Best Documentary:The Cove

The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film that is written by Mark Monroe and directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos.It is based on the yearly killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji,Wakayama, in Japan from the point of view of anti-dolphin-hunting campaigner.

The film focuses the fact that the number of dolphins killed in the Taiji dolphin hunting drive is many times superior than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic.Also research has revealed that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan each year in the country's whaling industry. The migrating dolphins are herded into a hidden cove where they are netted and killed by using spears as well as knives over the side of small fishing boats.Portions of the film were filmed clandestinely during 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.

In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film, the documentary also won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in Jan 2009.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role : Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

The tag line for the movie 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire' is "Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is....Precious."

Many a movies come and go. But an infrequent few arrive like gifts, sent by some cosmic messenger to stir the senses, arouse compassion and send viewers into a world made radically new by refreshed attentiveness and empathy. Such is the movie 'Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire' which surely qualifies as the most aching, poetic and incredibly beautiful film of the year.

Mo’Nique’s performance in this movie has been much appreciated that she went on to receive the Best Actress in a Supporting Role.In this movie, Mo’Nique plays the mother to an overweight, uneducated, black 16-year-old Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe).The dysfunctional family lives in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem.

For her performance, she has won several awards including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)Award. She is the sixteenth African American actress to be given a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress,and the fourth to win.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Christoph Waltz won the Best Actor Award in a Supporting Role for the movie "Inglourious Basterds".In the movie, he portrays the character of sinister Nazi officer Standartenfuhrer Hans Landa.He is the second Austrian actor to receive the Oscars.He is also the second actor to win an Oscar for playing a Nazi, following Kate Winslet in 2009's The Reader.

The writer and director of the film Quentin Jerome Tarantino acknowledged the importance of Waltz to his film stating that “I think that Landa is one of the best characters I've ever written and ever will write, and Christoph played it to a tee.It's true that if I couldn't have found someone as good as Christoph I might not have made Inglourious Basterds”.

He was considered the favorite to win the best actor category, after having virtually swept the festival, critics' choice and guild awards.

The other four Hollywood veterans who competed for this award include Matt Damon for "Invictus," Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger," Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station" and Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones."