L' 81ma cerimonia di consegna degli Academy Award si terrà presso il Kodak Theater il 22 febbraio 2009, e sarà presantato dall' attore australiano Hugh Jackman.

Miglior Film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon 
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Miglior Regia
David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Miglior Attore Protagonista
Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Miglior Attore Non Protagonista
Josh Brolin (Milk)
Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Miglior Attrice Protagonista
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Miglior Attrice Non Protagonista
Amy Adams (Doubt)
Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Miglior Film d’Animazione
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Miglior Scenografia
James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis (Changeling)
Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando (The Dark Knight )
Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway (The Duchess)
Kristi Zea, Debra Schut (Revolutionary Road)

Miglior Fotografia
Tom Stern (Changeling)
Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight)
Chris Menges, Roger Deakins (The Reader)
Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Migliori Costumi
Catherine Martin (Australia)
Jacqueline West (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Michael O’Connor (The Duchess)
Danny Glicker (Milk)
Albert Wolsky (Revolutionary Road)

Miglior Documentario
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Miglior Cortometraggio Documentario
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Miglior Montaggio
Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
)Lee Smith (The Dark Knight)
Mike Hill, Dan Hanley (Frost/Nixon)
Elliot Graham (Milk)
Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)

Miglior Film Straniero
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

Miglior Make Up
Greg Cannom (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
John Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan (The Dark Knight)
Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)

 Miglior Colonna Sonora Originale
Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
James Newton Howard (Defiance)
Danny Elfman (Milk)
A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
 

Miglior Canzone Originale
"Down to Earth" - WALL-E
"Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" - Slumdog Millionaire

Miglior Cortometraggio Animato
La Maison de Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Miglior Cortometraggio
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Miglior Montaggio Sonoro
Richard King (The Dark Knight)
Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes (Iron Man)
Tom Sayers (Slumdog Millionaire)
Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood (WALL-E)
Wylie Stateman (Wanted)