Oscars 2009: Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Academy Awards including best picture and best director - Telegraph Oscars Oscars 2009: Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Academy Awards including best picture and best director Slumdog Millionaire has swept the Academy Awards, winning eight Oscars including the coveted best picture and best director. By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles 6:48AM GMT 23 Feb 2009 The night of triumph sealed the Mumbai-set British film’s unlikely dominance of Hollywood’s glittering award season. The Oscar haul equals that of Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, which scooped eight Oscars in 1983, though falls short of The English Patient, Anthony Minghella's Second World War romance, which won nine Academy Awards in 1997. Slumdog, a rags-to-riches fairy tale about an orphan who appears on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, had already accrued a wealth of awards in the build-up to the Oscars, including seven Baftas and four Golden Globes , and was favourite in most of the 10 categories in which it was nominated, including best picture.

It beat fellow nominees The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , Frost/Nixon , Milk , and The Reader to win the award, the last of the night, which was announced by Steven Spielberg. Accepting the best picture statuette, Christian Colson, the film’s British producer, said the production was “a collaboration between hundreds of people”. Related Articles 23 Feb 2009 He made reference to the fact the low-budget film almost failed to get released. "Together we've been on an extraordinary journey,” he said, surrounded by members of the cast and crew. “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 you to see." “Most of all we had passion and belief.

And our film shows that if you have those two things, anything is possible.” Earlier Danny Boyle picked up the coveted best director Oscar for Slumdog, which has made around $150 million worldwide since its November release. The film also won Oscars for best adapted screenplay, best original score and song, best sound mixing, film editing and cinematography. Only seven other films in the 81-year-history of the Oscars have won eight or more awards. Slumdog’s haul overtook that of Shakespeare in Love, which won seven statuettes in 1999 and was the last British film to dominate the Oscars. Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial» Oscars: 10 nominations for Slumdog Millionaire | Film | The Guardian Close This article is 7 years old The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the curious movie about a man who ages backwards, headed the Oscar nominations announced today in Los Angeles. Slumdog Millionaire , Danny Boyle's Mumbai-set tale, which took best drama at this month's Golden Globes, continued its own rags-to-riches story with a total of 10 nominations.

For another British hopeful, the nominations were a mixed tale: Kate Winslet, heavily tipped to be nominated for both best actress and best supporting actress following her Globes triumph, received just one nod from the academy. Curiously, her best actress nomination was for The Reader, the film for which she won best supporting actress at the Globes. The Reader's British director, Stephen Daldry , received a nomination for best director. Her omission for Revolutionary Road means that Oscar viewers will have to settle for the possibility of just one gushing acceptance speech from the actress. The other leading British contender was Frost/Nixon, which received five nominations including best picture. "It's very good timing for this film," said Working Title's Eric Fellner, the producer of Frost/Nixon, which opens in the UK on Friday. "This will give it the pedigree that will hopefully propel it into another dimension. I'm really proud of this film; I think it's brilliant." Other than Winslet missing out for Revolutionary Road, the morning's big surprise was the omission of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. The film had been tipped as a strong contender in the major categories, its themes and star considered a likely favourite among the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures.

The Dark Knight also missed out in the major picture categories, although Heath Ledger did receive a nod as best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker. The announcement came a year to the day after the Australian actor's death from an overdose at the age of 28. Nevertheless, The Dark Knight did receive eight nominations, mainly in technical categories. Milk, Gus Van Sant's biopic of the gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn , also received eight nominations, including best film, director, actor and supporting actor. "It's just as good as the first time," said Van Sant. "Well, almost as good. It's huge that we were able to get so many nominations for a story that we felt was so important. It's really great for the movie and for the progress of Harvey's efforts as a gay politician." But the early morning announcement was dominated by Button. The film snagged 13 nominations including best film, best director for David Fincher, best actor for Brad Pitt and best supporting actress for Taraji Henderson. Pitt will be accompanied to the ceremony by his wife, Angelina Jolie , who received a best actress nomination for The Changeling.

