And the Winner Is...
NPR Coverage of the 74th Annual Academy Awards

 List of Oscar winners.

 Browse coverage of the Oscars on npr.org.

Latest Oscar-related stories heard on NPR:  The Academy makes history, Morning Edition, March 25, 2002. Last night's Academy Awards ceremony made history in a number of ways. NPR's Renee Montagne reports.  The Oscar limo driver, Weekend All Things Considered, March 24, 2002. Guest host Jacki Lyden talks with limosine driver George Barlow, shuttling the stars at the awards show in Los Angeles.  Comedies at the Oscars, Weekend Edition Saturday, March 23, 2002. Entertainment critic Elvis Mitchell talks about the difficulty comedies have in getting recognition at the Academy Awards  Luring Hollywood home, Weekend All Things Considered, March 23, 2002. The Academy Awards ceremony moves to a new home in the heart of Hollywood. But as NPR's Andy Bowers reports, other productions are fleeing the area in search of cheaper locations.  Oscar-nominated songs, Weekend Edition Saturday, March 23, 2002. Murray Horwitz, NPR's head of cultural programming, talks about nominations for best song in a movie. Sting, Paul McCartney, Randy Newman, Enya and Diane Warren all have songs nominated this year. Browse more NPR stories on the Academy Awards.

March 24, 2002 -- On Sunday night, the Academy Awards returned to the place where it all began in 1929 -- Hollywood. And the custom-made venue for the Oscars, the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, was filled to capacity with a new generation of stars and filmmakers.

With 13 nominations for an Oscar, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was seemingly the film to beat -- but the emotional winners were the two African-Americans who took home the coveted Best Actor and Best Actress nods.

One of the highlights of the evening was the eloquent speech given by legendary actor and director Sidney Poitier, who was given an honorary Oscar for his pioneering efforts in bringing racial diversity to the screen.

In a fitting coda, Halle Berry, in her tearful acceptance speech as the first African-American woman to win Best Actress, accepted the award on behalf of the "nameless, faceless women of color who now have a chance tonight because the door has been opened." And Denzel Washington, winner for Best Actor, said simply: "Two birds in one night."

In the end, the awards were more or less evenly divided among many films. The Lord of the Rings earned nominations in three of the most prestigious categories -- Best Picture, Director and Supporting Actor -- and won four Oscars, mostly for artistic and technical achievements.

A Beautiful Mind, based on the true story of math genius John Nash, won Best Picture and Ron Howard won for Best Director. In the weeks leading up to the awards show, the film was dogged by allegations it altered or glossed over parts of Nash's painful journey to fight his illness. Hostess Whoopi Goldberg alluded to the "mud slinging" several times Sunday night, and hinted that the competition for the 75th annual Oscars next year would bring more of the same.

"It's time to start the mud slinging for 75," Goldberg said at the show's close.

Oscars coverage on npr.org:

 Full List of Oscar Winners
From Best Picture to the technical awards, get the full list of films, actors and behind-the-camera talent to win the most prestigous honor in film.

 Bob Mondello: Raves and Rants
NPR film critic Bob Mondello offers his own list of favorite movies from 2001 -- and a special list of five reasons why the awards show makes him cranky...

 Nominated Scores and Composers
Music critic Andy Trudeau talks with the composers of Oscar-nominated film scores and dissects the music that makes good movies great.

 NPR Online Oscar Talk
Share your predictions with the NPR online community -- who will win Best Actor or Actress? Best Picture? Best Director? After you've cast your vote, return to the forum on Monday, March 25, to see how your predictions stacked up.