The 81st Academy Awards® nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor and Academy member Forest Whitaker.

Ganis and Whitaker will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 award categories at a 5:30 a.m. news conference at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered. Nominations information for all categories will be distributed simultaneously to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.

In 2006 Whitaker took home the Leading Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.