She is joined by awards veteran Meryl Streep, who consolidated her position as the most-nominated actress in Oscar history with another nomination. Other nominees include Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married and Melissa Leo for Frozen River. The best actor category features a quartet of heavy hitters and an outsider. Sean Penn, Frank Langella and Mickey Rourke were all expected to be nominated alongside Pitt, but the inclusion of Richard Jenkins for his performance as a college professor in The Visitor was a surprise. Another surprise was the best supporting actor nomination for Michael Shannon for his standout performance in Revolutionary Road. Winslet and her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio had been tipped for nominations for the Sam Mendes-directed drama, but both missed out. Elsewhere the nominations went to form: WALL-E will be favourite in the animated feature section and Waltz With Bashir will be strongly tipped in the foreign language category. The team behind Slumdog was ecstatic at the news of the film's 10 nominations. "Secretly – and sometimes not so secretly – this is the nomination that floats in every screenwriter's dreams," said writer Simon Beaufoy.

"I am fantastically happy and honoured – not just for myself but for Vikas Swarup's wonderful novel without which I would have never started my journey to the world's Maximum City, Mumbai." One of the film's young stars, Dev Patel, concurred. "It's just amazing," he said. "For Slumdog Millionaire to be included in the nominations for the Oscars is a huge honour. When we first began working on the film I don't think any of us ever imagined that we might end up attending the Oscars ceremony as a result." The Oscars ceremony takes place on 22 February in Los Angeles, hosted this year by the Australian actor Hugh Jackman .

David Thomson: The morning after its seven-Bafta triumph, here are 10 reasons why Danny Boyle's crowdpleaser is unsurpassable in the race for the little gold men Published: 9 Feb 2009 Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor on why Slumdog Millionaire is a feelgood movie with a difference and why the future belongs to India Published: 18 Feb 2009 Oscar-tipped film's creators accused of paying their child actors paltry sums Published: 30 Jan 2009 Charles Gant: Week-on-week takings for Danny Boyle's melodrama jump 44%, while Seven Pounds fails to cash in Published: 20 Jan 2009 BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Oscars | Oscar joy for Slumdog Millionaire Advertisement Highlights from the 81st Academy Awards Hit British film Slumdog Millionaire has won the top prize at the Academy Awards, winning eight Oscars including best director and best picture. In a great night for Britain, Kate Winslet won the best actress Oscar for The Reader, finally clinching the award on her sixth nomination.

The big surprise of the night was Sean Penn, winning best actor for his role as gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for supporting actor for The Dark Knight. The actor's family received the award on behalf of Ledger, who died in January 2008. "We have been truly overwhelmed by the honour and respect being bestowed upon him with this award," his mother said. Ledger becomes only the second performer to win a posthumous Oscar, following Peter Finch's win for Network in 1977. But the night belonged to Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches tale that has enchanted audiences around the world. Director Danny Boyle, 52, bounced up and down in delight as he received his award, telling the audience: "I swore [to my children] if this miracle ever happened I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger." Optimism Winslet was presented her Oscar by five previous best actress winners The film, set in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay), won eight awards in total, including gongs for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, best original score and best song.

"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," joked British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, previously best known for writing The Full Monty. Indian composer AR Rahman, who received two Oscars - for best song and best score - praised the city which inspired the book, and subsequently the film. He hailed "all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives". "We had passion and we had belief and if you have those two things, truly, anything is possible," said Christian Colson. As anticipated - after years of waiting in the wings - Winslet, 33, won her Academy Award for playing a Nazi prison officer in The Reader. "I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror," she said. "I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here." In a night of predictable outcomes, Sean Penn's best actor triumph for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk seemed to win the A-list audience's approval.

