Exclusive Danny Boyle interview I Chief film critic's verdict I As it happened: Chris Ayres in LA I Full list of Oscar winners I Sixth time lucky for Kate I Best speeches I 20 best and worst dresses I Complete Oscars coverage

Heath Ledger and Penelope Cruz tonight collected early Oscars at the 1st Annual Academy Awards, in a ceremony that tried hard - and slightly awkwardly - to send up the recession that has caused the telecast's advertising revenues to slump by 16 per cent.

After an introductory recession-themed song and dance routine by the new Australian host Hugh Jackman - part of a radical overhaul of the telecast that seemed to leave the A-List audience slightly baffled - five previous Oscar winners took to the stage to give lengthly tributes to each of the nominees in the best supporting actress category. Finally, they awarded the gong to Cruz, for her role in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

"Has anyone ever fainted up here?" she asked, to laughter. "I think I might be the first one."

Her win was followed by Heath Ledger, who posthumously took the award for best supporting actor for his role as The Joker in the Batman movie "The Dark Knight." Ledger died last year of an accidental prescription drug overdose, and became only the second actor after Peter Finch to win posthumously.

His win brought the crowd to its feet, and the Oscar was accepted by his father, Kim Ledger, sister Kate and mother Sally Bell. "This award tonight would have humbly validated his quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his peers, in an industry he truly loved," Kim Ledger said.

The British-made film Slumdog Millionaire was also an early winner, taking six Oscars including best adapted screenplay and original score.

Earlier in the evening, looking both delighted and overwhelmed, the Indian cast of the British-made film Slumdog Millionaire arrived on the red carpet outside the 81st Academy Awards in Hollywood, amid predictions that they would take home the Oscar for Best Picture.

Among the Slumdog actors photographed as they made their entrance to the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard yesterday afternoon were Azharuddin Mohammed, 10, and Rubina Ali, 9, who were flown over for the ceremony from the Mumbai slum in which they live.

They were invited to the ceremony at the last minute, amid concerns about how the children might react to being exposed to the glitziest night in the LA social calendar, and then flown back to the squalour of their tarpaulin-covered homes.

But for tonight at least, awkward questions about the young actors' futures were on hold.

All the crowds, people shouting,it's fantastic, we're having an amazing time," said Slumdog's director, Danny Boyle.

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