The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Laura Ziskin and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Ellen DeGeneres hosted for the first time. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on February 10, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Maggie Gyllenhaal.
The Departed won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Pan's Labyrinth with three awards, Dreamgirls, An Inconvenient Truth, and Little Miss Sunshine with two, and Babel, The Blood of Yingzhou District, The Danish Poet, Happy Feet, The Last King of Scotland, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Lives of Others, Marie Antoinette, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Queen, and West Bank Story with one. The telecast garnered nearly 40 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 79th Academy Awards were announced on January 23, 2007, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Sid Ganis, president of the academy, and the actress Salma Hayek. Dreamgirls received the most nominations with eight, and Babel came in second with seven. This marked the first and only occurrence that the film with the most nominations was not a Best Picture nominee.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 25, 2007. With his latest unsuccessful nomination for Best Actor, Peter O'Toole became the most nominated performer without a competitive win. Best Supporting Actress winner Jennifer Hudson became the fifteenth person to win for their debut film performance. "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth became the first song from a documentary film to win Best Original Song.
Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
The Departed – Graham King, producerBabel – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, producers Letters from Iwo Jima – Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, producers Little Miss Sunshine – David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, producers The Queen – Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, producers | valign="top" width="50%" |
Martin Scorsese – The Departed Alejandro González Iñárritu – Babel Clint Eastwood – Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears – The Queen Paul Greengrass – United 93 Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond as Danny Archer Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson as Dan Dunne Peter O'Toole – Venus as Maurice Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness as Chris Gardner Helen Mirren – The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II Penélope Cruz – Volver as Raimunda Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal as Barbara Covett Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly Kate Winslet – Little Children as Sarah Pierce Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine as Edwin Hoover Jackie Earle Haley – Little Children as Ronald James McGorvey Djimon Hounsou – Blood Diamond as Solomon Vandy Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls as James "Thunder" Early Mark Wahlberg – The Departed as Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls as Effie White Adriana Barraza – Babel as Amelia Hernandez Cate Blanchett – Notes on a Scandal as Bathsheba "Sheba" Hart Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine as Olive Hoover Rinko Kikuchi – Babel as Chieko Wataya Little Miss Sunshine – Michael ArndtBabel – Guillermo Arriaga Letters from Iwo Jima – Screenplay by Iris Yamashita; Story by Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis Pan's Labyrinth – Guillermo del Toro The Queen – Peter Morgan | valign="top" |
The Departed – William Monahan based on the film Infernal Affairs Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham, Anthony Hines and Todd Phillips Children of Men – Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby based on the book by P. D. James Little Children – Todd Field and Tom Perrotta based on the novel by Tom Perrotta Notes on a Scandal – Patrick Marber based on the book by Zoë Heller Happy Feet – George Miller Cars – John Lasseter Monster House – Gil Kenan The Lives of Others (Germany) in German – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck After the Wedding (Denmark) in Danish, Hindi, and Swedish – Susanne Bier Days of Glory (Indigènes) (Algeria) in Arabic – Rachid Bouchareb Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico) in Spanish – Guillermo del Toro Water (Canada) in Hindi and English – Deepa Mehta An Inconvenient Truth – Davis Guggenheim Deliver Us from Evil – Amy Berg and Frank Donner Iraq in Fragments – James Longley and John Sinno Jesus Camp – Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady My Country, My Country – Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer The Blood of Yingzhou District – Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon Recycled Life – Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad Rehearsing a Dream – Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon Two Hands – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr West Bank Story – Ari Sandel Binta and the Great Idea – Javier Fesser and Luis Manso Éramos pocos (One Too Many) – Borja Cobeaga Helmer & Son – Søren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson The Saviour – Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn The Danish Poet – Torill Kove Lifted – Gary Rydstrom The Little Matchgirl – Roger Allers and Don Hahn Maestro – Géza M. Tóth No Time for Nuts – Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier Babel – Gustavo Santaolalla The Good German – Thomas Newman Notes on a Scandal – Philip Glass Pan's Labyrinth – Javier