2012 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

60 films were recognised at the 2012 Academy Awards, across 24 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was The Artist, with 5 awards, ahead of Hugo with 5. The categories below run from Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role and Actor in a Supporting 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

Best Picture

The Artist(2011)
Thomas Langmann, Producer
Winner
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close(2011)
Scott Rudin, Producer
Hugo(2011)
Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
Midnight in Paris(2011)
Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
Moneyball(2011)
Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
The Descendants(2011)
Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
The Help(2011)
Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
The Tree of Life(2011)
Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers
War Horse(2011)
Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

The Artist(2011)
Jean Dujardin
Winner
A Better Life(2011)
Demián Bichir
Moneyball(2011)
Brad Pitt
The Descendants(2011)
George Clooney
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy(2011)
Gary Oldman

Actor in a Supporting Role

Beginners(2011)
Christopher Plummer
Winner
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close(2011)
Max von Sydow
Moneyball(2011)
Jonah Hill
My Week with Marilyn(2011)
Kenneth Branagh
Warrior(2011)
Nick Nolte

Actress in a Leading Role

The Iron Lady(2011)
Meryl Streep
Winner
Albert Nobbs(2011)
Glenn Close
My Week with Marilyn(2011)
Michelle Williams
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
Rooney Mara
The Help(2011)
Viola Davis

Actress in a Supporting Role

The Help(2011)
Octavia Spencer
Winner
Albert Nobbs(2011)
Janet McTeer
Bridesmaids(2011)
Melissa McCarthy
The Artist(2011)
Bérénice Bejo
The Help(2011)
Jessica Chastain

Animated Feature Film

Rango(2011)
Gore Verbinski
Winner
A Cat in Paris(2010)
Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita(2010)
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2(2011)
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Puss in Boots(2011)
Chris Miller

Art Direction

Hugo(2011)
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Winner
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011)
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Midnight in Paris(2011)
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
The Artist(2011)
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
War Horse(2011)
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

Hugo(2011)
Robert Richardson
Winner
The Artist(2011)
Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
Jeff Cronenweth
The Tree of Life(2011)
Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse(2011)
Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

The Artist(2011)
Mark Bridges
Winner
Anonymous(2011)
Lisy Christl
Hugo(2011)
Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre(2011)
Michael O'Connor
W.E.(2011)
Arianne Phillips

Directing

The Artist(2011)
Michel Hazanavicius
Winner
Hugo(2011)
Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris(2011)
Woody Allen
The Descendants(2011)
Alexander Payne
The Tree of Life(2011)
Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

Undefeated(2011)
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas
Winner
Hell and Back Again(2011)
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front(2011)
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory(2012)
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Pina(2011)
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

Documentary (Short Subject)

Saving Face(2012)
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Winner
God Is the Bigger Elvis(2012)
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad(2011)
James Spione
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement(2011)
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom(2011)
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Winner
Hugo(2011)
Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball(2011)
Christopher Tellefsen
The Artist(2011)
Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants(2011)
Kevin Tent

International Feature Film

A Separation(2011)
Iran
Winner
Bullhead(2011)
Belgium
Footnote(2011)
Israel
In Darkness(2011)
Poland
Monsieur Lazhar(2011)
Canada

Music (Original Score)

The Artist(2011)
Ludovic Bource
Winner
Hugo(2011)
Howard Shore
The Adventures of Tintin(2011)
John Williams
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy(2011)
Alberto Iglesias
War Horse(2011)
John Williams

Short Film (Animated)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore(2012)
William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
Winner
A Morning Stroll(2011)
Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
La luna(2012)
Enrico Casarosa
Sunday(2011)
Dimanche/Sunday
Wild Life(2011)
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Sound Editing

Hugo(2011)
Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Winner
Drive(2011)
Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
Ren Klyce
Transformers: Dark of the Moon(2011)
Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse(2011)
Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

Hugo(2011)
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Winner
Moneyball(2011)
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(2011)
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
Transformers: Dark of the Moon(2011)
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse(2011)
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

Hugo(2011)
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning
Winner
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011)
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
Real Steel(2011)
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes(2011)
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon(2011)
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

The Descendants(2011)
Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Winner
Hugo(2011)
Screenplay by John Logan
Moneyball(2011)
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
The Ides of March(2011)
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy(2011)
Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Midnight in Paris(2011)
Written by Woody Allen
Winner
A Separation(2011)
Written by Asghar Farhadi
Bridesmaids(2011)
Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Margin Call(2011)
Written by J.C. Chandor
The Artist(2011)
Written by Michel Hazanavicius

Short Film (Live Action)

The Shore(2011)
Terry George and Oorlagh George
Winner
Pentecost(2010)
Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
Raju(2011)
Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
Time Freak(2011)
Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

Makeup

The Iron Lady(2011)
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Winner
Albert Nobbs(2011)
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(2011)
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin

Music (Original Song)

The Muppets(2011)
"Man Or Muppet" in The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
Winner
Rio(2011)
Real In Rio in "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett