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“And the Oscar goes to…” The audience of more than 3,000 stars and starlets anxiously holds its breath as Australian actor Hugh Jackman is about to read the name in the envelope. Quiet as church mice, they wait for the answer to the most important question of the evening: Who will win one of the 35 centimeter tall, shiny gold trophies? It is just any old night it Los Angeles, it is the night of the Academy Awards.

There were more than just world stars such as Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Meryl Streep on hand when the most coveted movie prize in the world was presented for the 81st time on February 22. Carl Zeiss was also on hand for the festivities. What is the technology leader in camera and cine lenses doing in Los Angeles? Carl Zeiss equips the moviemakers with first-class lenses, including the cameras for movies with multiple nominations such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and The Baader Meinhof Complex.

For Slumdog Millionaire, inventors at Carl Zeiss came up with something really unique: modified cine lenses optimized the filming of the movie in Mumbai, India, earning it ten nominations for the Academy Awards. Its Oscar nominations include Best Camera. If there were a Best Camera lens category, Slumdog Millionaire would probably win eleven of the treasured golden statues.

February 10, 2009