AWARDS TALLY A rich night for best picture 'Slumdog Millionaire' - CNN.com A rich night for best picture 'Slumdog Millionaire' Story Highlights "Slumdog Millionaire" wins eight Oscars, including best picture and director Sean Penn wins best actor for "Milk" Kate Winslet wins best actress for "The Reader" Heath Ledger wins best supporting actor for "The Dark Knight" CNN (CNN) -- Perhaps it really WAS destiny. "Slumdog Millionaire," the little film that overcame tremendous odds simply to earn an American release, won eight Oscars Sunday night at the 81st annual Academy Awards, including best picture. "Most of all we had passion and we had belief, and our film shows if you have those two things, you have everything," said producer Christian Colson, surrounded by many members of the film's huge cast and crew. It was a supremely unlikely success story. "Millionaire," which combines elements of Bollywood melodrama and documentary grit, features no stars. It's set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, India, and one-third of the film is in Hindi.

Its initially reluctant director, Danny Boyle, is better known for brash British films such as "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." And the film almost went straight to DVD in America, thanks to the folding of initial studio Warner Independent Pictures (like CNN, it's a unit of Time Warner). But the film's orphaned, poverty-raised hero, played by Dev Patel, overcomes his challenges to earn a spot on the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" -- not necessarily to win money, but to connect with his lost love. On the show, he's told that perhaps he is a figure of destiny. "It is written," the show's smarmy host tells him, somewhat mockingly, after Patel's character aces several questions. List of winners, nominees "Slumdog's" filmmakers were jubilant at the wins, which also included Oscars for best director (Boyle), best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), score (A.R. Rahman), cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), song, sound mixing and film editing.

Boyle jumped up and down as he accepted his award, saying he'd told his children that if he ever won, he'd bounce like Tigger from "Winnie-the-Pooh." Rahman was equally appreciative. "All my life I've had a choice between hate and love, and I chose love, and now I'm here," he said. In Style: On the red carpet "Slumdog's" main competition, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," won just three Oscars, all in minor categories. The film had led the pack with 13 nominations. The rest of the Oscar broadcast alternated between host Hugh Jackman's smooth song-and-dance numbers, some comic moments from Steve Martin, Tina Fey and Ben Stiller, and politics, generally focused on gay rights and California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. Sean Penn won best actor for playing Harvey Milk in "Milk," the story of the first openly gay man elected to major public office. Penn earned laughs and applause for his speech. iReport.com: What do you think of the winners? "You commie homo-loving sons of guns," the sometimes truculent actor began, to laughter.

"I did not expect this, and I wanted to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often. But I am touched by the appreciation." After a series of thank-you's, he turned serious in talking about gay marriage. "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone." Dustin Lance Black, who won original screenplay for "Milk," also gave an impassioned speech in favor of gay rights. "I think [Milk] would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight ... 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." Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." His parents and sister accepted the award for the actor, who died in January 2008.

"This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here -- his peers -- within an industry he truly loved," said Ledger's father, Kim. Ledger is only the second actor to win a posthumous actor. Peter Finch won best actor for 1976's "Network" two months after he died in early 1977. Other winners included Kate Winslet, who won best actress for her performance in "The Reader"; Penelope Cruz, who won best supporting actress honor for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"; and "WALL-E," which won best animated feature. Most of the winners, if not foreordained, were expected. The evening's sole shock came with best foreign-language film, which went to the Japanese film "Departures." Among the films it beat were France's "The Class" and Israel's "Dances With Bashir," two of the best-reviewed films of the year. The Oscars moved at a steady pace, largely thanks to Jackman's brisk, jokey work.

Only the introductions to the four acting categories, in which previous winners read tributes to current nominees as if they were about to appear on "This Is Your Life," considerably slowed the show, which ran close to three and a half hours. At various points, Jackman cracked wise about downsizing -- "Next year," said the "Australia" star, "I'll be starring in a movie called 'New Zealand' " -- performed songs about each best picture nominee in various musical styles, and paid tribute to various celebrities as if pointing out VIPs in a nightclub. He even physically carried Anne Hathaway on stage to play Richard Nixon in a "Frost/Nixon" send-up. Blog: Behind the scenes But it was "Slumdog Millionaire" that carried the evening. At one point, Resul Pookutty, who won for sound mixing, seemed overwhelmed as he accepted his Oscar. "I dedicate this award to my country," he said. "Thank you, Academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me." Given the import of East meeting West, the movie business can say the same thing.

'Slumdog Millionaire' Wins Eight Oscars, Including Best Picture - The New York Times The New York Times Awards Season |A ‘Slumdog’ Kind of Night at the Oscar Ceremony Search Photo Credit Monica Almeida/The New York Times LOS ANGELES — “Slumdog Millionaire” and its director, Danny Boyle , with their modern-day fairy tale about hope and hard times in the slums of Mumbai, pushed aside big-studio contenders to sweep top honors at the 81st annual Academy Awards on Sunday. Accepting the best director award, Mr. Boyle paid tribute to the people of Mumbai, who figured by the thousands in his film. “You dwarf even this guy,” he said, looking at his Oscar statuette. Minutes later, “Slumdog Millionaire” was named best picture, helping give the evening a distinctly international tilt. Mr. Boyle, 52, has been known for putting an inspirational twist on often dark and sophisticated movies that have included “Trainspotting,” about heroin addiction, and “Sunshine,” about sacrifice on a mission to reignite the sun.

The many prizes for “Slumdog Millionaire” — whose writer, Simon Beaufoy, was honored for best adapted screenplay, among others prizes for the film — completed the film’s steady march past competitors like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” from Paramount Pictures and “Frost/Nixon” from Universal Pictures. Continue reading the main story The best picture award was a first for Fox Searchlight, which distributed “Slumdog Millionaire” in the United States. In the past, the studio appeared to narrowly miss the big prize with a series of comic best picture nominees that included “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Sideways” and “The Full Monty.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story In what was widely perceived to be one of the year’s few tight races, Sean Penn was named best actor for his performance in the title role in “Milk.” “You Commie, homo-loving sons of guns,” said Mr. Penn, who edged aside Brad Pitt and Mickey Rourke, among others, for the best actor Oscar, his second. Best actress honors went to Kate Winslet for her performance in “The Reader” as a German woman who becomes romantically involved with a teenager and later conceals her role in the Holocaust.

Hollywood has been taking on more and more of a global tilt with each passing year, but on this evening it was especially evident in the show and in the awards themselves. After Penélope Cruz won for best supporting actress for her role in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” she gave part of her speech in Spanish — she said backstage it was a dedication to the actors and people of Spain — and then suggested backstage that the movies had to grow beyond the bounds of strictly American stories. “We are all mixed together, and it has to be reflected in the cinema,” she said. The supporting actress award, the night’s first, was presented by no less than five past winners of the prize, Whoopi Goldberg, Tilda Swinton, Eva Marie Saint, Goldie Hawn and Anjelica Huston. The heavy show of star power was meant to make good on a promise that the broadcast would deliver entertainment value that reached far beyond that offered by the nominees. Heath Ledger , in a widely anticipated development, posthumously won the best supporting actor prize for his performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” Mr. Ledger’s parents afterward said his Oscar statuette would be held in trust by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Many other awards also went to those favored in the preshow betting. Dustin Lance Black won the best original screenplay Oscar for “Milk,” about the gay-rights advocate Harvey Milk. Mr. Black, who is openly gay, said Mr. Milk’s story had given him hope that one day he might “fall in love and even get married.” Photo Heath Ledger in a scene from "The Dark Knight." Credit Warner Brothers Pictures Mr. Beaufoy, whose “Slumdog” screenplay was based on a novel by Vikas Swarup, rattled off a list of places he never expected to be — “the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here” — as he accepted that award for his work on a film that captured many of the movie industry’s pre-Oscar honors and was widely viewed as a preordained winner of the evening’s final award, for best picture. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Also in the first wave of awards, “Wall-E” was named best animated film, though it had been denied the best picture nomination that its backers at the Walt Disney Company and its Pixar Animation unit had sought.