Navarrete The Queen – Alexandre Desplat "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth – Music and Lyrics by Melissa Etheridge "Listen" from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler; Lyrics by Anne Preven "Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger; Lyrics by Siedah Garrett "Our Town" from Cars – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman "Patience" from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger; Lyrics by Willie Reale Letters from Iwo Jima – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman Apocalypto – Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar Blood Diamond – Lon Bender Flags of Our Fathers – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest – Christopher Boyes and George Watters II Dreamgirls – Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie D. Burton Apocalypto – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Cámara Blood Diamond – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock Flags of Our Fathers – John T. Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest – Christopher Boyes, Paul Massey and Lee Orloff Pan's Labyrinth – Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta Dreamgirls – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh The Good Shepherd – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau (posthumous nomination) and Leslie E. Rollins Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest – Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik The Prestige – Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti Pan's Labyrinth – Guillermo Navarro The Black Dahlia – Vilmos Zsigmond Children of Men – Emmanuel Lubezki The Illusionist – Dick Pope The Prestige – Wally Pfister Pan's Labyrinth – David Martí and Montse Ribé Apocalypto – Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano Click – Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso Marie Antoinette – Milena Canonero Curse of the Golden Flower – Yee Chung Man The Devil Wears Prada – Patricia Field Dreamgirls – Sharen Davis The Queen – Consolata Boyle The Departed – Thelma Schoonmaker Babel – Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione Blood Diamond – Steven Rosenblum Children of Men – Alfonso Cuarón and Álex Rodríguez United 93 – Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson and Christopher Rouse Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall Poseidon – Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett and John Frazier Superman Returns – Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum
Honorary Award To Ennio Morricone in recognition of his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Sherry Lansing
Films with multiple nominations and awards
The following 19 films received multiple nominations:
Nominations Film 8 Dreamgirls 7 Babel 6 Pan's Labyrinth The Queen 5 Blood Diamond The Departed 4 Letters from Iwo Jima Little Miss Sunshine Notes on a Scandal Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 3 Apocalypto Children of Men Little Children 2 An Inconvenient Truth Cars Flags of Our Fathers The Devil Wears Prada The Prestige United 93
The following five films received multiple awards:
Awards Film 4 The Departed 3 Pan's Labyrinth 2 An Inconvenient Truth Dreamgirls Little Miss Sunshine
Presenters and performers The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters (in order of appearance) Name(s)RoleDon LaFontaineAnnouncers for the 79th annual Academy AwardsNicole KidmanPresenters of the award for Best Art DirectionPresenter of the segment of the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement and the Gordon E. Sawyer AwardWill FerrellJohn C. ReillyPresenters of the award for Best MakeupJaden SmithPresentations of the awards for Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short FilmGreg KinnearPresenters of the award for Best Sound EditingJames McAvoyPresenters of the award for Best Sound MixingPresenter of the award for Best Supporting ActorAl GoreGivers of a special announcement regarding the academy's plans to help the environmentPresenter of the award for Best Animated Feature FilmPresenter of the "Tribute to Screenwriters" montage by Nancy MeyersHelen MirrenPresenters of the award for Best Adapted ScreenplayAnne HathawayPresenters of the award for Best Costume DesignPresenter of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Sherry LansingPresenter of the award for Best CinematographyNaomi WattsPresenters of the award for Best Visual EffectsKen WatanabePresenters of the "50 Years of Best Foreign Language Film Winners" montage by Giuseppe TornatoreClive OwenPresenters of the award for Best Foreign Language FilmPresenter of the award for Best Supporting ActressEva GreenPresenters of the award for Best Documentary Short SubjectPresenter of the award for Best Documentary FeaturePresenter of the Academy Honorary Award to Ennio MorriconeHugh JackmanPresenters of the award for Best Original Score (AMPAS president)Presenter of a montage highlighting the academy's preservation and educational workTobey MaguirePresenters of the award for Best Original ScreenplayIntroducer of the performances of Best Original Song nominees "Love You I Do", "Listen" and "Patience"John TravoltaPresenters of the award for Best Original SongIntroducer of a montage of films dealing with American politics by Michael MannPresenter of the award for Best Film EditingPresenter of the "In Memoriam" tributePresenter of the award for Best ActressPresenter of the award for Best ActorGeorge LucasSteven SpielbergPresenters of the award for Best DirectorJack NicholsonPresenters of the award for Best Picture
Performers (in order of appearance)