MUMBAI: Martin Scorsese has finally won an Oscar for Best Director for The Departed at the 79th Academy Awards. Scorsese had waited for a statuette for almost 27 years since his first nomination. He had previously been nominated for Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1989) for Goodfellas (1991), Gangs of New York, (2003) and for The Aviator (2005).
Popular contender for Best Actress went to Helen Mirren for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, whereas Forest Whitaker picked up his first Oscar statue for Best Actor in a lead for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland..
Mirren had been nominated in 1995 for The Madness of King George and again in 2002 for Gosford Park. On the other hand, this was Whitaker’s first nomination for an Academy Award. His past films comprised Good Morning Vietnam, The Color of Money, Panic Room, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Taking home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Little Miss Sunshine, was Alan Arkin. Former American Idol contestant turned Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson proved life is bigger than reality television. She bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Dreamgirls.
Graham King collected an Oscar for The Departed for the Best Picture. King had been nominated in 2005 for The Aviator but lost to Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby.
In the Best Foreign Language Film Of The Year, Deepa Mehta’s Water starring Seema Biswas, John Abraham and Lisa Ray, which was an entry from Canada, lost out to German movie The Lives Of Others.
The complete list of winners is as follows:
Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
Forest Whitaker – The Last King Of Scotland
Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine
Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
Helen Mirren – The Queen
Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year
Happy Feet
Achievement In Art Direction
Pan’s Labyrinth
Achievement In Cinematography
Pan’s Labyrinth
Achievement In Costume Design
Marie Antoinette
Achievement In Directing
The Departed
Best Documentary Feature
An Inconvenient Truth
Best Documentary Short Subject
The Blood Of Yingzhou District
Achievement In Film Editing
The Departed
Best Foreign Language Film Of The Year
The Lives Of Others
Achievement In Makeup
Pan’s Labyrinth
Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score)
Babel
Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)
“I Need To Wake Up” – An Inconvenient Truth
Best Motion Picture Of The Year
The Departed
Best Animated Short Film
The Danish Poet
Best Live Action Short Film
West Bank Story
Achievement In Sound Editing
Letters From Iwo Jima
Achievement In Sound Mixing
Dreamgirls
Achievement In Visual Effects
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Adapted Screenplay
The Departed
Original Screenplay
Little Miss Sunshine
