Oscars 2015: A complete overview of the 87th Academy Awards

Roll out the red carpet, it’s awards season again. It’s that wonderful time of year, full of bickering about little things like who looked better than who, and those important things like sexism, and why Hollywood seems to still think it can get away with such a white-washed list of nominations.

Sunday 22^nd February 2015, the biggest night for many in the film industry, played out in the February rain. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, it was a night of politics, predictable wins and somewhat awkward laughs. But with movements like #askhermore and the anger over Selma‘s snubbing, hopefully this year’s Academy Awards is a sign of big changes in the film industry to come.

Surprising no one, black comedy Birdman was the big winner of the night, scooping four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. The Grand Budapest Hotel bagged four too, for score, production design, costume, and make-up. Best Actress and Actor were again unsurprising and went to Julianne Moore for her portrayal of a woman with early onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice and Eddie Redmayne for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Meanwhile, this year’s little-film-that-could, Whiplash, earned three, including Best Supporting Actor for J K Simmons.

Presenter Neil Patrick Harris was somewhat overshadowed this year, as the focus didn’t seem to be on actors, directors or the films so much as the issues raised by them. Birdman director Alejandro González called for better treatment of immigrants in the US, while Patricia Arquette in her acceptance speech called for equal pay for men and women. Julianne Moore dedicated her award to sufferers of Alzheimer’s and Eddie Redmayne dedicated his to sufferers of ALS worldwide. Winner of Best Adapted Screenplay, Graham Moore, spoke about his struggle to feel accepted because of his sexuality, and co-director of Crisis Hotline, Dana Perry, which won Best Documentary Short Subject, used her acceptance speech to call for more awareness of suicide.

The high point of the ceremony came with John Legend and Common’s performance of Glory from snubbed biopic Selma, which rightly won Best Original Song. The performance moved many a star to tears and earned the artists a standing ovation.

All in all it was a politically charged night, without a dull moment. There were a few laughs here and there, and at least Idina Menzel got her revenge on John Travolta, her co-presenter for the Best Original Song award, calling him Glom Gazingo before the gong.

Natasha Furlong

The Full List of Winners:

Best Picture:

Birdman
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director:

Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Actress:

Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Actor:

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Michael Keaton – Birdman

Best Supporting Actor:

J K Simmons – Whiplash
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Original Screenplay:

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
E Max Frye, Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

Adapted Screenplay:

Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Jason Hall – American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

Best Animated Feature Film:

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film:

Ida 
Tangerines
Leviathan
Wild Tales
Timbuktu

Best Documentary Feature:

Citizenfour 
Finding Vivian Maier 
Last Days in Vietnam 
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Documentary Short Subject:

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna 
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth 

Best live-action short film:

The Phone Call 
Aya 
Boogaloo and Graham 
Butter Lamp 
Parvaneh 

Best Animated Short Film:

Feast 
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best original score:

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game 
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything 
Gary Yershon – Mr Turner

Best Original Song:

Glory from Selma – Lonnie Lynn (Common), John Stephens (John Legend)
The Lego Movie – Shawn Patterson (Everything Is Awesome)
Beyond the Lights – Diane Warren (Grateful)
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond (I’m Not Gonna MissYou)
Begin Again – Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois (Lost Stars)

Achievement in Sound Editing:

American Sniper
Birdman 
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 
Interstellar 
Unbroken 

Achievement in sound mixing:

Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken

Best Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game – Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr Turner – Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

Achievement in Cinematography:

Birdman –  Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert D Yeoman
Ida – Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyling:

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier
Foxcatcher – Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
Guardians of the Galaxy – Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

Achievement in Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Inherent Vice 
Into the Woods 
Maleficent 
Mr Turner 

Achievement in Film Editing:

Whiplash
Boyhood 
The Imitation Game 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
American Sniper

Achievement in Visual Effects:

Interstellar 
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy 
X-Men: Days of Future Past