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• The Oscar for Best Art Direction of 2008 was given to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--Donald Graham Burt (Art Director) and Victor Zolfo (Set Decorator)--at the 81st Annual Academy Awards on February 22, 2009 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. The award honors achievements in visual design, and can either go to the film's art director, who supervises the design and construction of a film's sets, the set decorator, who translates designs into physical sets used for filming, or the production designer, who manages the art department as a whole.

• Fast Facts

  1. Category was originally called "Interior Decoration"
  2. Changed to "Art Direction-Set Direction" in 1947
  3. 8 of the last 10 winners in this category have been period films
  4. First winner: William Cameron Menzies for The Dove and The Tempest in 1928
  5. 2008 winner: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for Sweeney Todd
  6. Menzies was the first professional credited as a "production designer" on a film, for 1939's Gone With the Wind
  7. In 1940, separate categories were introduced for Color vs. Black and White art direction
  8. Two different films named Moulin Rouge have won - in 1952 and 2001
  9. Dark Knight would be the third comic book film to win, after Dick Tracy and the original 1989 Batman

• 2009 Art Direction Nominees

  • Changeling: James Murakami (Art Director) and Gary Fettis (Set Decorator)
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Donald Graham Burt (Art Director) and Victor Zolfo (Set Decorator) - Winner
  • The Dark Knight: Nathan Crowley (Art Director) and Peter Lando (Set Decorator)
  • The Duchess: Michael Carlin (Art Director) and Rebecca Alleway (Set Decorator)
  • Revolutionary Road: Kristi Zea (Art Director) and Debra Schutt (Set Decorator)

• Previous Winners

  • 1931 - Cimarron
  • This Depression-era RKO epic, set against the backdrop of the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, was based on a popular novel from 1929, written by Edna Ferber. In addition to Art Direction, the film won Oscars for Best Picture of 1931, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Director and a special honorary award for make-up.
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  • 1939 - Gone With the Wind
  • Gone With the Wind beat out 11 other films to win Art Direction in 1939, including The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Stagecoach. Beginning the following year, different awards were handed out for black-and-white and color art direction. The film received a total of 10 Oscars, which was the record until it was surpassed by Ben-Hur, which won 11 Oscars in 1960.
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  • 1951 - A Streetcar Named Desire
  • Elia Kazan's adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name combines exterior shots of New Orleans with studio sets in Hollywood, California. The sets were built with an eye towards naturalism, and attempted to capture the seedy, claustrophobic atmosphere of the stage production. The film won a total of four Oscars, and marked the first time that a single film won three different awards for acting. Surprisingly, Marlon Brando, whose performance in the film has become the most memorable and iconic, was not one of the three actors whose work was recognized by the Academy.
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  • 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia
  • This British adventure film is loosely based on the life story of T. E. Lawrence. According to director David Lean, the look of the film, which largely takes place in the Nefud and Sinai deserts, was based in part on the John Ford Western classic The Searchers. The film won a total of seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
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  • 1975 - Barry Lyndon
  • Lyndon was the second film from perfectionist director Stanley Kubrick to win an Art Direction Oscar, following the win by Spartacus in 1960. The film is set in 18th Century Ireland, and Kubrick, along with art directors Ken Adam, Roy Walker and set decorator Vernon Dixon, insisted on exacting period authenticity. Many of the interiors were filmed in Ireland's Powerscourt House, which was destroyed soon after filming by a fire.
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  • 1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
  • Many of the exterior sequences in Steven Spielberg's ode to adventure serials were filmed in Tunisia, some of them in the same areas producer George Lucas had used for Star Wars a few years before. The production was rushed by necessity, as the actors and crew had difficulty filming in the harsh desert conditions. The film won a total of five Oscars - for Art Direction, Editing, Sound, Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing - but lost out on Best Picture to Chariots of Fire.
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  • 1997 - Titanic
  • James Cameron's sweeping recreation of the Titanic disaster utilized a combination of an actual ship, built in Baja California, along with scale models and computer-generated imagery. The ship set was rigged to recreate the sinking of the Titanic with maximum possible accuracy, and could rise and fall within seconds if required. The total shoot lasted about 160 days, nearly a month longer than scheduled. However, the complicated production resulted in the highest-grossing movie of all time - with a worldwide gross of about $1.8 billion.

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Changeling | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | The Dark Knight | The Duchess | Revolutionary Road | Best Cinematography Oscar Winner 2009 | Best Costume Design Oscar Winner 2009 | Best Makeup Oscar Winner 2009 | Oscar Nominations 2009 | Oscar Winners 2009

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