83rd Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California.
The King’s Speech and its star Colin Firth were the toast of Hollywood last night, winning best film, best actor, best director and best original screenplay.
Although it was pretty much a given that Firth was going to collect an Oscar for his powerful portrait of King George VI, and that David Seidler would win for best original screenplay, the wins for best director and best film weren’t as assured as people believed.
And while Natalie Portman wiped tears from her eyes as she celebrated her best actress win, and Melissa Leo and Christian Bale both won for The Fighter, there was no doubting the night belonged to the British film.
Few in the UK wanted to back The King’s Speech, but a band of producers and film-makers slashed their usual rates to get it made. With Film 4 and BBC Films both refusing funding, the UK Film Council put up a large part of the money, along with London-based Momentum Pictures and Harvey Weinstein’s Weinstein film company.
BEST PICTURE
The King’s Speech
BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth [The King’s Speech]
BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman [Black Swan]
BEST DIRECTOR
Tom Hooper [The King’s Speech]
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa Leo [The Fighter]
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale [The Fighter]
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips [Alice in Wonderland]
COSTUME DESIGN
Colleen Atwood [Alice in Wonderland]
ART DIRECTION
Robert Stromberg (production design), Karen O’Hara (set decoration) [Alice n Wonderland]
FOREIGN FILM
In a Better World [Denmark]
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Wally Pfister [Inception]
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Strangers No More
SHORT FILM
Luke Matheny [God Of Love]
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Inside Job
FILM EDITING
Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
MAKEUP
The Wolfman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
We Belong Together, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman [Toy Story 3]
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Lost Thing
ANIMATED FILM
Toy Story 3
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Aaron Sorkin [The Social Network]
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
David Seidler [The King’s Speech]
ORIGINAL SCORE
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross [The Social Network]
SOUND MIXING
Gary A Rizzo & Ed Novick [Inception]
SOUND EDITING
Richard King [Inception]
