The 68th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1995 in the United States and took place on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 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 David Salzman and Quincy Jones and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the show for the second time, having previously presided over the 66th ceremony in 1994. Three weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on March 2, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Richard Dreyfuss.
Braveheart won five awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Apollo 13, Pocahontas, Restoration, and The Usual Suspects with two awards and Anne Frank Remembered, Antonia's Line, Babe, A Close Shave, Dead Man Walking, Leaving Las Vegas, Lieberman in Love, Mighty Aphrodite, One Survivor Remembers, Il Postino: The Postman, and Sense and Sensibility with one. The telecast garnered almost 45 million viewers in the United States.
Winners and nominees
The nominees for the 68th Academy Awards were announced on February 13, 1996, at 5:38 a.m. PST (13:38 UTC) at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater by Arthur Hiller, the president of the academy, and the music producer Quincy Jones. Braveheart led all nominees with ten nominations; Apollo 13 came in second with nine.
The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 25, 1996. Braveheart was the ninth film to win Best Picture with no acting nominations. With her Best Supporting Actress win for Mighty Aphrodite, Mira Sorvino became the second consecutive actress to win the aforementioned category for a performance in a film directed by Woody Allen. Best Adapted Screenplay winner Emma Thompson was the first person to win Oscars for both acting and screenwriting. She had previously won Best Actress for her performance in the 1992 film Howards End. This was the first year since the 42nd Academy Awards—and last to date—that none of the acting winners appeared in Best Picture nominees.
Awards
Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.
Braveheart – Mel Gibson, Bruce Davey and Alan Ladd Jr., producers Apollo 13 – Brian Grazer, producer Babe – George Miller, Doug Mitchell and Bill Miller, producers Il Postino: The Postman – Mario Cecchi Gori (posthumous nomination), Vittorio Cecchi Gori and Gaetano Daniele, producers Sense and Sensibility – Lindsay Doran, producer | style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|
Mel Gibson – Braveheart Chris Noonan – Babe Tim Robbins – Dead Man Walking Mike Figgis – Leaving Las Vegas Michael Radford – Il Postino: The Postman Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas as Ben Sanderson Richard Dreyfuss – Mr. Holland's Opus as Glenn Holland Anthony Hopkins – Nixon as Richard Nixon Sean Penn – Dead Man Walking as Matthew Poncelet Massimo Troisi (posthumous nomination) – Il Postino: The Postman as Mario Ruoppolo Susan Sarandon – Dead Man Walking as Helen Prejean Elisabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas as Sera Sharon Stone – Casino as Ginger McKenna Meryl Streep – The Bridges of Madison County as Francesca Johnson Emma Thompson – Sense and Sensibility as Elinor Dashwood Kevin Spacey – The Usual Suspects as Roger "Verbal" Kint / Keyser Söze James Cromwell – Babe as Farmer Arthur Hoggett Ed Harris – Apollo 13 as Gene Kranz Brad Pitt – 12 Monkeys as Jeffrey Goines Tim Roth – Rob Roy as Archibald Cunningham Mira Sorvino – Mighty Aphrodite as Linda Ash Joan Allen – Nixon as Pat Nixon Kathleen Quinlan – Apollo 13 as Marilyn Gerlach Lovell Mare Winningham – Georgia as Georgia Flood Kate Winslet – Sense and Sensibility as Marianne Dashwood The Usual Suspects – Christopher McQuarrie Braveheart – Randall Wallace Mighty Aphrodite – Woody Allen Nixon – Oliver Stone, Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J. Rivele Toy Story – Screenplay by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow; Story by John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft Sense and Sensibility – Emma Thompson adapted from the novel by Jane Austen Apollo 13 – Al Reinert and William Broyles Jr. based on the book Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger Babe – George Miller and Chris Noonan based on the book The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith Leaving Las Vegas – Mike Figgis based on the novel by John O'Brien Il Postino: The Postman – Michael Radford, Anna Pavignano, Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo Scarpelli and Massimo Troisi (posthumous nomination) based on the novel Ardiente paciencia by Antonio Skármeta Antonia's Line (The Netherlands) in Dutch – Marleen Gorris, director All Things Fair (Sweden) in Swedish – Bo Widerberg, director Dust of Life (Algeria) in French – Rachid Bouchareb, director O Quatrilho (Brazil) in Portuguese and Italian – Fábio