Overall, Sunday evening’s Oscar show became a struggle between the ambitions of a producing team — headed by the veteran film producer Laurence Mark and the filmmaker Bill Condon — that aimed for an evening full of surprises and the apparent determination of 5,810 voters in the academy to bestow honors largely where they were expected to go. A much-discussed new format for the show opened with a loosey-goosey showbiz number and proceeded along very self-referential lines, with lots of inside jokes that drew substantial laughs from the crowd inside the Kodak Theater here.

Hugh Jackman, the evening’s host, started with a very short comic monologue that poked fun at his own failure to get nominated for his performance in “Australia.” He then plunged into a comic song-and-dance number that poked fun at serious movies that were nominated for best picture, including “Milk” and “Frost/Nixon,” and less serious movies that were not, including “The Dark Knight.” An early appearance by the screenwriting winners helped give the evening a story line of its own: the awards categories were arranged in blocks intended to reflect the process of building a film, beginning, in the first segment, with a blinking cursor tapping out the beginning of a script on a blank screen. In another departure, the celebrity presenters were not identified in advance, partly in the hope that a larger-than-usual audience would tune in to see who actually showed up. Last year’s broadcast, with the smallest domestic audience in the ceremony’s history, had only about 32 million viewers in the United States. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Sign Up Privacy Policy The show’s stage sets, overseen by the New York architect David Rockwell, were bathed much of the time in blue and included a vast crystal curtain. And the show was punctuated by deliberate references to movies that had played well with ticket-buying audiences last year but were often not in the running for awards, the nominations for which went overwhelmingly to relatively little-seen movies. Advertisement Continue reading the main story To some extent, the show’s elements collided with themselves, as songs, cinematic retrospectives and actor after actor working Hollywood in-jokes crowded the screen. One sequence, directed by Bennett Miller, of “Capote,” was squeezed out altogether but was shown to the in-theater audience during a commercial break. In keeping with the self-referential tone of the night, the best live action short was teed up with a live action short from Judd Apatow, with Seth Rogen and James Franco, in character from their “Pineapple Express” film, in starring roles. “This is almost a surreal moment to me,” said the German filmmaker Jochen Alexander Freydank as he accepted the award for his “Spielzeugland,” which had not much to do with the antics that preceded it.

A reconfigured auditorium made it much easier for the celebrities to mingle during commercial breaks. The mood was lively and chaotic. Mr. Rourke sat on the edge of the stage kicking his legs during several breaks, with a stage manager coming to shoo him back to his seat. Mr. Jackman came across less as comic than as cabaret performer. Along the way, he did his best to try to keep the troops entertained during the commercial breaks, serenading his dad in the audience, reading a note from his wife (“you’re doing good so far, babe”) and even going into the aisles to hand out cookies. Photo Penelope Cruz won best supporting actress for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Credit From left: J.

Emilio Flores for The New York Times; The Weinstein Company Still, all the showmanship seemed only to highlight the basic challenge of a ceremony whose producers were hoping to capitalize on movies’ strong commercial appeal: The best picture candidates — “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon, ” “Milk,” “The Reader” and “Slumdog Millionaire” — altogether had fewer than half the viewers of “The Dark Knight,” an audience favorite that was praised by many critics but still did not make the cut. In the end, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which had been the evening’s most-nominated film, with 13 nominations in all, won for its art direction and makeup but not in the crucial acting and directing categories. “Frost/Nixon,” directed by Ron Howard, was the only best picture nominee to come away with no prizes at all. “Slumdog Millionaire,” though it had no actors nominated for prizes, swept many awards other than those on the top line, including prizes for cinematography, sound mixing, score and film editing.

“Slumdog’s” eight Oscars was the largest total won by a single film since “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won 11 in 2004. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Hopes of using the evening to celebrate the enduring popularity of films were complicated by the grim economic realities of the moment. The academy has been trying to celebrate a year in which movie attendance remained buoyant without looking as if the industry is out of touch with the misery elsewhere. Walking in among the stars who lined the red carpet, Harvey Weinstein, a founder of the Weinstein Company, said a bit of glamour was needed to help “overcome the malaise” that hung over matters more real. “If we and the movies don’t create an illusion, we’ve failed,” said Mr.

Weinstein, whose company released “The Reader.” Phillipe Petit, the French tightrope walker from “Man on Wire” — which won for best documentary feature — walked into the ceremony on the carpet and said, “I haven’t been looking at the red carpet, I’ve been looking above and thinking of what it would be like to be on a wire above all this.” In one of the night’s few surprises, the best foreign language film went to “Departures,” a drama about an unemployed cellist, from Japan. Many observers had predicted “Waltz With Bashir,” an Israeli animated drama about that country’s past war in Lebanon, would take that prize. In addition, the standard “In Memoriam” segment took on special significance this year because one of the nominees for best supporting actor, Mr. Ledger, died unexpectedly of a drug overdose early last year, before “Dark Knight” was even released. Queen Latifah sang a familiar ballad, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” from the Broadway musical “Right This Way,” during the memorial segment. The glittering event at the Kodak is generally a pretty grown-up affair, but this year children from halfway around the world made a splashy appearance.

The kids from “Slumdog Millionaire” had no trouble adjusting to the head-snapping cultural shift from India to the red carpet. “I want to see Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro, and Jack Nicholson, Robert Downey,” said Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, who played the young Salim in the film. “Seeing any of them would be cool.” He was surrounded by seven co-stars who played the main characters at various ages. When asked how they felt about their film being among the nominated, they all backed up as if on cue and shouted, “Jai ho,” which translates roughly as “Victory.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Another child from India was Pinki Sonkar, whose cleft palate repair was the story behind “Smile Pinki,” which won the documentary short film category. Jerry Lewis, the 82-year-old comedian who has devoted much of his time to raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from Eddie Murphy, who had reprised one of Mr. Lewis’s most famous roles, “The Nutty Professor.” “The humility I feel will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Mr. Lewis said.

“To all of you people from the movie business, it is such a joy being part of you and of everything you do.” Correction: February 24, 2009 An article on Monday about the Academy Awards ceremony misstated part of a comment by Danny Boyle, director of “Slumdog Millionaire,” in some editions. Mr. Boyle, saluting the people of Mumbai, where the film is set, said, “You dwarf even this guy,” referring to the Oscar statuette  not “You dwarf even the sky.” Brooks Barnes contributed reporting. A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: It’s a ‘Slumdog’ Kind of Night at the Oscar Ceremony. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe 'Slumdog Millionaire' wins Oscars for best picture, director | masslive.com 'Slumdog Millionaire' wins Oscars for best picture, director "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Academy Awards, including an Oscar for best picture.

By DAVID GERMAIN Associated Press "Slumdog Millionaire" is the Academy Awards champion, wrapping up its ghetto-to-glory story by winning best picture and seven other Oscars, including the directing honor for Danny Boyle. A story of hope amid squalor in Mumbai, India, "Slumdog Millionaire" also had wins that include adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and both music Oscars, score and song. Director Boyle offered warm gratitude to the people of Mumbai, saying they "dwarf even this guy" as he held up his Oscar statue. The other top winners: Kate Winslet, best actress for the Holocaust-themed drama "The Reader"; Sean Penn, best actor for the title role of "Milk"; Heath Ledger, supporting actor for "The Dark Knight"; and Penelope Cruz, supporting actress for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Penn's first words upon taking the stage to accept his prize for playing the slain gay-rights pioneer were: "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns." Winslet, meantime, has taken best actress for the Holocaust-themed saga "The Reader," while best-picture favorite "Slumdog Millionaire" has cruised to eight Oscars, including best director for Danny Boyle and best picture.

A five-time loser at the Oscars previously, Winslet triumphed for her role as a former concentration camp guard in an affair with a teenager. Ledger is the supporting-actor winner for his demented reinvention of Batman villain the Joker in "The Dark Knight," becoming only the second actor ever to win an Oscar posthumously. The supporting-actress trophy has gone to Cruz as a tempestuous artist in Woody Allen's Spanish romance "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Ledger's Oscar for the Warner Bros. blockbuster was accepted by Ledger's parents and sister on behalf of the actor's 3-year-old 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." Since his death, the 28-year-old Ledger has gained a mythic aura akin to James Dean, another rising star who died well before his time.

