78th Academy Awards

The nominees for the 78th Academy Awards were announced on January 31, 2006, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters by Sid Ganis, president of the Academy, and actress Mira Sorvino.[9] Brokeback Mountain earned the most nominations with eight total; Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Memoirs of a Geisha tied for second with six nominations each.[10] All five Best Picture nominees received corresponding Best Director nominations (the fourth occurrence in Oscar history since the Best Picture nominees roster was limited to five films).[11]

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 5, 2006.[12] Several notable achievements by multiple individuals and films occurred during the ceremony. Crash was the first Best Picture winner since 1976's Rocky to win only three Oscars.[13] Best Director winner Ang Lee became the first non-Caucasian winner of that category.[14] For this first time since the 34th ceremony held in 1962, all four acting winners were first-time nominees.[15][16] At age 20, Keira Knightley was the second-youngest Best Actress nominee for her performance as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride & Prejudice. Best Supporting Actor winner George Clooney was the fifth person to receive acting, directing, and screenwriting nominations in the same year and the first person to achieve this feat for two different films.[17] By virtue of his nominations for both Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich, composer John Williams earned a total of 45 nominations tying him with Alfred Newman as the second most nominated individual in Oscar history.^[a][18] "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" became the second rap song to win Best Original Song and the first such song to be performed at an Oscars ceremony.[19]

Awards

Paul Haggis, Best Original Screenplay co-winner and Best Picture co-winner

Ang Lee, Best Director winner

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Best Actor winner

Reese Witherspoon, Best Actress winner

George Clooney, Best Supporting Actor winner

Rachel Weisz, Best Supporting Actress winner

Nick Park, Best Animated Feature winner

Gavin Hood, Best Foreign Language Film winner

Martin McDonagh, Best Live Action Short Film winner

Gustavo Santaolalla, Best Original Score winner

Richard Taylor, Best Visual Effects co-winner

Juicy J (Jordan Houston), Best Original Song co-writer

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().[20]

Best Picture Crash – Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, producers Brokeback Mountain – Diana Ossana and James Schamus, producers Capote – Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, producers Good Night, and Good Luck – Grant Heslov, producer Munich – Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, producers	Best Director Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain Bennett Miller – Capote Paul Haggis – Crash George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck Steven Spielberg – Munich
Best Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote as Truman Capote Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow as DJay Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain as Ennis Del Mar Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line as Johnny Cash David Strathairn – Good Night, and Good Luck as Edward R. Murrow	Best Actress Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line as June Carter Cash Judi Dench – Mrs Henderson Presents as Laura Henderson Felicity Huffman – Transamerica as Sabrina "Bree" Osbourne / Stanley Schupak Keira Knightley – Pride & Prejudice as Elizabeth Bennet Charlize Theron – North Country as Josey Aimes
Best Supporting Actor George Clooney – Syriana as Bob Barnes Matt Dillon – Crash as Officer John Ryan Paul Giamatti – Cinderella Man as Joe Gould Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain as Jack Twist William Hurt – A History of Violence as Richie Cusack	Best Supporting Actress Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener as Tessa Quayle Amy Adams – Junebug as Ashley Johnsten Catherine Keener – Capote as Nelle Harper Lee Frances McDormand – North Country as Glory Dodge Michelle Williams – Brokeback Mountain as Alma Beers Del Mar
Best Original Screenplay Crash – Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco Good Night, and Good Luck – George Clooney and Grant Heslov Match Point – Woody Allen The Squid and the Whale – Noah Baumbach Syriana – Stephen Gaghan	Best Adapted Screenplay Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana based on the short story by Annie Proulx Capote – Dan Futterman based on the book by Gerald Clarke The Constant Gardener – Jeffrey Caine based on the novel by John le Carré A History of Violence – Josh Olson based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke Munich – Tony Kushner and Eric Roth based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas
Best Animated Feature Film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – Nick Park and Steve Box Howl's Moving Castle – Hayao Miyazaki Tim Burton's Corpse Bride – Mike Johnson and Tim Burton	Best Foreign Language Film Tsotsi (South Africa) – Gavin Hood Don't Tell (Italy) – Cristina Comencini Joyeux Noël (France) – Christian Carion Paradise Now (The Palestinian Territories) – Hany Abu-Assad[b] Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Germany) – Marc Rothemund
Best Documentary Feature March of the Penguins – Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau Darwin's Nightmare – Hubert Sauper Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot Murderball – Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro Street Fight – Marshall Curry	Best Documentary Short Subject A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin – Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club – Dan Krauss God Sleeps in Rwanda – Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman The Mushroom Club – Steven Okazaki
Best Live Action Short Film Six Shooter – Martin McDonagh Cashback – Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager The Last Farm – Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson Our Time Is Up – Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente The Runaway (Ausreißer) – Ulrike Grote	Best Animated Short Film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation – John Canemaker and Peggy Stern 9 – Shane Acker Badgered – Sharon Colman The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello – Anthony Lucas One Man Band – Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews
Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain – Gustavo Santaolalla The Constant Gardener – Alberto Iglesias Memoirs of a Geisha – John Williams Munich – John Williams Pride & Prejudice – Dario Marianelli	Best Original Song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow – Music and Lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard "In the Deep" from Crash – Music by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker; Lyrics by Kathleen "Bird" York "Travelin’ Thru" from Transamerica – Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
Best Sound Editing King Kong – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn Memoirs of a Geisha – Wylie Stateman War of the Worlds – Richard King	Best Sound Mixing King Kong – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson Memoirs of a Geisha – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett Walk the Line – Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter Kurland War of the Worlds – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ron Judkins
Best Art Direction Memoirs of a Geisha – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau Good Night, and Good Luck – Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan King Kong – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright Pride & Prejudice – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer	Best Cinematography Memoirs of a Geisha – Dion Beebe Batman Begins – Wally Pfister Brokeback Mountain – Rodrigo Prieto Good Night, and Good Luck – Robert Elswit The New World – Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Makeup The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Howard Berger and Tami Lane Cinderella Man – David LeRoy Anderson and Lance Anderson Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley	Best Costume Design Memoirs of a Geisha – Colleen Atwood Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Gabriella Pescucci Mrs Henderson Presents – Sandy Powell Pride & Prejudice – Jacqueline Durran Walk the Line – Arianne Phillips
Best Film Editing Crash – Hughes Winborne Cinderella Man – Mike Hill and Dan Hanley The Constant Gardener – Claire Simpson Munich – Michael Kahn Walk the Line – Michael McCusker	Best Visual Effects King Kong – Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar War of the Worlds – Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra and Dan Sudick

