Performance by an actor in a leading role
* Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor"
* Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon"
* Sean Penn in "Milk"
* Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
* Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler"
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
* Josh Brolin in "Milk"
* Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"
* Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight"
* Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road"
Performance by an actress in a leading role
* Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married"
* Angelina Jolie in "Changeling"
* Melissa Leo in "Frozen River"
* Meryl Streep in "Doubt"
* Kate Winslet in "The Reader"
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
* Amy Adams in "Doubt"
* Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
* Viola Davis in "Doubt"
* Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
* Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler"
Best animated feature film of the year
* "Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* "Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton
Achievement in art direction
* "Changeling" (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami
Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt
Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Peter Lando
* "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin
Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
* "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea
Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Achievement in cinematography
* "Changeling" (Universal) Tom Stern
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
* "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
* "Australia" (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
* "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O'Connor
* "Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
* "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky
Achievement in directing
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
* "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
* "Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
* "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
* "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild)
A Pandinlao Films Production Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
* "Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment)
A Creative Differences Production Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
* "The Garden"
A Black Valley Films Production Scott Hamilton Kennedy
* "Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures)
A Wall to Wall Production James Marsh and Simon Chinn
* "Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films)
An Elsewhere Films Production Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Best documentary short subject
* "The Conscience of Nhem En"
A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
* "The Final Inch"
A Vermilion Films Production Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
* "Smile Pinki"
A Principe Production Megan Mylan
* "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
A Rock Paper Scissors Production Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Achievement in film editing
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
* "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
* "Milk" (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
* "The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production - Germany
* "The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production - France
* "Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production - Japan
* "Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production - Austria
* "Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production - Israel
Achievement in makeup
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
* "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
* "Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
* "Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
* "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Lyric by Peter Gabriel
* "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyric by Gulzar
* "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
A Kennedy/Marshall Production Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
* "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
* "Milk" (Focus Features)
A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
* "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)
A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production Nominees to be determined
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)
A Celador Films Production Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
* "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
A Robot Communications Production Kunio Kato
* "Lavatory - Lovestory"
A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production Konstantin Bronzit
* "Oktapodi" (Talantis Films)
A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
* "Presto" (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production Doug Sweetland
* "This Way Up"
A Nexus Production Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Best live action short film
* "Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency) An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production Reto Caffi
* "Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions) A La Luna Production Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
* "New Boy" (Network Ireland Television) A Zanzibar Films Production Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
* "The Pig" An M & M Production Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
* "Spielzeugland (Toyland)"
A Mephisto Film Production Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Richard King
* "Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* "Wanted" (Universal) Wylie Stateman
Achievement in sound mixing
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
* "Wanted" (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt
Achievement in visual effects
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
* "Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
Adapted screenplay
* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth
Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* "Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
* "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
* "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
* "Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
* "In Bruges" (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
* "Milk" (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon - Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter