The 71st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 1998 in film and took place on March 21, 1999, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the third time. She first hosted the 66th ceremony held in 1994 and had last hosted the 68th ceremony in 1996. Nearly a month earlier in a ceremony held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on February 27, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Anne Heche.
Shakespeare in Love won seven awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Saving Private Ryan with five awards, Life Is Beautiful with three, and Affliction, Bunny, Election Night, Elizabeth, Gods and Monsters, The Last Days, The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years, The Prince of Egypt, and What Dreams May Come with one. The telecast garnered nearly 46 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 71st Academy Awards were announced on February 9, 1999, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Robert Rehme, president of the Academy, and the actor Kevin Spacey. Shakespeare in Love earned the most nominations with 13; Saving Private Ryan came in second place with 11.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 21, 1999. Life Is Beautiful was the second film nominated simultaneously for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film in the same year (the first being Z in 1969). Best Actor winner Roberto Benigni was the second person to direct himself to an acting Oscar win. Laurence Olivier first achieved this feat for his performance in 1948's Hamlet. He also became the fourth individual to earn acting, directing, screenwriting nominations for the same film. In addition, Benigni was the third performer to win an Oscar for a non-English speaking role. Best Actress nominee Fernanda Montenegro was the first Latina to be nominated in that category. By virtue of their nominations for portraying Queen Elizabeth I of England, Best Actress nominee Cate Blanchett and Best Supporting Actress winner Judi Dench became the first pair of actresses to earn acting nominations in the same year for portraying the same character in different films. Awards
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ().
Shakespeare in Love – David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein, Edward Zwick and Marc Norman, producers Elizabeth – Alison Owen, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, producers Life Is Beautiful – Elda Ferri and Gianluigi Braschi, producers Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn, producers The Thin Red Line – Robert Michael Geisler, Grant Hill and John Roberdeau, producers | valign="top" width="50%" |
Steven Spielberg – Saving Private Ryan Roberto Benigni – Life Is Beautiful John Madden – Shakespeare in Love Terrence Malick – The Thin Red Line Peter Weir – The Truman Show Roberto Benigni – Life Is Beautiful as Guido Orefice Tom Hanks – Saving Private Ryan as Captain John Miller Ian McKellen – Gods and Monsters as James Whale Nick Nolte – Affliction as Wade Whitehouse Edward Norton – American History X as Derek Vinyard Gwyneth Paltrow – Shakespeare in Love as Viola de Lesseps Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth as Queen Elizabeth I of England Fernanda Montenegro – Central Station as Isadora "Dora" Teixeira Meryl Streep – One True Thing as Kate Gulden Emily Watson – Hilary and Jackie as Jacqueline du Pré James Coburn – Affliction as Glen Whitehouse Robert Duvall – A Civil Action as Jerome Facher Ed Harris – The Truman Show as Christof Geoffrey Rush – Shakespeare in Love as Philip Henslowe Billy Bob Thornton – A Simple Plan as Jacob Mitchell Judi Dench – Shakespeare in Love as Queen Elizabeth I of England Kathy Bates – Primary Colors as Libby Holden Brenda Blethyn – Little Voice as Mari Hoff Rachel Griffiths – Hilary and Jackie as Hilary du Pré Lynn Redgrave – Gods and Monsters as Hanna Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard Bulworth – Screenplay by: Warren Beatty and Jeremy Pikser; Story by Warren Beatty Life Is Beautiful – Vincenzo Cerami and Roberto Benigni Saving Private Ryan – Robert Rodat The Truman Show – Andrew Niccol Gods and Monsters – Bill Condon based on the novel Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram Out of Sight – Scott Frank from the novel by Elmore Leonard Primary Colors – Elaine May adapted from the novel by Joe Klein A Simple Plan – Scott B. Smith based on his novel The Thin Red Line – Terrence Malick adapted from the novel by James Jones Life Is Beautiful (Italy) in Italian – Roberto Benigni Central Station (Brazil) in Portuguese – Walter Salles Children of Heaven (Iran) in