50th British Academy Film Awards

50th British Academy Film Awards
50th British Academy Film Awards
Date	29 April 1997
Site	Royal Albert Hall
Hosted by	Lenny Henry
Highlights
Best Film	The English Patient
Best British Film	Secrets & Lies
Best Actor	Geoffrey Rush ; Shine
Best Actress	Brenda Blethyn ; Secrets & Lies
Most awards	The English Patient (6)
Most nominations	The English Patient (13)
	← 49th ; BAFTA Awards ; 51st →;

Last updated March 11, 2025

The 50th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 29 April 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1996. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 1998.

Anthony Minghella's The English Patient won the award for Best Film (and previously won the Academy Award for Best Picture), while Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies was voted Outstanding British Film. Geoffrey Rush won for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in Shine and Brenda Blethyn won for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in Secrets & Lies, respectively.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The ceremony was hosted by actor and comedian Lenny Henry.

Winners and nominees

Geoffrey Rush, Best Actor winner GeoffreyRushTIFFSept2011.jpg — Geoffrey Rush, Best Actor winner

BAFTA Fellowship

Woody Allen , Julie Christie , Oswald Morris and Harold Pinter

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

Film4 Productions

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Film The English Patient – Saul Zaentz and Anthony Minghella Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Secrets & Lies – Simon Channing Williams and Mike Leigh Shine – Jane Scott and Scott Hicks	Best Direction Joel Coen – Fargo Anthony Minghella – The English Patient Mike Leigh – Secrets & Lies Scott Hicks – Shine
Best Actor in a Leading Role *Geoffrey Rush – Shine* as David Helfgott** Ian McKellen – Richard III as Richard III Ralph Fiennes – The English Patient as László Almásy Timothy Spall – Secrets & Lies as Maurice Purley	Best Actress in a Leading Role *Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies* as Cynthia Rose Purley** Emily Watson – Breaking the Waves as Bess McNeill Frances McDormand – Fargo as Marge Gunderson Kristin Scott Thomas – The English Patient as Katharine Clifton
Best Actor in a Supporting Role *Paul Scofield – The Crucible* as Thomas Danforth** Alan Rickman – Michael Collins as Éamon de Valera Edward Norton – Primal Fear as Aaron Stampler / Roy John Gielgud – Shine as Cecil Parkes	Best Actress in a Supporting Role *Juliette Binoche – The English Patient* as Hana** Lauren Bacall – The Mirror Has Two Faces as Hannah Morgan Lynn Redgrave – Shine as Gillian Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Secrets & Lies as Hortense Cumberbatch
Best Original Screenplay Secrets & Lies – Mike Leigh Brassed Off – Mark Herman Fargo – Ethan Coen and Joel Coen Lone Star – John Sayles Shine – Jan Sardi	Best Adapted Screenplay The English Patient – Anthony Minghella The Crucible – Arthur Miller Evita – Alan Parker and Oliver Stone Richard III – Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine
Best Cinematography The English Patient – John Seale Evita – Darius Khondji Fargo – Roger Deakins Michael Collins – Chris Menges	Best Costume Design Richard III – Shuna Harwood The English Patient – Ann Roth Evita – Penny Rose Hamlet – Alexandra Byrne
Best Editing The English Patient – Walter Murch Evita – Gerry Hambling Fargo – Roderick Jaynes Shine – Pip Karmel	Best Makeup and Hair The Nutty Professor – Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson 101 Dalmatians – Lynda Armstrong, Martial Corneville, Colin Jamison and Jean-Luc Russier The English Patient – Fabrizio Sforza and Nigel Booth Evita – Sarah Monzani and Martin Samuel
Best Original Music The English Patient – Gabriel Yared Brassed Off – Trevor Jones Evita – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice Shine – David Hirschfelder	Best Production Design Richard III – Tony Burrough The English Patient – Stuart Craig Evita – Brian Morris Hamlet – Tim Harvey
Best Sound Shine – Jim Greenhorn, Toivo Lember, Livia Ruzic, Roger Savage and Gareth Vanderhope The English Patient – Mark Berger, Pat Jackson, Walter Murch, Chris Newman, David Parker and Ivan Sharrock Evita – Anna Behlmer, Eddy Joseph, Andy Nelson, Ken Weston and Nigel Wright Independence Day – Bob Beemer, Bill W. Benton, Chris Carpenter, Sandy Gendler, Val Kuklowsky and Jeff Wexler	Best Special Visual Effects Twister – Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Henry Labounta and Habib Zargarpour Independence Day – Tricia Ashford, Volker Engel, Clay Pinney, Douglas Smith and Joe Viskocil The Nutty Professor – Jon Farhat Toy Story – Eben Fiske Ostby and William Reeves
Outstanding British Film Secrets & Lies – Simon Channing Williams and Mike Leigh Brassed Off – Steve Abbott and Mark Herman Carla's Song – Sally Hibbin and Ken Loach Richard III – Lisa Katselas, Stephen Bayly and Richard Loncraine	Best Film Not in the English Language Ridicule – Frederic Brillion, Philippe Carcassonne, Gilles Legrand and Patrice Leconte Antonia's Line – Hans de Weers and Marleen Gorris Kolya – Eric Abraham and Jan Svěrák Nelly and Mr. Arnaud – Alain Sarde and Claude Sautet
Best Short Animation The Old Lady and the Pigeons – Bernard La Joie, Didier Brunner and Sylvain Chomet Famous Fred – John Coates, Catrin Unwin and Joanna Quinn The Saint Inspector – Richard Hutchinson and Mike Booth Testament: The Bible in Animation (for episode "Joseph") – Elizabeth Babakhina and Aida Ziablikoua Testament: The Bible in Animation (for episode "Moses") – Naomi Jones and Gary Hurst Trainspotter – Christopher Moll, Jeff Newitt and Neville Astley	Best Short Film Majorettes in Space (Des majorettes dans l'espace) – Carole Scotta and David Fourier The Butterfly Man – Robin MacPherson and Barry Ackroyd Dual Balls – Laurence Bowen and Dan Zeff Everything Must Go – François Barat and Jean-Marc Moutout Machination – Alice Beckmann and Ralph Seiler

