53ste Oscaruitreiking

De winnaars staan bovenaan in vet lettertype.^[1]

• Ordinary People
  • Coal Miner's Daughter
  • The Elephant Man
  • Raging Bull
  • Tess

• Robert Redford - Ordinary People
  • David Lynch - The Elephant Man
  • Roman Polański - Tess
  • Richard Rush - The Stunt Man
  • Martin Scorsese - Raging Bull

• Robert De Niro - Raging Bull
  • Robert Duvall - The Great Santini
  • John Hurt - The Elephant Man
  • Jack Lemmon - Tribute
  • Peter O'Toole - The Stunt Man

• Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter
  • Ellen Burstyn - Resurrection
  • Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin
  • Mary Tyler Moore - Ordinary People
  • Gena Rowlands - Gloria

• Timothy Hutton - Ordinary People
  • Judd Hirsch - Ordinary People
  • Michael O'Keefe - The Great Santini
  • Joe Pesci - Raging Bull
  • Jason Robards - Melvin and Howard

• Mary Steenburgen - Melvin and Howard
  • Eileen Brennan - Private Benjamin
  • Eva Le Gallienne - Resurrection
  • Cathy Moriarty - Raging Bull
  • Diana Scarwid - Inside Moves

• Melvin and Howard - Bo Goldman
  • Brubaker - W.D. Richter en Arthur Ross
  • Fame - Christopher Gore
  • Mon Oncle d'Amerique - Jean Gruault
  • Private Benjamin - Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer en Harvey Miller

• Ordinary People - Alvin Sargent
  • Breaker Morant - Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens en Bruce Beresford
  • Coal Miner's Daughter - Tom Rickman
  • The Elephant Man - Christopher DeVore, Eric Bergren en David Lynch
  • The Stunt Man - Lawrence B. Marcus en Richard Rush

• Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears - Sovjet-Unie
  • Confidence - Hongarije
  • Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior) - Japan
  • The Last Metro - Frankrijk
  • The Nest - Spanje

• From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China - Murray Lerner
  • Agee - Ross Spears
  • The Day After Trinity - Jon Else
  • Front Line - David Bradbury
  • The Yellow Star - The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45 - Bengt von zur Muehlen en Arthur Cohn

• Tess - Geoffrey Unsworth en Ghislain Cloquet
  • The Blue Lagoon - Néstor Almendros
  • Coal Miner's Daughter - Ralf D. Bode
  • The Formula - James Crabe
  • Raging Bull - Michael Chapman

• Raging Bull - Thelma Schoonmaker
  • Coal Miner's Daughter - Arthur Schmidt
  • The Competition - David Blewitt
  • The Elephant Man - Anne V. Coates
  • Fame - Gerry Hambling

• Tess - Pierre Guffroy en Jack Stephens
  • Coal Miner's Daughter - John W. Corso en John M. Dwyer
  • The Elephant Man - Stuart Craig, Bob Cartwright en Hugh Scaife
  • The Empire Strikes Back - Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley, Harry Lange, Alan Tomkins en Michael Ford
  • Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior) - Yoshiro Muraki

• Fame - Michael Gore
  • Altered States - John Corigliano
  • The Elephant Man - John Morris
  • The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
  • Tess - Philippe Sarde

• "Fame" uit Fame - Muziek: Michael Gore, tekst: Dean Pitchford
  • "Nine to Five" uit Nine to Five - Muziek en tekst: Dolly Parton
  • "On the Road Again" uit Honeysuckle Rose - Muziek en tekst: Willie Nelson
  • "Out Here on My Own" uit Fame - Muziek: Michael Gore, tekst: Lesley Gore
  • "People Alone" uit The Competition - Muziek: Lalo Schifrin, tekst: Wilbur Jennings

• The Empire Strikes Back - Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker en Peter Sutton
  • Altered States - Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler en Willie D. Burton
  • Coal Miner's Daughter - Richard Portman, Roger Heman en Jim Alexander
  • Fame - Michael J. Kohut, Aaron Rochin, Jay M. Harding en Chris Newman
  • Raging Bull - Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball en Les Lazarowitz

• The Empire Strikes Back - Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren en Bruce Nicholson^[2]

• Tess - Anthony Powell
  • The Elephant Man - Patricia Norris
  • My Brilliant Career - Anna Senior
  • Somewhere in Time - Jean-Pierre Dorleac
  • When Time Ran Out - Paul Zastupnevich

• The Dollar Bottom - Lloyd Phillips
  • Fall Line - Bob Carmichael en Greg Lowe
  • A Jury of Her Peers - Sally Heckel

• The Fly - Ferenc Rofusz
  • All Nothing - Frédéric Back
  • History of the World in Three Minutes Flat - Michael Mills

• Karl Hess: Toward Liberty - Roland Hallé en Peter Ladue
  • Don't Mess with Bill - John Watson en Pen Densham
  • The Eruption of Mount St. Helens - George Casey
  • It's the Same World - Dick Young
  • Luther Metke at 94 - Richard Hawkins en Jorge Preloran

• Henry Fonda, de volmaakte acteur, als erkenning voor zijn briljante prestaties en blijvende bijdrage aan de kunst van films.^[3]

De volgende films ontvingen meerdere nominaties:

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
• Academy Awards 1981 in de Internet Movie Database