Oscar 2012 Winners

Rate this photo: Oscars 2012: Best picture ( Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times; The Weinstein Co. ) "The Artist" won the coveted Oscar for best picture, beating out eight other films, including "Hugo," "The Descendants" and "The Help." The award went to Thomas Langmann, the film's producer, seen at far left in the left photo. Oscars 2012: Actor in a leading role ( The Weinstein Co.; Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times ) Jean Dujardin won the Academy Award for lead actor for his performance in "The Artist," beating out Demián Bichir for "A Better Life," George Clooney for "The Descendants," Brad Pitt for "Moneyball" and Gary Oldman for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." Oscars 2012: Actress in a leading role ( Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times; The Weinstein Co. ) Meryl Streep won the leading actress Oscar for her performance in "The Iron Lady," beating out Viola Davis for "The Help," Rooney Mara for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Glenn Close for "Albert Nobbs" and Michelle Williams for "My Week With Marilyn." Oscars 2012: Director ( The Weinstein Co.; Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times ) Michel Hazanavicius won an Academy Award for directing "The Artist." Other director nominees were Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life," Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants" and Martin Scorsese, who last month nabbed the Golden Globe for directing "Hugo." Oscars 2012: Supporting actor ( Andrew Tepper / Focus Features; Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times ) Christopher Plummer won the supporting actor Academy Award for "Beginners." He beat out Kenneth Branagh for "My Week With Marilyn," Jonah Hill for "Moneyball," Nick Nolte for "Warrior" and Max von Sydow for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close." Oscars 2012: Supporting actress ( Dale Robinette / DreamWorks; Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) Octavia Spencer won the supporting actress Oscar for her performance in "The Help," beating out Bérénice Bejo for "The Artist," Jessica Chastain for "The Help," Melissa McCarthy for "Bridesmaids" and Janet McTeer for "Albert Nobbs." Oscars 2012: Writing (adapted screenplay) ( Getty Images; Merie Wallace / Fox Searchlight ) "The Descendants" won the Academy Award for adapted screenplay. The Oscar went to Alexander Payne, top left, Jim Rash and Nate Faxon. Oscars 2012: Writing (original screenplay) ( Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics; Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times ) "Midnight in Paris" won the Oscar for original screenplay. The Academy Award went to writer-director Woody Allen, right. Oscars 2012: Animated feature film ( Paramount ) "Rango" won the Oscar for animated feature film. The Academy Award went to Gore Verbinski. The film beat out "Chico & Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "A Cat in Paris." Oscars 2012: Foreign language film ( Habib Madjidi / Sony Pictures Classics ) Iran's "A Separation" won the Academy Award for foreign-language film. The Oscar went to Asghar Farhadi, the film's director. "A Separation" (pictured: actors Leila Hatami and Peyman Maadi) beat out "Bullhead" from Belgium, "Monsieur Lazhar" from Canada, "Footnote" from Israel and "In Darkness" from Poland. Oscars 2012: Documentary feature ( The Weinstein Co. ) "Undefeated" won the documentary feature Oscar. The award went to TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas. (Pictured are Coach Bill Courtney and O.C. Brown.) Oscars 2012: Documentary short ( Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ) "Saving Face" won the Academy Award for documentary short. The Oscar went to Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. (Pictured: Documentary subjects Zakia, left, and Dr. Mohammad Jawad) Oscars 2012: Short film (animated) ( Moonbot Studios ) "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" won the animated short Oscar. The award went to William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg.