2008 Academy Awards

Updated December 21, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

The 2008 Academy Awards were presented on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre. All of the nominees are listed below; the Oscar winners are in bold.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Picture

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

WALL-E

Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn, Milk

Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Actress in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie, Changeling

Melissa Leo, Frozen River

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Kate Winslet, The Reader

Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin, Milk

Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Doubt

Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis, Doubt

Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Directing

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant, Milk

Stephen Daldry, The Reader

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Writing

Original Screenplay	Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
	Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
	Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
	Dustin Lance Black, Milk
	Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, WALL-E
Adapted Screenplay	Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
	John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
	Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
	David Hare, The Reader
	Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Cinematography

Tom Stern, Changeling

Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight

Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, The Reader

Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

Art Direction

Changeling, Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo

The Dark Knight, Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando

The Duchess Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway

Revolutionary Road Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Sound

Editing	Richard King, The Dark Knight
	Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes, Iron Man
	Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers, Slumdog Millionaire
	Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood, WALL-E
	Wylie Stateman, Wanted
Mixing	David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
	Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick, The Dark Knight
	Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty, Slumdog Millionaire
	Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt, WALL-E
	Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt, Wanted

Music

Song	"Down to Earth" from WALL-E; Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
	*"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire; Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar*
	"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire; Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya
Original Score	Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
	James Newton Howard, Defiance
	Danny Elfman, Milk
	A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
	Thomas Newman, WALL-E

Film Editing

Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Lee Smith, The Dark Knight

Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, Frost/Nixon

Elliot Graham, Milk

Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design

Catherine Martin, Australia

Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Michael O'Connor, The Duchess

Danny Glicker, Milk

Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road

Makeup

Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan, The Dark Knight

Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz, Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Visual Effects

Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin, The Dark Knight

John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan, Iron Man

Short Films

Animated	La Maison en Petits Cubes, Kunio Kato
	Lavatory-Lovestory, Konstantin Bronzit
	Oktapodi, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
	Presto, Doug Sweetland
	This Way Up, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Feature	Auf der Strecke (On the Line), Reto Caffi
	Manon on the Asphalt, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
	New Boy, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
	The Pig, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
	Spielzeugland (Toyland), Jochen Alexander Freydank

Documentary

Short Subject	The Conscience of Nhem En, Steven Okazaki
	The Final Inch, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
	Smile Pinki, Megan Mylan
	The Witness—From the Balcony of Room 306, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Feature	The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
	Encounters at the End of the World, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
	The Garden, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
	Man on Wire, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
	Trouble the Water, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal