LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts) - The epic film of a raggedy gang of humans, hobbits, wizards, dwarves and elves hoisted the fantasy genre to Oscar glory as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a record-tying 11 gongs.
The film is the first fantasy movie in Academy Awards' history to win cinema's top prize and is the climax of director
Peter Jackson's epic series that was filmed simultaneously and released over three successive years.
The film swept every category in which it was nominated, including winning the Oscar for best picture and the best director title for New Zealander
Peter Jackson.
It was a big night for Jackson - the overlord of arguably the biggest undertaking in cinema history: the simultaneous filming of J R R Tolkien's Middle-earth trilogy The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.
Sean Penn took the best-actor prize as a vengeful father in Mystic River.
South African-born Charlize Theron won for best actress as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster, ending the Oscar hopes of Aussie actress Naomi Watts, nominated for 21 Grams.
Oscars for supporting performances went to Tim Robbins as a man emotionally hamstrung by childhood trauma in Mystic River and Renee Zellweger as a hardy Confederate survivor in Cold Mountain.
Also, the "preshow" spent a chunk of its precious time promoting "Starsky & Hutch," with costars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and the show's use of Madonna's "Hollywood" as a theme song (the show hosted by Billy Crystal).
Following is the complete list of winners at the 76th Academy Awards announced Sunday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Sean Penn (MYSTIC RIVER)
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Charlize Theron (MONSTER)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Tim Robbins (MYSTIC RIVER)
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Renee Zellweger (COLD MOUNTAIN)
BEST PICTURE: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Barrie M. Osborne, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh
DIRECTING: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Peter Jackson
ART DIRECTION: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Grant Major (Art Direction); Dan Hennah and Alan Lee (Set Decoration)
MUSIC (SCORE): THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Howard Shore
MUSIC (SONG): THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - "Into the West" Music and Lyric by Fran Walsh and Howard Shore and Annie Lennox
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (Canada) - Directed by Denys Arcand
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): LOST IN TRANSLATION - Written by Sofia Coppola
CINEMATOGRAPHY: MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD - Russell Boyd
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: FINDING NEMO - Andrew Stanton
COSTUME DESIGN: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: CHERNOBYL HEART - Maryann DeLeo
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE FOG OF WAR - Errol Morris and Michael Williams
FILM EDITING: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Jamie Selkirk
HONORARY AWARD: HONORARY AWARD - Blake Edwards
MAKEUP: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Richard Taylor, Peter King
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): HARVIE KRUMPET - Adam Elliot
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): TWO SOLDIERS - Aaron Schneider and Andrew J. Sacks
SOUND EDITING: MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD - Richard King
SOUND MIXING: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek)
VISUAL EFFECTS: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke)
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson)