The Joker was his final completed role, a casting choice that initially drew scorn from fans who thought Ledger would not be up to the task given Jack Nicholson's gleefully campy rendition of the character in 1989's "Batman." In the months before Ledger's death, buzz on his wickedly chaotic performance swelled as marketing for the movie centered on the Joker and the perverted clown makeup he hid behind. Ledger's death fanned a frenzy of anticipation for "The Dark Knight," which had a record $158.4 million opening weekend last summer. The previous posthumous Oscar recipient was Peter Finch, who won best actor for 1976's "Network" two months after his death. "Slumdog Millionaire" was making good on its rags-to-riches roots, claiming the adapted-screenplay prize for Simon Beaufoy, as well as the cinematography, film-editing and sound-mixing Oscars, plus both music honors for score and song. The Harvey Milk film biography "Milk" won for original screenplay. With two of the three song nominations, "Slumdog" won for "Jai Ho," the rousing Bollywood number that closes the film.

"Slumdog" composer A.R. Rahman, a dual Oscar winner for the score and song, said the movie was about "optimism and the power of hope." "All my life, I've had a choice of hate and love. I chose love, and I'm here," Rahman said. The epic love story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which led with 13 nominations, had three wins, for visual effects, art direction and makeup. "The Dark Knight" had a second win, for sound editing. Cruz triumphed as a woman in a steamy three-way affair with her ex-husband and an American woman in Allen's romance. "Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one," Cruz said, who went on with warm thanks to Allen. "Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank you for having written all these years some of the greatest characters for women." It's the fifth time an Allen film has earned a performer a supporting-acting honor.

Cruz joins past Allen collaborators Dianne Wiest, a dual Oscar winner for "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Bullets Over Broadway"; Michael Caine for "Hannah and Her Sisters"; and Mira Sorvino for "Mighty Aphrodite." "Slumdog" writer Beaufoy, who adapted the script from Vikas Swarup's novel "Q&A," said there are places he never could imagine being. "For me, it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium, and here," Beaufoy said. "Milk" writer Dustin Lance Black offered an impassioned tribute to Milk, the pioneering gay-rights politician who was slain 30 years ago. "If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told they are less than by the churches, by the government, 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," Black said.

"Man on Wire," James Marsh's examination of tight-rope walker Philippe Petit's dazzling stroll between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, was chosen as best documentary. The supporting-acting categories were presented by five past winners of the same awards. Cruz's award was delivered by last year's winner, Tilda Swinton, plus Eva Marie Saint, Anjelica Huston, Whoopi Goldberg and Goldie Hawn. Ledger's was presented by Kevin Kline, Alan Arkin, Joel Grey, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christopher Walken. It was a much different style for the Oscars as each past recipient offered personal tributes to one of the nominees, without clips of the nominated performances. Awards usually are done in chit-chat style between a couple of celebrity presenters. After last year's Oscars delivered their worst TV ratings ever, producers this time aimed to liven up the show with some surprises and new ways of presenting awards. Rather than hiring a comedian such as past hosts Jon Stewart or Chris Rock, the producers went with actor and song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman, who has been host of Broadway's Tony Awards.

Instead of the usual standup routine, Jackman did an engaging musical number to open the show, saluting nominated films with a clever tribute. Offering a nod to "Slumdog Millionaire," Jackman crooned, "Just a humble slumdog, sitting in a chair, of a millionaire ..." He hauled best-actress nominee Anne Hathaway on-stage to stand in as Richard Nixon in a gag tune about fellow best-picture nominee "Frost/Nixon" and asked the question in song - why don't comic-book movies get nominated? - a dig at Oscar voters' best-picture snub of "The Dark Knight." It was something of an inside joke, since Jackman himself has starred in the "X-Men" comic-book adaptations and this summer's "Wolverine" spinoff. Jackman later did a medley staged by his "Australia" director Baz Luhrmann with such performers as Beyonce Knowles and "High School Musical" stars Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. "Slumdog Millionaire" went into the evening with 10 nominations and an unstoppable run of prizes from earlier film honors.

In keeping with its theme of bottomless optimism amid adversity, "Slumdog Millionaire" led a charmed life, dodging a flirtation with straight-to-DVD release, winning over critics and climbing toward $100 million hit status. The film won top honors at all key earlier awards ceremonies. Shot in India on a modest budget of $14 million, "Slumdog Millionaire" traces the life of a Mumbai orphan who overcomes poverty, betrayal, police torture and other hardships on his way to a reunion with his childhood love and success on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The film nearly got lost in the shuffle as Warner Bros. folded its art-house banner, Warner Independent, which had been slated to distribute "Slumdog Millionaire." It was rescued from the direct-to-video scrap heap when Fox Searchlight stepped in to release the film. Entertainment Listings Oscars 2009: Danny Boyle wins best director for Slumdog Millionaire - Telegraph Oscars 2009: Danny Boyle wins best director for Slumdog Millionaire Danny Boyle has picked up the coveted best director Oscar for his rags-to-riches Mumbai-set tale Slumdog Millionaire.

By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles 5:14AM GMT 23 Feb 2009 The British filmmaker's triumph continued his movie's winning streak, as the film won best picture, taking its Oscar haul to eight. It has now beaten Shakespeare in Love, the last British film to dominate the Academy Awards. Boyle, 52, bounded on to the stage to accept his first Oscar, telling the audience he had long ago promised his children that "if this miracle ever happened" he would receive in the spirit of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. He thanked the Academy for being "so generous to us this evening", and praised this year's Oscar broadcast as "a beautiful show" and "bloody wonderful". The director, who had never been nominated for an Oscar before, is known for directing a number of low-budget, cult films including Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and 28 Days Later. Boyle praised the actors and crew from Mumbai who helped him make the film, which was almost passed over for cinema release and has now grossed over 100 million dollars at the box office.

Related Articles The 81st Academy Awards Memorable Moments | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Home / Oscars / Oscars® Ceremonies / Oscars® Ceremonies / The 81st Academy Awards Memorable Moments The 81st Academy Awards Memorable Moments Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire Slumdog Millionaire also won Academy Awards for Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), Directing (Danny Boyle), Film Editing (Chris Dickens), Music – Original Score (A.R. Rahman), Music – Original Song (Jai Ho, A.R. Rahman, music, and Gulzar, lyric), Sound Mixing (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, and Resul Pookutty), and Writing – Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy). Hugh Jackman was the host. Slumdog Millionaire received eight of the ten Oscars for which it was nominated. The acting awards were presented in memorable fashion as five previous Oscar winners in each category took turns introducing the nominees and commending their work. Heath Ledger posthumously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight. His father, mother, and sister accepted the award on his behalf.

When Departures won the Foreign Language Film category, it marked the first time that Japan had received an Oscar since 1955’s Samurai, The Legend of Musashi, for which it received an Honorary Award. On March 18, 2008, Anthony Minghella, who won Best Director for 1996’s The English Patient and received three other Oscar nominations, died in London at the age of 54. On May 26, 2008, film director, producer, and actor Sydney Pollack, who received two Oscars for 1985’s Out of Africa and five other Academy Award nominations, died at the age of 73 in Los Angeles. Pollack was partners with Anthony Minghella in the production company Mirage Enterprises, which co-produced the 2008 Best Picture nominee The Reader. On September 26, 2008, Best Actor winner Paul Newman, who also received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1993 for his well-known philanthropy, died at the age of 83 at his home in Westport, Connecticut.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Jerry Lewis, actor, director, writer and producer. Raised more than $2 billion dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Question: Who won an Oscar for directing "Slumdog Millionaire", which also won an Oscar for Best Picture?
Answer: Danny Boyle