Persian – Majid Majidi The Grandfather (Spain) in Spanish – José Luis Garci Tango (Argentina) in Spanish – Carlos Saura The Last Days – James Moll and Ken Lipper Dancemaker – Matthew Diamond and Jerry Kupfer The Farm: Angola, USA – Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth – Robert B. Weide Regret to Inform – Barbara Sonneborn and Janet Cole The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years – Keiko Ibi A Place in the Land – Charles Guggenheim Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square – Shui-Bo Wang and Donald McWilliams Election Night – Kim Magnusson and Anders Thomas Jensen Culture – Will Speck and Josh Gordon Holiday Romance – Alexander Jovy and JJ Keith La Carte Postale – Vivian Goffette Victor – Simon Sandquist and Joel Bergvall Bunny – Chris Wedge The Canterbury Tales – Christopher Grace and Jonathan Myerson Jolly Roger – Mark Baker More – Mark Osborne and Steve Kalafer When Life Departs – Karsten Kiilerich and Stefan Fjeldmark Life Is Beautiful – Nicola Piovani Elizabeth – David Hirschfelder Pleasantville – Randy Newman Saving Private Ryan – John Williams The Thin Red Line – Hans Zimmer Shakespeare in Love – Stephen Warbeck A Bug's Life – Randy Newman Mulan – Music by Matthew Wilder; Lyrics by David Zippel; Orchestral Score by Jerry Goldsmith Patch Adams – Marc Shaiman The Prince of Egypt – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz; Orchestral Score by Hans Zimmer "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt – Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon – Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren "The Prayer" from Quest for Camelot – Music by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster; Lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, David Foster, Tony Renis and Alberto Testa "A Soft Place to Fall" from The Horse Whisperer – Music and Lyrics by Allison Moorer and Gwil Owen "That'll Do" from Babe: Pig in the City – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman Saving Private Ryan – Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Ron Judkins Armageddon – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Keith A. Wester The Mask of Zorro – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Pud Cusack Shakespeare in Love – Robin O'Donoghue, Dominic Lester and Peter Glossop The Thin Red Line – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Paul Brincat Saving Private Ryan – Gary Rydstrom and Richard Hymns Armageddon – George Watters II The Mask of Zorro – David McMoyler Shakespeare in Love – Art Direction: Martin Childs; Set Decoration: Jill Quertier Elizabeth – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Peter Howitt Pleasantville – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Jay Hart Saving Private Ryan – Art Direction: Tom Sanders; Set Decoration: Lisa Dean Kavanaugh What Dreams May Come – Art Direction: Eugenio Zanetti; Set Decoration: Cindy Carr Saving Private Ryan – Janusz Kamiński A Civil Action – Conrad Hall Elizabeth – Remi Adefarasin Shakespeare in Love – Richard Greatrex The Thin Red Line – John Toll Elizabeth – Jenny Shircore Saving Private Ryan – Lois Burwell, Conor O'Sullivan and Daniel C. Striepeke Shakespeare in Love – Lisa Westcott and Veronica Brebner Shakespeare in Love – Sandy Powell Beloved – Colleen Atwood Elizabeth – Alexandra Byrne Pleasantville – Judianna Makovsky Velvet Goldmine – Sandy Powell Saving Private Ryan – Michael Kahn Life Is Beautiful – Simona Paggi Out of Sight – Anne V. Coates Shakespeare in Love – David Gamble The Thin Red Line – Billy Weber, Leslie Jones and Saar Klein What Dreams May Come – Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson and Kevin Mack Armageddon – Richard R. Hoover, Pat McClung and John Frazier Mighty Joe Young – Rick Baker, Hoyt Yeatman, Allen Hall and Jim Mitchell
Honorary Award To Elia Kazan in recognition of his indelible contributions to the art of motion picture direction.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Norman Jewison
Films with multiple nominations and awards
The following 19 films received multiple nominations:
Nominations Film 13 Shakespeare in Love 11 Saving Private Ryan 7 Elizabeth Life Is Beautiful The Thin Red Line 4 Armageddon 3 Gods and Monsters Pleasantville The Truman Show 2 Affliction Central Station A Civil Action Hilary and Jackie The Mask of Zorro Out of Sight Primary Colors The Prince of Egypt A Simple Plan What Dreams May Come
The following three films received multiple awards: Awards Film 7 Shakespeare in Love 5 Saving Private Ryan 3 Life Is Beautiful
Presenters and performers The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters