Set out in search of the  locations where this year’s  Oscar winners were set and  you’ll experience, as Mary  Moore Mason did, a few  surprises. First of all, there’s the shock  of discovering that the namesake town  in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,  Missouri doesn’t exist – the film was  made in the mountains of North Carolina!  Then there’s the Oscars’ top winner,  The Shape of Water, where the action  allegedly takes place in Baltimore, but the  filming was actually done in Canada. And,  although the real Tonya Harding spent  much of her time in Portland, Oregon,  I, Tonya, the biopic about her eventful  figure skating career, was filmed primarily  in Georgia.

Never mind, there are plenty of places  to visit in the USA where the films were  both set and made, and even the stand-in  sites have much to offer.

Take the North Carolina towns of  Black Mountain, Sylva, Dillsboro and  Maggie Valley, for instance. Although the  three billboards are no longer there, the  scenic Black Mountain road circling Black  Mountain is well worth the drive – and is  also the site of the house where Oscar and  Golden Globe-winner Frances McDormand  (Mildred Hayes) finally comes to terms  with her adversary, Oscar Best Supporting  Actor Sam Rockwell (Police Officer Jason  Dixon). Incidentally, the billboards were  covered when not being filmed as their  message upset the local people.

Quirkily-charming Sylva is home to  such film sites as the Jackson County  Historic Courthouse, now a public library,  the Ebbing Police Department, Red  Welby’s advertising company and Officer  Dixon’s home. The Sylva Convenient  Market & General Store is even adorned  by a Welcome to Ebbing, Missouri sign!

In Dillsboro, the Country Traditions  store served as the shop where Mildred  worked, and in Maggie Valley, J Arthur’s  Restaurant was where she had a  memorable meal. That’s not to forget the  action- and arts-and-craft-filled hub of  the area, Asheville, where – when he was  off set – Woody Harrelson (Ebbing Police  Chief Willoughby) played chess with the  locals at Pritchard Park.

A couple at Lake Lure re-enact a famous scene from Dirty Dancing

In fact, you might want to stay on at  one of Asheville’s numerous inns or at  Black Mountain’s Victorian-style Red  Rocker Inn or the riverfront Dillsboro Inn. Then you can explore  the sites of other films made in the area  over the years, such as The Fugitive  (Dillsboro and Cherokee), The Last of the  Mohicans (Hickory Nut Falls and Chimney  Rock Park) and Dirty Dancing (Lake Lure  and also Mountain Lake, Virginia.)

Not only was Atlanta the filming site for  I, Tonya, which won the Best Supporting  Actress award for Allison Janney (who,  incidentally, was destined to become a  figure skater until she had an accident at  17) but it is also where Baby Driver, which  won a Film Editing Oscar, was shot.

And although Baltimore lost out  on being the film site for The Shape  of Water, it has achieved TV fame  as the location for The Wire, even as  Harford County, Maryland, 17 miles  from Baltimore, has been the setting for  much of House of Cards. To the south,  Richmond, capital of Virginia, became  popular with film buffs after the 2013  launch of Lincoln, starring 2013 Oscar  winner Daniel Day-Lewis.

A bridge filmed in Lady Bird leads to the California State Capitol

Ironically, Lady Bird, which didn’t win  an Oscar, has probably garnered more  attention for its real film locations – in  Sacramento, California – than many  Oscar-winning films. For although its  heroine, Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson  (Golden Globe-winner Saoirse Ronan),  spends much of her time trying to escape  her home city – and her domineering  mother – once away she realises how  much she misses it. This doubtlessly  reflects the feelings of its writer/director  Greta Gerwig, a Sacramento native.

So, now you can take an Official Lady  Bird Walking & Running Tour,  including such film sites as Tower Bridge,  leading to picturesque Old Sacramento  and the State Capitol; The Tower  Theatre, where Gerwig held a private  film premiere; the elegant ‘blue house’,  which Lady Bird pretends is her own;  Thrift Town, where she shops; and the  ‘Fabulous Forties’ neighbourhood.

If you want to see more, and stay  longer, tap into www.visitsacramento.com.