Statistics

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
13	The English Patient
9	Shine
8	Evita
7	Secrets & Lies
6	Fargo
5	Richard III
3	Brassed Off
2	The Crucible
	Hamlet
	Independence Day
	Michael Collins
	The Nutty Professor

Films that received multiple awards
Awards	Film
6	The English Patient
3	Secrets & Lies
2	Richard III
2	Shine

References

↑ Lister, David (28 April 1997). "'The English Patient' in the best of health" . The Independent .
↑ Lister, David (29 April 1997). "Triple triumph for Mike Leigh comedy" . The Independent .
↑ Lister, David (30 April 1997). "Mike Leigh's secret is revealed" . The Independent .

External links

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[1] Lister, David (28 April 1997). "'The English Patient' in the best of health" . The Independent .

[2] Lister, David (29 April 1997). "Triple triumph for Mike Leigh comedy" . The Independent .

[3] Lister, David (30 April 1997). "Mike Leigh's secret is revealed" . The Independent .

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v t e British Academy Film Awards
Current awards	Actor Actress Animated Feature British Film Casting Children's & Family Film Cinematography Costume Design Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer Director Documentary Editing Film Film Not in the English Language Makeup and Hair Music Production Design Rising Star Screenplay: Adapted Screenplay: Original Short Animation Short Film Sound Supporting Actor Supporting Actress Visual Effects
Special awards	Fellowship Award Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
Retired awards	British Actor British Actress British Screenplay Foreign Actor Foreign Actress Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Screenplay
Ceremonies	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020–21 2021 2022 2023 2024