Slumdog millionaire sweeps the board at the Oscars

The eagerly awaited night finally arrived! Yesterday, the 81st Academy Awards in Los Angeles were held, where ‘Slumdog millionaire was the runaway winner, getting 8 of the 10 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture. The best movie stars paraded last night on the red carpet, including Penélope Cruz, which is the first Oscar-winning Spanish actress.

The Dany Boyle’s independent movie, ‘Slumdog millionaire‘, is at the top of the Oscar awards 2009 winners list. It has won 8 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Song for ‘Jai ho’. This English production was entirely shot in India with local actors. It tells the story of an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who goes to India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” quiz show. When he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees, the show is interrupted and the police arrest him on suspicion of cheating.

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ did not have so much luck. It had 13 nominations, but it only won 3: Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects. The success of Boyle’s movie eclipsed completely Fincher’s movie, which was the film with the highest number of nominations.

Kate Winslet picked up the Best Actress award for her role in ‘The Reader’. She was the favourite to win the award after wining at the Golden Globes for the same role. The actress, who has been nominated on five other occasions, said pointing to her Oscar: “This would have been a shampoo bottle. Well it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”

Sean Penn scooped the Best Actor prize for his role as assassinated gay official Harvey Milk in ‘Milk‘ ahead of hot favourite Mickey Rourke. It is the second Oscar for Penn, who won the same award in 2003 with ‘Mystic River‘.

Penélope Cruz took the award for best Supporting Actress for her amusingly volatile performance in Woody Allen’s film, ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona‘. Cruz is the first Oscar-winning Spanish actress. She dedicated her prize to her friend Pedro Almodóvar, to Woody Allen, and to other Spanish directors such as Fernando Trueba and Bigas Luna. This is the second Oscar nomination to the Spanish actress. She said she was so nervous she thought she might faint, but she didn’t. She gave part of her speech in Spanish.

Finally, Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. His family picked up the award for him.

If you love cinema, you should travel to Spain and learn more about the best Spanish movies, actors and directors. Rent Apartments in Barcelona and discover where ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona‘ was shot.

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Tags: Barcelona, barcelona apartments, penelope cruz, slumdog millionaire, vicky cristina barcelona