for believing in magic.

Actor in Supporting role
Heath Ledger
THE DARK KNIGHT
NOMINATED ROLE
Heath Ledger portrays the Joker, a psychopathic criminal
mastermind who will stop at nothing in his scheme to
outwit and humiliate Batman.
Kim Ledger:
First of all, I have to say this is ever so humbling. Just being amongst such wonderful people, such a wonderful
industry. Firstly, I'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. To Steve
Alexander, Heath's mentor, special friend and agent for 10 years. We love you, Steve.
This award tonight would've humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his
peers, within an industry he so loved. Thank you.
Sally Bell:
Heath was such a compassionate and generous soul who added so much excitement and inspiration to our lives. We
have been truly overwhelmed by the honor and respect being bestowed upon him with this award. Tonight, we are
choosing to celebrate and be happy for what he has achieved.
Kate Ledger:
Heath, we both knew what you had created in the Joker was extraordinarily special and had even talked about being
here on this very day. We really wish you were, but we proudly accept this award on behalf of your beautiful Matilda.
Thank you.

Short Film (live action)
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)
Jochen Alexander Freydank
This is almost a surreal moment for me, 'cause I grew up in East Germany, so
behind the wall. So West Germany was far away from me. Hollywood, that's really
far away, and the Oscar now, it's incredible. And I thank the Academy. I directed
this movie. Unfortunately, I produced it as well, so I spent four years of my life on
this fourteen-minute movie and it was a story I really wanted to tell. And I thank
all my cast and crew. I had wonderful actors to work with. I thank my cowriter
Johann Bunners. I thank my cinematographer Cico Nicolaisen, my composer Ingo
Frenzel. Thanks to all of you guys. And of course, I hope this bald head here is
gonna help all of us in our future career. Thank you very much.

Cinematography
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Anthony Dod Mantle
I found it very inspiring, Natalie and Ben. If I could use as few words on a set on a film like Slumdog and get away
with it, I wish I could. I wish I could. Fantastic. I could thank thousands of people. I can't do it. I, of course, have to
thank the Academy. I'm very honored with this beautiful thing. Everybody who has worked with me on this film, all
over this room, especially in this little corner here, the blue corner. And all the people that've worked on all the films
I've done for the last 20 years, they're with me tonight. I'll try and thank you every day from now on. That's my new
policy. I'll try and thank people more on set.
I want to thank, of course, the Academy for opening this door. There's something that goes hand in hand with that.
That's my wife, because she keeps the door open when I come back. She doesn't slam it. And I want to thank her
'cause she's amazing. 'Sanna, you're an amazing lady. She's a mother of two boys, August and Clements, who are
probably watching tonight. Now, get to bed! You're not meant to be up on the other side of the ocean. I want to
thank my ma and pa, of course, my brother John and my sister Annie. Danny, it starts with you, but there are
thousands of people with you and under you. They're all with me tonight. I wanna just thank you so much. Goodbye.

Best Makeup
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN
BUTTON
Greg Cannom
Thank you. I want to thank the Academy, Paramount, Warner Bros. I share this with
Colleen Callaghan, who should be up here with me, \"Hi.\" Makeup: Jean Black, Fionagh
Cush, Elaine Offers. Special makeup: Miles Teves, Brian Sipe, Will Huff, Todd Tucker,
Harvey Lowry, Mark Jacszyn, Alexei O'Brien, Mark Nieman, Chris Gallaher, Art, Martin,
Helen Cohen. Hair: Susan Kalinowski and Natascha, Favian Wigs. Our fantastic director
David Fincher, Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Sara Spring, Jim
Davidson, Bob Wagner, Daniel Stillman, and of course, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji
Henson, Jason Flemyng, Tilda Swinton, M. Ali, Jared Harris, and especially New Orleans.
Thank you.

Costume Design
THE DUCHESS
Michael O'Connor
This unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Before I forget, I must thank Rachel Portman for
that music in The Duchess that wasn't the music, but music is fantastic in the film. I want to
thank Paramount Vantage and Pathé for promoting the work in this film. I think they did a
great job showcasing that film. My crew. I'd like to thank some individuals, please. Gordon
Harmer, Anna Kot, Luan Placks, Ann Maskrey, Anthony Brookman, Sarah Touaibi. I'd also
like to thank my agent Michelle Arnold, who is a lovely lady, she got me an interview with
these people. And Gaby Tana, Saul Dibb and Michael Kuhn, stuck their neck out to get me
this job. I apparently was the risk. And I think it's paid off now, so I'm glad about that. And
most importantly I'd like to thank the cast because, you know, working with such a great
cast, everyone was with me. Um, so quickly, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte
Rampling, Ralph Fiennes and Keira Knightley, you are one classy lady. Thank you so much.

Art Direction
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Donald Graham Burt (Art Direction); Victor J.
Zolfo (Set Decoration)
Burt:
Wow. We'd like to thank the Academy for this wonderful honor. We first and foremost want to thank our crews that
we had in our art departments, and those crews were in New Orleans, in Montreal, in St. Thomas, and here in Los
Angeles. We want to thank our producers, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and my dear friend of many years,
Ceán Chaffin. And I said at another awards ceremony that our producers were great because they did what every
producer should ever do and that is leave us alone.
I want to recognize one person who's been very special to me over these last few years and somebody that I just
think is a brilliant director and even more so a wonderful human being, and that's my friend David Fincher. And I
want to recognize him because I think he did so much to make this movie so special. And this movie means so much
to me and I want him to know that. I thank, um, that's it. I want to thank my lovely wife for everything she's done for
me.
Zolfo:
Thank you, everybody, and thank you, Academy. And thank you mom and dad. I love you.

Short Film (Animation)
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Kunio Kato
So heavy. Thank you very much. Thank you, my supporters. Thank you, all my
staff. Thank you, my producer. Thank you, Academy. Thank you, animation.
Thank you my company, Robot. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto. Thank you very
much.

Animated Feature film
WALL-E
Andrew Stanton
My producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins should really be up here to accept this with
me. It's been such an inspiration to spend time with a character who so tenaciously
struggles to find the beauty in everything that he sees. It's a noble aspiration to have at
times like these. I dearly want to thank everyone that's been on this film: the cast, the
crew, everybody at Disney and Pixar Studios. I have to single out Ed Catmull, John
Lasseter and Steve Jobs for creating a cinematic safe haven where only a film like WALL-E
could be made. To my wife Julie, my kids Ben and Audrey, I love you so much, and I guess
I'd be remiss if I did not thank my high school drama teacher Phil Perry for 28 years ago
casting me as Barnaby in Hello, Dolly!. Creative seeds are sown in the oddest of places so,
uh, thank you so much to the Academy for this.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Hi gang. Thank you very much indeed. There are certain places in the universe you never imagine standing. For me,
it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here. It's a tremendous honor, so thank you to the
Academy. I certainly wouldn't be standing here tonight without Vikas Swarup, who wrote the book, without which
none of Slumdog would ever have happened. So thank you, Vikas.
Tessa Ross from Film4 who shoved the manuscript to my hand and said this is yours, you must go to India. Thank you.
My parents who've always supported me throughout everything. My wife Jane, for whom repressed English writers
have to write love stories 'cause they can't really say what they mean. Susan Landau and Charlotte Knight, both my
manager and my agent, um, and of course, the wonderful Dev, the wonderful Latika and the cast and crew of the film
who have taught me so much about India and so much about writing, so they've all sort of changed my life. And
finally, um, thank you so much to Danny and Christian, the other two musketeers. Thank you very much.

Writing (Original Screen play)
MILK
Written by Dustin Lance Black
Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones and Anne
Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile
Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco and our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at
Groundswell and Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my
beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California,
and I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope
one day I could live my life openly as who I am and then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get
married.
I wanna& I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But
most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he'd want me to say to all of the gay and
lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by
their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God
does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours.
Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk

Actress supporting role
Penelope Cruz
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
NOMINATED ROLE
Penelope Cruz portrays the fiery Maria Elena, a
divorced woman still locked in a complex
relationship with her ex-husband.
This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one.
Thank you so much to the Academy. I want to share this with my fellow nominees and with the amazing ensemble of actors
that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank for
you having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women. And I cannot talk about great female
characters without thanking my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me part of so many of his adventures. Thank you,
Bigas Luna, Fernando Trueba, for giving me my first movies. Thank you, Harvey Weinstein. I wanted to dedicate this to my
parents and to my brother and sister, to my friend Robert Garlock, who is not with us anymore, and to everyone who has
helped me from the beginning and you know who you are and I thank you from my heart.
I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy
Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world
because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can,
everything we can, to protect its survival. So I thank you so much and I have to say something in Spanish, because everyone:
Todos los que desde España ahora estén compartiendo este momento conmigo y sientan que esto también es de ellos, se los
dedico. Y a todos los actores de mi país. Muchisimas gracias.