The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories honoring films released in 1997. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the sixth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held in 1990, and he had hosted the previous year's gala. Nearly a month earlier in an event held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on February 28, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Ashley Judd.
The 3rd Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 20, 1998, honoring the finest achievements of 1997 filmmaking.
The 2nd Florida Film Critics Circle Awards honoured the best in film for 1997.
The 1st Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 1997, were held on 13 January 1998.
The 77th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2005, were given on 10 January 2006.
The 75th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2003, were given on 3 December 2003.
The 71st National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 1999, were announced on 7 December 1999 and given on 18 January 2000.
The 63rd New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 1997, were announced on 11 December 1997 and given on 4 January 1998.
The 23rd Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 1997, were voted on in December 1997.
The 70th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 1998, were announced on 8 December 1998 and given on 8 February 1999.
The 2nd San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, given by the San Diego Film Critics Society on 18 December 1997, honored the best in film for 1997.
The 68th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 1996, were announced on 9 December 1996 and given on 9 February 1997.
The 10th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given on 1 March 1998, honored the finest achievements in 1997 filmmaking.
The 4th Society of Texas Film Critics Awards were given by the Society of Texas Film Critics (STFC) on December 29, 1997. Founded in 1994, the Society of Texas Film Critics members included film critics working for print and broadcast outlets across the state of Texas.
The 18th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards honored the best films of 1997. The awards were given on 14 December 1997.
The 2nd Golden Satellite Awards, given on February 22, 1998, honored the best in film and television of 1997.
The 3rd Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, given in January 1998, honored the best filmmaking of 1997.
The 32nd National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 3 January 1998, honored the best filmmaking of 1997.
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian drama film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, starring Ian Holm, Sarah Polley and Bruce Greenwood and adapted from the novel of the same name by Russell Banks. The film tells the story of a school bus accident in a small town that results in the deaths of numerous children. A class-action lawsuit ensues, proving divisive in the community and becoming tied with personal and family issues.
The Society of Texas Film Critics Awards were first awarded in 1994, when the Society of Texas Film Critics (STFC) was formed by 21 print, television, radio, and internet film critics working for different media outlets across the state of Texas. Over the course of four years, the size of the organization decreased, and the STFC disbanded in 1998.