# 83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards was the [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-of-motion-picture-arts-and-sciences) ceremony of February 27, 2011, held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, honoring movies released in 2010, at which *The King's Speech* won Best Picture with four Oscars from a field-leading 12 nominations.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/W) • [2](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/83rd-academy-award-nominations-announced/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | Sunday, February 27, 2011, Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center; honoring movies released in 2010[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/W) |
| Best Picture | *The King's Speech*, which also won Directing (Tom Hooper), Actor (Colin Firth), and Original Screenplay (David Seidler)[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) |
| Nomination leader | *The King's Speech* with 12 nominations, ahead of *True Grit* with 10[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/83rd-academy-award-nominations-announced/) |
| Acting winners | Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo, all first-time Oscar winners[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) |
| Other multi-winners | *Inception* tied *The King's Speech* with four Oscars, all technical categories[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) • [4](https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/83rd-annual-academy-awards/) |
| Hosts | James Franco and Anne Hathaway, the first female-male duo to share the hosting stage[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) |
| Honorary awards | Kevin Brownlow, Jean-Luc Godard, and Eli Wallach (Honorary); Francis Ford Coppola (Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award)[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) |
## The Best Picture race
The season's central contest pitted *The King's Speech* against *The Social Network*. Nominations were announced on January 25, 2011, by Academy President Tom Sherak and the previous year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Mo'Nique.[5](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/83rd/nominations/) The ten Best Picture nominees were *127 Hours*, *Black Swan*, *The Fighter*, *Inception*, *The Kids Are All Right*, *The King's Speech*, *The Social Network*, *Toy Story 3*, *True Grit*, and *Winter's Bone*.[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/83rd-academy-award-nominations-announced/)
*The Social Network* entered the season as a front-runner, winning the Golden Globe for drama and top honors from key critics groups, but *The King's Speech* pulled an upset at the Producers Guild Awards the weekend before nominations.[2](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/83rd-academy-award-nominations-announced/) On the night, the British historical drama won Best Picture plus Directing, Actor, and Original Screenplay, for four Oscars total.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) Hooper's directing win was considered an upset by some observers who favored [David Fincher](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-fincher) for *The Social Network*.[6](https://thisdayinhistory.ai/event/83rd-academy-awards.680) *The Social Network* finished with three Oscars: Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin, Original Score for Trent Reznor and [Atticus Ross](https://www.edgepedia.org/atticus-ross), and Film Editing.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/W)
## Main winners
**Acting.** All four acting winners were first-time winners. [Colin Firth](https://www.edgepedia.org/colin-firth) won Actor in a Leading Role for *The King's Speech*, over [Javier Bardem](https://www.edgepedia.org/javier-bardem) (*Biutiful*), [Jeff Bridges](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-bridges) (*True Grit*), Jesse Eisenberg (*The Social Network*), and his co-host James Franco (*127 Hours*). Natalie Portman won Actress in a Leading Role for *Black Swan* over Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, and Michelle Williams.[1](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/W) Christian Bale (Supporting Actor) and Melissa Leo (Supporting Actress) won for *The Fighter*; the film was the first since *Hannah and Her Sisters* in 1986 to win both supporting acting awards.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments)
**Other categories.** *Inception* tied *The King's Speech* with four Oscars, taking Visual Effects, Cinematography, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) • [4](https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/83rd-annual-academy-awards/) *Toy Story 3* won Animated Feature for Lee Unkrich, and [Randy Newman](https://www.edgepedia.org/randy-newman)'s "We Belong Together" won Original Song.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) • [6](https://thisdayinhistory.ai/event/83rd-academy-awards.680) The Foreign Language Film award went to [Susanne Bier](https://www.edgepedia.org/susanne-bier)'s Danish film *In a Better World*, and the Documentary Feature award went to *[Inside Job](https://www.edgepedia.org/inside-job-2010-film)*, about the 2008 economic collapse.[7](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-2011-the-kings-speech-reigns-as-best-picture/) In Makeup, Rick Baker, winner of the first Makeup Oscar for 1981's *An American Werewolf in London*, shared the award with Dave Elsey for *The Wolfman*.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments)
## Hosting and reception
[Anne Hathaway](https://www.edgepedia.org/anne-hathaway) and [James Franco](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-franco) hosted, marking the first time a female-male duo had shared the Oscar stage in the hosting role.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) Franco was also nominated as Actor in a Leading Role for *127 Hours*, the first time a host had also been a nominee since 1973, when [Michael Caine](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-caine) was nominated for *Sleuth* while hosting.[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments)
Critical response to the telecast was unfavorable. The ceremony drew a 12% score on the review aggregator's Tomatometer from 33 reviews; its critics consensus described Hathaway as braving "unfunny quips" while Franco appeared "gallingly disengaged," and it ranked last, at #26, in a Rotten Tomatoes ranking of the awards shows of the preceding 25 years.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_academy_awards/s83) • [9](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/oscar-ceremonies-ranked-best-and-worst-academy-awards/) The New York Times' Alessandra Stanley called the show's "prolonged effort to pander to younger viewers" "downright painful."[10](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-reviews-did-hosts-anne-hathaway-and-james-franco-go-big-or-bomb/)
## Special honors
Three Honorary Awards were presented: to film historian Kevin Brownlow "for the wise and devoted chronicling of the cinematic parade," to [Jean-Luc Godard](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-luc-godard) "for passion. For confrontation. For a new kind of cinema," and to [Eli Wallach](https://www.edgepedia.org/eli-wallach) "for a lifetime's worth of indelible screen characters."[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments) The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award went to [Francis Ford Coppola](https://www.edgepedia.org/francis-ford-coppola), cited for "a consistently high quality of motion picture production."[3](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments)
## References
1. [The 83rd Academy Awards \| 2011, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/W)
2. [83rd Academy Award Nominations Announced, CBS New York (AP)](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/83rd-academy-award-nominations-announced/)
3. [The 83rd Academy Awards Memorable Moments, Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011/memorable-moments)
4. [83rd Annual Academy Awards, CBS Detroit (AP)](https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/83rd-annual-academy-awards/)
5. [83rd Annual Academy Awards Nominations (2011), DigitalHit.com](https://www.digitalhit.com/academy-awards/83rd/nominations/)
6. [83rd Academy Awards – February 27, 2011, This Day in History](https://thisdayinhistory.ai/event/83rd-academy-awards.680)
7. [Oscar 2011: "The King's Speech" reigns as best picture, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-2011-the-kings-speech-reigns-as-best-picture/)
8. [The Academy Awards: 83rd Oscars, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_academy_awards/s83)
9. [Oscar Ceremonies Ranked: Best and Worst Academy Awards Shows of the Last 25 Years, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/oscar-ceremonies-ranked-best-and-worst-academy-awards/)
10. [Oscar Reviews: Did hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco go big or bomb?, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oscar-reviews-did-hosts-anne-hathaway-and-james-franco-go-big-or-bomb/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Awards and screen reference › Academy Awards ceremonies and categories*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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