Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren, and Alan Arkin (Photo Courtesy AMPAS)
Hollywood honored its best on Sunday February 25, when the 79th Annual Academy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles.
Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which distributes the Oscars each year, are among the most talented and skilled artists and craftsmen in the film industry. Members mail in their ballots in 24 categories to the Pricewaterhouse Coopers firm, which maintains the utmost secrecy of winners until the moment they are announced.The Academy gave out its first Oscar statuettes on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. That year there were 250 attendees and the ceremony only lasted five minutes. 1953 marked the first televised ceremony. This year's ceremony was hosted by comedian Ellen Degeneres and produced by Laura Ziskin.
In this series of reports, VOA's reporters take a closer look at this year's nominated films and actors.
