The 78th Annual Academy Awards was presented on Sunday, March 5, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland. 6,500 members of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cast their votes for outstanding film achievements of 2005. Hosted for the first time by the political satirist Jon Stewart, quite fitting for an awards ceremony full of political films, presenters also included previous Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Russell Crowe, Meryl Streep, Jamie Foxx and Nicole Kidman.

The theme of the awards show was a return to classic Hollywood glamour, paying homage to old movie theatres. With the traditional opening spoof sequence, appearances were made from regular Oscar presenters past and present including Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and of course Oscar presenter favourite Billy Crystal.

Celebrating excellency in film, there is no bigger night in the movie business. Although it's not been the best of years at the box office with piracy on the increase, this year's Oscars toasted the lower budget and controversial, with many surprise contenders making up the nominations list. Giving a nod of approval to many films dealing with difficult subjects such as racism, terrorism, corruption and homosexuality, it was a race between five powerful films that address issues of our time. The Academy could only choose to back a few.

First statuette of the night was awarded to triple nominee George Clooney, first seen on our TV screens many years ago in ER, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Syriana, a film about the controversial business of oil in the Middle East. On receiving his award he quipped �So I'm not winning Director�, adding he was "proud to be part of the Academy" and stated "how important it is for Hollywood that such films are being recognised". �The film wasn't intended to be a blockbuster so the more attention the film gets the more people will see it�.

Both first time nominees, Phillip Seymour Hoffman walked away with Best Actor for Capote, whilst Reese Witherspoon was presented with an award for Best Actress, beating our very own Keira Knightley and Dame Judi Dench, for her role in Walk The Line. Although Hoffman had once promised his friends that if he was ever to win an Oscar he would bark his acceptance speech, on this occasion he opted out saying �Wow, I'm in a category with some great, great, great actors. Fantastic actors, and I'm overwhelmed. I'm really overwhelmed.� Both winners gave emotional, yet polished, speeches. Reese Witherspoon expressed that Johnny Cash and June Carter had a wonderful tradition of honoring other artists and musicians and singers, and �I really feel that tradition tonight. It is very important, and I really feel it. So I want to thank the Academy for this incredible honor.� She went on to thank her screen partner Joaquin Phoenix who �put his heart and soul into this performance. His commitment and passion for this character and for this performance was just remarkable, and I feel so lucky to have gone on this journey with you.�

Paying tribute to June Carter she added, �People used to ask June how she was doing, and she used to say "I'm just trying to matter." And I know what she means. You know, I'm just trying to matter, and live a good life and make work that means something to somebody. And you have all made me feel that I might have accomplished that tonight.�

Notably, both also received awards in the same category at the Golden Globes and BAFTA's last month. Refreshing to see Reese win for Best Actress, admitting having to learn how to sing and give an outstanding performance as a believable character was a huge accomplishment for her, in the past six years the Academy has preferred actresses who can transform themselves (Charlize Theron dressed like a man in Monster, Hilary Swank boxed like a man in Million Dollar Baby).

Just the 4th time in Oscar history for having the same five films in both Best Picture and Best Directing category, the biggest surprise of the night however was for the Best Picture Oscar being awarded to Crash. Questionable as to whether it was the most deserving following rumours that the LAPD influenced the votes, it certainly was one of the most popular films of the evening (and perhaps a platform film for good acting), also winning Best Film Editing and Original Screenplay. On receiving the award, Cathy Schulman thanked the Academy for �embracing our film, about love and about tolerance, about truth. Thank you to the people all around the world who have been touched by this message. And we are humbled by the other nominees in this category�. On being involved in the film, Sandra Bullock said �It was such a great project on so many levels with such universal themes because it didn't concentrate on just the one person�. Whilst Matt Damon liked the polarity of his character doing these deplorable things yet showing a human side to him.

One of the most anticipated films to receive an Oscar, Brokeback Mountain took home three Oscars, for Best Directing (Ang Lee), Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. Ang Lee thanked two people who don't even exist. �Or I should say, they do exist, because of the imagination of Annie Proulx and the artistry of Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. Their names are Ennis and Jack. And they taught all of us who made " Brokeback Mountain" so much about not just all the gay men and women whose love is denied by society, but just as important, the greatness of love itself�.

It was a good night for the Brits who came home with three awards out of their five nominations, odds on favourite Nick Park and Steve Box for Best Animated Feature Film with Wallace & Grommit and our best hope for an Oscar, Rachel Weisz for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in The Constant Gardener. Thanking the Academy and sharing her award with cast and crew she paid tribute to "� the people who are willing to risk their own lives to fight injustice. And they're greater men and women than I". Six Shooter, written and directed by Martin McDonagh, won in the Best Live-Action Short category. In addition, two of the producers of Tsotsi, the film set in South Africa which won the Foreign Language Film award were Brits Peter and Henrietta Fudakowski.

Back in the UK, John Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Film Council, said: �Britain's film talent continues to show on a world platform the high calibre of our industry's creative excellence from our actors, to our filmmakers, our animators and to our continuous flow of emerging filmmakers. We are rightfully proud of the huge pool of talent working in the UK film industry and congratulate all the UK nominees and award winners recognised at last night's Oscars.�

Whilst King Kong received three awards for its exceptional Special Effects and two in Sound, Rob Marshall was also recognized for putting together a great production team, who have all previously worked together on Chicago, for Memoirs of a Geisha garnering them Best Art Direction, Best Make-Up and Best Cinematography. Born in Australia and growing up in South Africa, cinematographer Dion Beebe has drawn on influences from her upbringing following in the footsteps of John Seale, Dean Semler, Russell Boyd, and Andrew Lesnie just to name a few of the really great cinematographers out of Australia. Deserving recognition for Best Foreign Language Film, Paradise Now from Palestine lost out to the equally deserving Tsotsi from South Africa. changing the way that Hollywood views South African moviemaking. Director Gavin Hood said �We may have foreign language films, but our stories are the same as your stories. They're about the human heart and emotion.�

Rise in popularity of the documentary saw an award go to March of the Penguins. On stage, Luc whistled �It means, thank you in penguin. I'd like to dedicate this statuette to all the children in the world who saw that movie. In 2041, they will decide to ruin you or not, the treaty that protects Antartica. Maybe, the "March of the Penguins" will inspire them.�

Outside winner for Original Song went to Hustle & Flow �It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp', which was up against Dolly Parton for Transamerica and Kathleen Bird for Crash. All nominated songs performed during the evening. The win, which probably prompted the most excited response all night, could have a profound effect on the respectability of hip hop. This has inspired song writers Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard to write more songs for the movies that could possibly change its perception among non hip-hop fans.

Director-producer-writer Robert Altman was presented with an Honorary Award to honour "a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike." On accepting his award he announced� I'm here, I think, under kind of false pretenses. And I think I have to become straight with you. Ten years ago, 11 years ago, I had a heart transplant. A total heart transplant. I got the heart of I think a young woman who is about in her late 30's. And so by that kind of calculation, you may be giving me this award, too early. Because I think I've got about 40 years left on it. And I intend to use it.�

�I was doing an interview for my new film, that I just finished "Prairie Home Companion" which will come out in the summer. And I realized that it's not over. Of course, I was happy and thrilled and thrilled to accept this award. And I look at it as a nod to all of my films, because to me, I've just made one long film. And I know some of you have liked some of the sections, and others, you -- any way, it's all right.� Always a touching moment, George Clooney paid tribute in memory to fellow actors and directors who sadly passed away in 2005. These included Chris Penn, John Mills, Simone Simon, Barbara Bell Geddes, Brock Peters, Shelley Winters, Anne Bancroft, Eddie Alvert, Ismail Merchant, Robert Wise and Richard Pryor.

Admittedly, speculation was high for Brokeback Mountain to sweep the board with it's 8 nominations, but along side King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha and Crash, they all took home three awards each for varying merits. Most surprisingly Brokeback Mountain wasn't even recognised in any of the three acting categories for Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhall or Michelle Williams and with predictions based upon the BAFTA's and the Golden Globes - usually a good indication of who will win at the Academy Awards, incidentally bookmakers William Hill predicted most of the same winners. Disappointingly, Good Night, and Good Luck wasn't a recognised winner in any category alongside Steve Spielberg's two nominated films Munich and War of the Worlds which both also failed to pick up awards.

Although Jake Gyllenhaal, who ironically as �supporting actor' was probably given more screen time in Brokeback Mountain than Reese Witherspoon did as �actress in a lead role' in Walk The Line, was another good contender for Best Supporting Actor, other than Best Picture going to Crash there were few surprises on the night with a predictable list of winners and a fair distribution of the awards honouring most of the films nominated.