win in an acting categoryLila Kedrova won Best Supporting Actress for Zorba the Greek (1964)First Canadian director to win Best Director James Cameron for Titanic (1997)First persons from India to win in any music category A. R. Rahman won Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Jai Ho") for Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Gulzar also won Best Original Song ("Jai Ho") for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)First Middle Eastern/North African to be nominated for acting Omar Sharif (born in Egypt), nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Lawrence of Arabia (1962)First Middle Eastern movie to win Best International Feature FilmA Separation (2011), representing IranFirst foreign actress to be nominated twice for Best Actress for foreign-language films without the films receiving a Best International Feature Film nomination Marion Cotillard (from France) won Best Actress for La Vie en Rose (2007) and was nominated for Two Days, One Night (2014)First Black actress to win in an acting category Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind (1939)First Black actor to win in an acting category Sidney Poitier won Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1963)First Black actress to win Best Actress Halle Berry for Monster's Ball (2001)First Black actress to win for film acting debut Jennifer Hudson won Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls (2006)First year in which two Black actors/actresses won for acting74th Academy Awards (in 2002, for 2001): Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day; Halle Berry won Best Actress for Monster's BallFirst Black African actor to be nominated for actingDjimon Hounsou (born in Benin, U.S.-Benin dual citizen), nominated for Best Supporting Actor for In America (2003)First actress to win in any acting category and as a producer of the Best Picture in the same night Frances McDormand won Best Actress and Best Picture for Nomadland (2020)First Black writer to win for screenwriting Geoffrey S. Fletcher won Best Adapted Screenplay for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009)First African American to receive an Honorary Award James Baskett received a Special Award for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South (1946)First Latin American to win Best DirectorAlfonso Cuarón (from Mexico) won for Gravity (2013)First South American to be nominated for Best Actress Fernanda Montenegro (from Brazil) was nominated for Best Actress for Central Station (1998)First Muslim actor to win in an acting category Mahershala Ali for Moonlight (2016)First child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination