Gay films, filmmakers go home empty-handed at Oscars

With shutouts for Billy Elliot and Before Night Falls, plus a loss in the Documentary category for Deborah Hoffmann and Frances Reid’s Long Night’s Journey Into Day, gay films and filmmakers were mostly ignored at the 73rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday, with the occasionally homoerotic Gladiator, the butch-femme warrior women of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the docudrama Traffic—which included a gay hired killer among its many characters—taking home most of the prizes. Rock legend Bob Dylan scored his first Oscar for his song “Things Have Changed,” from the gay-inclusive Wonder Boys. A complete list of winners follows:

Best Picture: Gladiator
Best Director: Steven Soderbergh, Traffic
Best Actress: Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich
Best Actor: Russell Crowe, Gladiator
Best Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, Traffic
Best Adapted Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan, Traffic
Best Original Screenplay: Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
Best Foreign-Language Film: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan)
Best Art Direction: Tim Yip, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Cinematography: Peter Pau, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Costume Design: Janty Yates, Gladiator
Best Documentary Feature: Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
Best Documentary Short Subject: Big Mama
Best Editing: Stephen Mirrione, Traffic
Best Makeup: Rick Baker and Gail Ryan, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Best Original Score: Tan Dun, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Original Song: “Things Have Changed,” Bob Dylan, Wonder Boys
Best Animated Short: Father and Daughter
Best Live-Action Short: Quiero Ser (I Want to Be...)
Best Sound: Gladiator
Best Sound Editing: U-571
Best Visual Effects: Gladiator