28/02/2005 - As predicted, the Spanish film The Sea Inside was the winner of the Oscars 2005 for Best foreign language film. The big surprise was Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby which won 4 top Oscars for Best film, Best director, Best actress and and Best supporting actor.

Spanish film The Sea Inside [+see also:
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film profile] by Alejandro Amenabar was the predicted winner of the Oscar for Best foreign language film at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony held last night in Los Angeles. But many European favorite nominees in top categories such as Mike Leigh, Imelda Staunton, Clive Owen, had their hopes crushed by the big winner of the evening: Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby which won 4 top Oscars for Best film, Best director, Best actress (Hilary Swank), and Best supporting actor (Morgan Freeman). The second win for Eastwood after Unforgiven (1992) was also a real blow for New York director Martin Scorsese who seemed to be sailing towards glory during the evening for his film The Aviator the most nominated (11). Scorsese had to do with 5 Oscars in lesser categories, including Best supporting actress for Cate Blanchett and Best Art Director for the Italian talented team Dante Ferretti (Art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set decoration).

The UK team of Vera Drake [+see also:
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film profile] left empty handed, but Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries produced by Film Four and supported by the UK Film Council won an Oscar for Best song, with the music and lyrics written by Jorge Dexler. The UK Film Council and Film Four’s ‘Cinema Extreme’ short filmmaking strand were also awarded with an Oscar for Andrea Arnold’s Wasp in the Best Live Action Short film category.

The French talent running for the glamorous Hollywood award such as The Chorists and A Very Long Engagement (Un Long dimanche de fiancailles) didn’t make it to the stage either, and the only French winner was Michel Gondry whose film Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, won an Oscar for Best Adapted screenplay written by Charlie Kaufman, with the help of Gondry and Pierre Bismuth.

Winners of the 2005 Academy Awards:

Best Picture
Million Dollar Baby produced by Clint Eastwood, Albert S Ruddy & Tom Rosenberg
Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor
Jamie Foxx in Ray
Best Actress
Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
Best Supporting Actor
Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
Best Original Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman (screenplay), Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth (story) for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor for Sideways
Best Foreign Language Film
The Sea Inside by Alejandro Amenabar
Best Animated Feature Film
The Incredibles by Brad Bird
Best Documentary Feature
Born Into Brothels by Ross Kauffman & Zana Briski
Best Cinematography
Robert Richardson for The Aviator
Best Editing
Thelma Schoonmaker for The Aviator
Best Original Score
Jan AP Kaczmarek for Finding Neverland
Best Song
"Al Otro Lado Del Rio" from The Motorcycle Diaries music and lyrics by Jorge Dexler
Best Art Direction
Dante Ferretti (art direction), Francesca Lo Schiavo (set decoration) for The Aviator
Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell for The Aviator
Best Makeup
Valli O'Reilly & Bill Corso Lemony Snicket for A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Best Visual Effects
John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John Frazier for Spider-man 2
Best Sound Mixing
Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer & Steve Cantamessa for Ray
Best Sound Editing
Michael Silvers & Randy Thom for The Incredibles
Best Live Action Short Film
Wasp by Andrea Arnold
Best Animated Short Film
Ryan by Chris Landreth
Best Documentary Short Subject
Mighty Times: The Children's March by Robert Hudson & Bobby Houston
Honorary Oscar
Sidney Lumet