The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.[22][23][24]

Jon Stewart hosted the 78th Academy Awards.

Despite the negative reception from the preceding year's ceremony, the Academy rehired Gilbert Cates to oversee production of the awards gala.[4] However, in an article published in The New York Times, it was stated that 2005 host Chris Rock would not return to host the show.[26] According to a statement released by his publicist, "He didn't want to do it in perpetuity, He'd like to do it again down the road."[26] Furthermore, many media outlets speculated that several AMPAS members felt uncomfortable with Rock's disparaging comments about Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and Tobey Maguire.[27][28] Initially, Cates sought actor and veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal to host the ceremony again. However, Crystal declined the offer citing his commitment to his one-man comedy show 700 Sundays.[29][30]

In January 2006, Cates announced that actor, comedian, and talk show host Jon Stewart, who had previously hosted two consecutive Grammy Awards ceremonies in 2001 and 2002, was chosen as host of the 2006 telecast.[31] Cates explained the decision to hire him saying, "My wife and I watch him every night. Jon is the epitome of a perfect host — smart, engaging, irreverent and funny."[32] In a statement, Stewart expressed that he was honored to be selected to emcee the program, jokingly adding, "Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can't help but be a little disappointed with the choice. It appears to be another sad attempt to smoke out Billy Crystal."[33]

Several other people and companies participated in the production of the ceremony. Bill Conti served as musical supervisor for the telecast.[34] Media firm The Ant Farm produced a thirty-second trailer promoting the broadcast featuring clips highlighting past Oscar winners to the tune of the song "Our Lives" by The Calling.[35] Previous Oscar hosts such as Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin, and actors Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Halle Berry appeared in an opening comedic sketch.[36] Actor Tom Hanks participated in a pre-taped comedic sketch lampooning Oscar speeches.[37] Stephen Colbert (host of The Colbert Report, the sister program of Stewart's The Daily Show) narrated two different mock attack ads lampooning both the intense campaigning and lobbying during Oscar season put forth by film studios and political advertising during elections.[38] Violinist Itzhak Perlman performed excerpts from the five nominees for Best Original Score.[39]

The annual In Memoriam tribute was presented by actor George Clooney. The montage featured an excerpt of the theme from Now, Voyager composed by Max Steiner.[54]

• 12th Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 26th Golden Raspberry Awards
• 48th Grammy Awards
• 58th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 59th British Academy Film Awards
• 60th Tony Awards
• 63rd Golden Globe Awards
• List of submissions to the 78th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

a^ : Walt Disney has the most Oscar nominations for any individual with 64.[18]

b^ : Best Foreign Language Film nominee Paradise Now was initially nominated as a submission from Palestine.[55] However, following protests from pro-Israeli groups in the United States, the Academy decided to designate it as a submission from the Palestinian Authority, a move that was decried by the film's director Hany Abu-Assad.[56][57] During the awards ceremony, the film was eventually announced by presenter Will Smith as a submission from the Palestinian territories.[58]

Wikinews has related news:

• Nominations announced for 78th Academy Awards
• Oscar Winners 2006

• Academy Awards Official website
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Official website
• Oscar's Channel at YouTube (run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

News resources

• Oscars 2006 BBC News
• Academy Awards coverage CNN
• Oscars 2006 - The Academy Awards The New York Times

Analysis

• 2005 Academy Awards Winners and History Filmsite
• Academy Awards, USA: 2006 Internet Movie Database

Other resources

• The 78th Annual Academy Awards at IMDb