Barreto, director The Star Maker (Italy) in Italian – Giuseppe Tornatore, director Anne Frank Remembered – Jon Blair The Battle Over Citizen Kane – Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein Fiddlefest – Roberta Tzavaras and Her East Harlem Violin Program – Allan Miller and Walter Scheuer Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream – Mike Tollin and Fredric Golding Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern – Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher One Survivor Remembers – Kary Antholis Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls – Nancy Dine and Richard Stilwell The Living Sea – Greg MacGillivray and Alec Lorimore Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper – Terry Sanders and Freida Lee Mock The Shadow of Hate – Charles Guggenheim Lieberman in Love – Christine Lahti and Jana Sue Memel Brooms – Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas Duke of Groove – Griffin Dunne and Thom Colwell Little Surprises – Jeff Goldblum and Tikki Goldberg Tuesday Morning Ride – Dianne Houston and Joy Ryan A Close Shave – Nick Park The Chicken from Outer Space – John R. Dilworth The End – Chris Landreth and Robin Bargar Gagarin – Aleksey Kharitidi Runaway Brain – Chris Bailey Il Postino: The Postman – Luis Bacalov Apollo 13 – James Horner Braveheart – James Horner Nixon – John Williams Sense and Sensibility – Patrick Doyle Pocahontas – Music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Stephen Schwartz; orchestral score by Alan Menken The American President – Marc Shaiman Sabrina – John Williams Toy Story – Randy Newman Unstrung Heroes – Thomas Newman "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas – Music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Stephen Schwartz "Dead Man Walkin'" from Dead Man Walking – Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from Don Juan DeMarco – Music and lyrics by Michael Kamen, Bryan Adams and Robert John Lange "Moonlight" from Sabrina – Music by John Williams; lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story – Music and lyrics by Randy Newman Apollo 13 – Rick Dior, Steve Pederson, Scott Millan and David MacMillan Batman Forever – Donald O. Mitchell, Frank A. Montaño, Michael Herbick and Petur Hliddal Braveheart – Andy Nelson, Scott Millan, Anna Behlmer and Brian Simmons Crimson Tide – Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, Gregory H. Watkins and William B. Kaplan Waterworld – Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Keith A. Wester Braveheart – Lon Bender and Per Hallberg Batman Forever – John Leveque and Bruce Stambler Crimson Tide – George Watters II Restoration – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Eugenio Zanetti Apollo 13 – Art Direction: Michael Corenblith; Set Decoration: Merideth Boswell Babe – Art Direction: Roger Ford; Set Decoration: Kerrie Brown A Little Princess – Art Direction: Bo Welch; Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik Richard III – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Tony Burrough Braveheart – John Toll Batman Forever – Stephen Goldblatt A Little Princess – Emmanuel Lubezki Sense and Sensibility – Michael Coulter Shanghai Triad – Lü Yue Braveheart – Peter Frampton, Paul Pattison and Lois Burwell My Family, Mi Familia – Ken Diaz and Mark Sanchez Roommates – Greg Cannom, Bob Laden and Colleen Callaghan Restoration – James Acheson 12 Monkeys – Julie Weiss Braveheart – Charles Knode Richard III – Shuna Harwood Sense and Sensibility – Jenny Beavan and John Bright Apollo 13 – Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley Babe – Marcus D'Arcy and Jay Friedkin Braveheart – Steven Rosenblum Crimson Tide – Chris Lebenzon Seven – Richard Francis-Bruce Babe – Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan and John Cox Apollo 13 – Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Leslie Ekker and Matt Sweeney
Special Achievement Award To John Lasseter, for his inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.
Honorary Awards To Kirk Douglas, for fifty years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community. To Chuck Jones, for the creation of classic cartoons which have brought worldwide joy for more than half a century.
Multiple nominations and awards
The following 19 films received multiple nominations:
Nominations Film 10 Braveheart 9 Apollo 13 7 Babe Sense and Sensibility 5 Il Postino: The Postman 4 Dead Man Walking Leaving Las Vegas Nixon 3 Batman Forever Crimson Tide Toy Story 2 12 Monkeys A Little Princess Mighty Aphrodite Pocahontas Restoration Richard III Sabrina The Usual Suspects
The following five films received multiple awards:
Awards Film 5 Braveheart 2 Apollo 13 Pocahontas Restoration The Usual Suspects
Presenters and performers The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.
Presenters