Oscar nominations announced

Oscar nominations announced
Posted online: Friday, February 10, 2006 at 0000 hours IST

Nominations for the 78th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, January 31 by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino. Ganis and Sorvino, who won her Academy Award in 1995 for her supporting role in Mighty Aphrodite, announced ten of the 24 categories at a news conference attended by over 430 international journalists. Nominations in all categories were then distributed to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards website — www.oscar.com.

Academy members selected the nominees in their respective branches, with the exception of the Animated Feature and Foreign Language Film categories, where nominations were selected by vote of screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to 5,856 members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Best Picture nominees, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash,Good Night and Good Luck and Munich.Official screenings of all the films with a nomination began last weekend. Screenings in some categories were also held in the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and San Francisco.

Fresh faces dominate Oscar Nominations
In acting categories, 14 of the nominees are first-timers, giving the Academy a chance to show off some fresh faces to mainstream audiences watching the March 5 awards show. "It's wonderful, of course, because the Academy nomination is the greatest honor you can receive," said Britain's Rachel Weisz, nominated as best supporting actress for her portrayal of an activist in The Constant Gardner. Among best actor nominees, Ledger and Strathairn were joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role in Capote, Terrence Howard as a p*** in Hustle & Flow and Joaquin Phoenix playing singer Johnny Cash in romance Walk the Line.Ledger said he was honoured, and noted the acclaim that went to co-stars Gyllenhaal and Williams — with whom he recently had a baby girl. "It's a real honour, and it helps when your partner is nominated and you can roll over and give her a hug," he said. Best actress nominees were Reese Witherspoon playing singer June Carter in Walk the Line, Felicity Huffman as a transgendered character in Transamerica, Keira Knightley for romance Pride & Prejudice and previous winners Judi Dench in World War II-era Mrs. Henderson Presents and Charlize Theron in sexual harassment drama North Country. Joining Gyllenhaal in the supporting actor category were Clooney in Syriana, Matt Dillon in Crash Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man and William Hurt for A History of Violence. In the supporting actress group, Williams and Weisz were joined by newcomer Amy Adams for Junebug, Catherine Keener in Capote and Frances McDormand in North Country. Joining Lee and Spielberg in the race for best director will be Bennett Miller for Capote, Paul Haggis with Crash and Clooney with Good Night, and Good Luck. Foreign-language film nominations went to Italy's Don't Tell," France's Joyeux Noel, Germany's Sophie Scholl - The Final Days, South Africa's Tsotsi, and Palestinian film, Paradise Now. It is the first time that a Palestinian movie has received an Academy Award nomination. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday, March 5, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland and televised live by the ABC Television Network. Performance by an actor in a leading role
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn in Good Night and Good Luck (Warner Independent Pictures) Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
George Clooney in "Syriana" (Warner Bros.)
Matt Dillon in "Crash" (Lions Gate)
Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man" (Universal and Miramax)
Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" (Focus Features)
William Hurt in "A History of Violence" (New Line) Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Judi Dench in Mrs. Henderson Presents (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman in Transamerica (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice (Focus Features)
Charlize Theron in North Country (Warner Bros.)
Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line (20th Century Fox) Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Amy Adams in Junebug (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Keener in Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Frances McDormand in North Country (Warner Bros.)
Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardner (Focus Features)
Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features) Best animated feature film of the year:
Howl's Moving Castle (Buena Vista)
Hayao Miyazaki Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Warner Bros.)
Tim Burton and Mike Johnson Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DreamWorks Animation SKG)
Nick Park and Steve Box Achievement in art direction Good Night, and Good Luck (Warner Independent Pictures)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
King Kong (Universal)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Picture Releasing)
Pride & Prejudice (Focus Features) Achievement in cinematography:
Batman Begins — Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain —Rodrigo Prieto
Good Night, and Good Luck —Robert Elswit
Memoirs of a Geisha (Sony Pictures Releasing)Dion Beebe
The New World (New Line)Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in directing:
Brokeback Mountain — Ang Lee
Capote — Bennett Miller
Crash — Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck — George Clooney
Munich — Steven Spielberg