The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by David Hill and Reginald Hudlin and directed by Glenn Weiss. Actor Chris Rock hosted the show for the second time, having previously hosted the 77th ceremony held in 2005.

In related events, the academy held its 7th Annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 14, 2015. On February 13, 2016, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hosts Olivia Munn and Jason Segel.

Spotlight won two awards, including Best Picture, making it the first film since The Greatest Show on Earth to win Best Picture while only winning one other award. Mad Max: Fury Road won six awards, the most for the evening. The Revenant earned three awards including Best Director for Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, his first win after five previous nominations spanning two decades. Brie Larson won Best Actress for Room, while Mark Rylance and Alicia Vikander won supporting acting honors for Bridge of Spies and The Danish Girl, respectively. The telecast garnered 34.425 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 88th Academy Awards were announced on January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PST (13:30 UTC), at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by directors Guillermo del Toro and Ang Lee, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, and actor John Krasinski. The Revenant led all nominees with twelve nominations; Mad Max: Fury Road came in second with ten.

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 28, 2016. With two Oscars, Spotlight was the first film since 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth to win Best Picture with only one other award. Alejandro G. Iñárritu became the third individual to win two consecutive Oscars for Best Director. By virtue of his previous nomination for his portrayal of the titular character in 1976's Rocky, Best Supporting Actor nominee Sylvester Stallone was the sixth person to be nominated for playing the same role in two different films. At 25, Jennifer Lawrence became the youngest person to earn their fourth acting nomination.

At the age of 87, Ennio Morricone was believed to be the oldest competitive winner in Oscar history. Having previously won for Gravity and Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki became the first person to win three consecutive Best Cinematography awards.

Awards Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface and marked with a double-dagger (‡).

Spotlight – Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, producers‡ The Big Short – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, producers Bridge of Spies – Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers Brooklyn – Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, producers Mad Max: Fury Road – Doug Mitchell and George Miller, producers The Martian – Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, producers The Revenant – Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, producers Room – Ed Guiney, producer | valign="top" width="50%"|

Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant‡ Adam McKay – The Big Short George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road Lenny Abrahamson – Room Tom McCarthy – Spotlight Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant as Hugh Glass‡ Bryan Cranston – Trumbo as Dalton Trumbo Matt Damon – The Martian as Mark Watney Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs as Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl as Lili Elbe Brie Larson – Room as Joy "Ma" Newsome‡ Cate Blanchett – Carol as Carol Aird Jennifer Lawrence – Joy as Joy Mangano Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years as Kate Mercer Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn as Eilis Lacey Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies as Rudolf Abel‡ Christian Bale – The Big Short as Michael Burry Tom Hardy – The Revenant as John Fitzgerald Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight as Michael Rezendes Sylvester Stallone – Creed as Rocky Balboa Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl as Gerda Wegener‡ Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight as Daisy Domergue Rooney Mara – Carol as Therese Belivet Rachel McAdams – Spotlight as Sacha Pfeiffer Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs as Joanna Hoffman Spotlight – Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy‡ Bridge of Spies – Matt Charman, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Ex Machina – Alex Garland Inside Out – Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen Straight Outta Compton – Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff The Big Short – Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; ‡ Brooklyn – Nick Hornby; Carol – Phyllis Nagy; The Martian – Drew Goddard; Room – Emma Donoghue; Inside Out – Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera‡ Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson and Rosa Tran Boy and the World – Alê Abreu Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton and Richard Starzak When Marnie Was There – Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura Son of Saul (Hungary) in Hungarian – Directed by László Nemes‡ Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia) in Spanish – Directed by Ciro Guerra Mustang (France) in Turkish – Directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven Theeb (Jordan) in Arabic – Directed by Naji Abu Nowar A War (Denmark) in Danish – Directed by Tobias Lindholm Amy – Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees‡ Cartel Land – Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin The Look of Silence – Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen What Happened, Miss Simone? – Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom – Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy‡ Body Team 12 – David Darg and Bryn Mooser Chau, Beyond the Lines – Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah – Adam Benzine Last Day of Freedom – Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman Stutterer – Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage‡ Ave Maria – Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont Day One – Henry Hughes Everything Will Be Okay – Patrick Vollrath Shok – Jamie Donoughue Bear Story – Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala‡ Prologue – Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton Sanjay's Super Team – Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle We Can't Live Without Cosmos – Konstantin Bronzit World of Tomorrow – Don Hertzfeldt The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone‡ Bridge of Spies – Thomas Newman Carol – Carter Burwell Sicario – Jóhann Jóhannsson Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre – Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith‡ "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey – Music and Lyric by The Weeknd, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Quenneville and Stephan Moccio "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction – Music by J. Ralph; Lyric by Anohni "Simple Song #3" from Youth – Music and Lyric by David Lang "Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground – Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren Mad Max: Fury Road – Mark Mangini and David White‡ The Martian – Oliver Tarney The Revenant – Martin Hernández and Lon Bender Sicario – Alan Robert Murray Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Matthew Wood and David Acord Mad Max: Fury Road – Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo‡ Bridge of Spies – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin The Martian – Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth The Revenant – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson Mad Max: Fury Road – Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson‡ Bridge of Spies – Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich The Danish Girl – Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish The Martian – Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak The Revenant – Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki‡ Carol – Ed Lachman The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale Sicario – Roger Deakins Mad Max: Fury Road – Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin‡ The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared – Love Larson and Eva von Bahr The Revenant – Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan‡ Carol – Sandy Powell Cinderella – Sandy Powell The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado The Revenant – Jacqueline West Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel‡ The Big Short – Hank Corwin The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione Spotlight – Tom McArdle Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey Ex Machina – Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett‡ Mad Max: Fury Road – Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams The Martian – Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner The Revenant – Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

Governors Awards The academy held its 7th Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 14, 2015, during which the following awards were presented:

Honorary Awards To Spike Lee, filmmaker, educator, motivator, iconoclast, artist. To Gena Rowlands, who has illuminated the human experience through her brilliant, passionate and fearless performances.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Debbie Reynolds For her charitable contributions and tireless efforts towards mental health as founding member of The Thalians.

Films with multiple nominations and awards

+ Films that received multiple nominationsNominationsFilm12The Revenant10Mad Max: Fury Road7The Martian6Bridge of SpiesCarolSpotlight5Star Wars: The Force AwakensThe Big Short4RoomThe Danish Girl3BrooklynSicarioThe Hateful Eight2Ex MachinaInside OutSteve Jobs

+ Films that received multiple awardsAwardsFilm6Mad Max: Fury Road3The Revenant2Spotlight

Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Presenters