2009 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

50 films were recognised at the 2009 Academy Awards, across 24 categories. 13 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Slumdog Millionaire, with 8 awards, ahead of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with 3. The categories below run from Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress in a Leading Role to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

Actor in a Leading Role

Milk(2008)
Sean Penn
Winner
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Frank Langella
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Brad Pitt
The Visitor(2008)
Richard Jenkins
The Wrestler(2008)
Mickey Rourke

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Dark Knight(2008)
Heath Ledger
Winner
Doubt(2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Milk(2008)
Josh Brolin
Revolutionary Road(2008)
Michael Shannon
Tropic Thunder(2008)
Robert Downey Jr.

Actress in a Leading Role

The Reader(2008)
Kate Winslet
Winner
Changeling(2008)
Angelina Jolie
Doubt(2008)
Meryl Streep
Frozen River(2008)
Melissa Leo
Rachel Getting Married(2008)
Anne Hathaway

Actress in a Supporting Role

Vicky Cristina Barcelona(2008)
Penélope Cruz
Winner
Doubt(2008)
Amy Adams
Doubt(2008)
Viola Davis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Taraji P. Henson
The Wrestler(2008)
Marisa Tomei

Art Direction

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
Winner
Changeling(2008)
Art Direction: James J. Murakami; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Revolutionary Road(2008)
Art Direction: Kristi Zea; Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
The Dark Knight(2008)
Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Peter Lando
The Duchess(2008)
Art Direction: Michael Carlin; Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway

Best Picture

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Christian Colson, Producer
Winner
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
Milk(2008)
Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
The Reader(2008)
Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers

Cinematography

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Anthony Dod Mantle
Winner
Changeling(2008)
Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight(2008)
Wally Pfister
The Reader(2008)
Chris Menges and Roger Deakins

Costume Design

The Duchess(2008)
Michael O'Connor
Winner
Australia(2008)
Catherine Martin
Milk(2008)
Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road(2008)
Albert Wolsky
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Jacqueline West

Directing

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Danny Boyle
Winner
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Ron Howard
Milk(2008)
Gus Van Sant
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
David Fincher
The Reader(2008)
Stephen Daldry

Documentary (Feature)

Man on Wire(2008)
James Marsh and Simon Chinn
Winner
Encounters at the End of the World(2007)
Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
The Betrayal – Nerakhoon(2008)
Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
The Garden(2008)
Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water(2008)
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Film Editing

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Chris Dickens
Winner
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
Milk(2008)
Elliot Graham
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
The Dark Knight(2008)
Lee Smith

International Feature Film

Departures(2008)
Japan
Winner
Revanche(2008)
Austria
The Baader Meinhof Complex(2008)
Germany
The Class(2008)
Waltz with Bashir(2008)
Israel

Music (Original Score)

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
A.R. Rahman
Winner
Defiance(2008)
James Newton Howard
Milk(2008)
Danny Elfman
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Alexandre Desplat
WALL·E(2008)
Thomas Newman

Short Film (Animated)

La Maison en Petits Cubes(2008)
Kunio Kato
Winner
Lavatory Lovestory(2006)
Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi(2008)
Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
Presto(2008)
Doug Sweetland
This Way Up(2008)
Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Short Film (Live Action)

Toyland(2007)
Jochen Alexander Freydank
Winner
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)(2007)
Reto Caffi
Manon on the Asphalt(2007)
Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
New Boy(2007)
Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
The Pig(2008)

Sound Editing

The Dark Knight(2008)
Richard King
Winner
Iron Man(2008)
Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
WALL·E(2008)
Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
Wanted(2008)
Wylie Stateman

Sound Mixing

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight(2008)
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WALL·E(2008)
Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
Wanted(2008)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Winner
Doubt(2008)
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
The Reader(2008)
Screenplay by David Hare

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Milk(2008)
Written by Dustin Lance Black
Winner
Frozen River(2008)
Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky(2008)
Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges(2008)
Written by Martin McDonagh
WALL·E(2008)
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Documentary (Short Subject)

Smile Pinki(2008)
Megan Mylan
Winner
The Conscience of Nhem En(2008)
Steven Okazaki
The Final Inch(2009)
Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306(2008)
Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Animated Feature Film

WALL·E(2008)
Andrew Stanton
Winner
Bolt(2008)
Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda(2008)
John Stevenson and Mark Osborne

Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Greg Cannom
Winner
Hellboy II: The Golden Army(2008)
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
The Dark Knight(2008)
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan

Music (Original Song)

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Jai Ho in "Slumdog Millionaire" Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
O Saya in "Slumdog Millionaire" Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
WALL·E(2008)
Down To Earth in "WALL-E" Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyric by Peter Gabriel

Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
Winner
Iron Man(2008)
John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
The Dark Knight(2008)
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin

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