On an evening when Hollywood's A-List turned out to see "Million Dollar Baby" upend "The Aviator" for four top prizes at the 77th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, some 200 local film afficionados gathered yesterday to watch a live telecast of the awards show at the Hawai'i International Film Festival's annual Oscar Night.

The event, one of only 45 officially sanctioned Oscar parties nationwide, was held at a private downtown club whose management requested it not be named. (Hint: An hour into the live telecast, there were more Jaguars, Lexuses and Porsches in the parking lot than Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans.)

"There are fewer people glued to the TV this year than in years past," said festival executive director Chuck Boller, motioning to the scores of party-goers milling about the outdoor buffet or half-watching in the dining room. "It might have something to do with this great venue."

And yet the attendees, several taking up the black-tie option, managed to stay abreast of the most important awards.

"I'm really glad I didn't have to vote," Jack Luckett said. "There were so many marvelous films and actors up for awards this year."

Luckett and his wife, Eulalia, said they were pleased so many of this year's nominations went to films that touched on issues such as abortion ("Vera Drake"), euthanasia ("Million Dollar Baby") and morality ("Closer").

"It shows that the motion-picture industry is dealing with the issues of today," Jack Luckett said.

Like many in attendance, the Lucketts said they were happy to see Morgan Freeman win best supporting actor for his role in "Million Dollar Baby."

Seated one table over, filmmakers Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and Vilsoni Hereniko, applauded enthusiastically when "Sideways" won for best adapted screenplay.

Like many in attendance, Paulson Hereniko predicted "The Aviator" was on course for a sweep of the major awards.

Many of the most ardent film fans sequestered themselves in an adjoining room where the broadcast was being shown on a large pull-down screen. Here, and perhaps only here, knowledgeable viewers watched intently as the technical awards were given out.

Documentarian Marlene Booth missed many of the nominated pictures, but she did think Foxx's performance in "Ray" was Oscar-worthy ("It was terrific and transformative," she said) and though she hasn't seen "Million Dollar Baby," she wasn't surprised Hilary Swank — whom she loved in 1999's "Boys Don't Cry" — took home best-actress honors.

More than a few were surprised when "Million Dollar Baby" took best director (Clint Eastwood) and best film back-to-back.

"Not what I expected," Lacy Chen said. "I really thought 'The Aviator' was going to sweep. That's good, though. I didn't care for that movie at all."