Hollywood is making final preparations for its biggest night of the year. The Academy Awards show takes place on Sunday. The awards, known as Oscars, are the American film industry’s highest honors.
Full Oscar Coverage
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences organizes the event each year. The Academy has almost six thousand members. They work in the film industry as actors, writers, directors and so on. Members from each group choose their group’s award nominees. All Academy members take part in choosing the nominees for Best Picture.
The nominations for the eighty-fourth Academy Awards were announced last month. There are five nominees each for best actor and best actress. There are nine nominees for best picture.
(SOUND: “Hugo”)
“Hugo” leads all films with eleven nominations, including best picture. The film is set in nineteenth century Paris. It tells the story of a boy who lives hidden inside a train station and keeps its clocks working.
(SOUND: “The Artist”)
“The Artist” is a French-made silent film about old time Hollywood. It tells about an actor who loses popularity with the end of silent films. “The Artist” received ten nominations, including best actor for its star, Jean DuJardin.
Movies from five nations are competing for the Best Foreign Language Oscar this year.
(SOUND: “A Separation”)
“Will you come,” asks the wife. “No, I will not,” he says. She wants to leave Iran. He wants to stay.
That is a scene from the film “A Separation.” Writer and Director Asghar Farhadi has collected many awards for the film, including a Golden Globe.
American George Clooney has been nominated for best actor for his starring role in the film “The Descendants.” Mr. Clooney was also nominated for his work on the screenplay for “The Ides of March.”
Octavia Spencer received a best supporting actress nomination for her work in “The Help.” The film tells the story of African-Americans who worked for whites in the American south during the nineteen sixties. The actress says she is excited about the awards ceremony.
OCTAVIA SPENCER: “This is my first time to the party, and I’m going to enjoy every aspect of it. So I am. This smile is real.”
Earlier this month, the Academy recognized some of the inventors and engineers who make movies possible.
One award went to Uwe Weber. He and Jurgen Noffke were honored for creating sensitive low-distortion lenses. These devices helped to make the imaginary world seen in the “Lord of the Rings” movies.
Bob Nettmann and his team were honored for creating stabilizers for cameras and special lenses for shooting while moving. The Academy said the lenses made it possible to shoot movies from helicopters, cars and boats.
Finally, Jonathan Erland received a special medal for his service to the film industry. He says digital technology provides new ways to make and watch movies, even on computers and mobile devices. However, he says he still likes to watch them the traditional way -- in a theater.
JonATHAN ERLAND: “Even though we have lots of ways to look at movies at home, the preferred way is still to go to a theater just the way we’ve been doing it for 100 years.”
获奖名单
最佳影片 《艺术家》
最佳导演 米歇尔-哈扎纳维希乌斯(《艺术家》）
最佳男主角 让-杜雅尔丹 (《艺术家》）
最佳女主角 梅丽尔-斯特里普(《铁娘子》)
最佳男配角 克里斯托弗-普卢默 (《初学者》)
最佳女配角 奥克塔维亚-斯宾瑟 (《相助》)
最佳外语片 《纳德和西敏：一次别离》（伊朗）
最佳纪录长片 《不败》
最佳动画长片 《兰戈》
最佳摄影 《雨果》摄影师：罗伯特-理查德森
最佳剪辑 《龙纹身的女孩》
最佳艺术指导 《雨果》艺术指导：丹特-费雷迪
最佳服装设计 《艺术家》马克-布里吉斯
最佳化妆 《铁娘子》
最佳视觉效果 《雨果》
最佳音响剪辑 《雨果》
最佳音响效果 《雨果》
最佳配乐 《艺术家》
最佳原创歌曲 《Man or Muppet》(《布偶秀大电影》）
最佳改编剧本 《后人》
最佳原创剧本 《午夜巴黎》
最佳真人短片 《海岸》
最佳动画短片 《莫里斯-莱斯莫先生的神奇飞书》
最佳纪录短片 《面子》
