1986 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

48 films were recognised at the 1986 Academy Awards, across 23 categories. 15 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Out of Africa, with 7 awards, ahead of Cocoon with 2. The categories below run from Actor in a Leading Role, Actor in a Supporting Role and Actress in a Leading Role to the smaller prizes, and in every one the winner is listed first, followed by the other nominees.

Each title links to the film's full award history at all four awards, and the links at the bottom step to the previous and next ceremony.

Last updated August 12, 2026

Actor in a Leading Role

Kiss of the Spider Woman(1985)
William Hurt
Winner
Murphy's Romance(1985)
James Garner
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
Jack Nicholson
Runaway Train(1985)
Jon Voight
Witness(1985)
Harrison Ford

Actor in a Supporting Role

Cocoon(1985)
Don Ameche
Winner
Jagged Edge(1985)
Robert Loggia
Out of Africa(1985)
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
William Hickey
Runaway Train(1985)
Eric Roberts

Actress in a Leading Role

The Trip to Bountiful(1985)
Geraldine Page
Winner
Agnes of God(1985)
Anne Bancroft
Out of Africa(1985)
Meryl Streep
Sweet Dreams(1985)
Jessica Lange
The Color Purple(1985)
Whoopi Goldberg

Actress in a Supporting Role

Prizzi's Honor(1985)
Anjelica Huston
Winner
Agnes of God(1985)
Meg Tilly
The Color Purple(1985)
Margaret Avery
The Color Purple(1985)
Oprah Winfrey
Twice in a Lifetime(1985)
Amy Madigan

Art Direction

Out of Africa(1985)
Art Direction: Stephen Grimes; Set Decoration: Josie MacAvin
Winner
Brazil(1985)
Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Ran(1985)
Art Direction: Yoshiro Muraki, Shinobu Muraki
The Color Purple(1985)
Art Direction: J. Michael Riva, Robert W. Welch; Set Decoration: Linda DeScenna
Witness(1985)
Art Direction: Stan Jolley; Set Decoration: John Anderson

Best Picture

Out of Africa(1985)
Sydney Pollack, Producer
Winner
Kiss of the Spider Woman(1985)
David Weisman, Producer
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
John Foreman, Producer
The Color Purple(1985)
Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Quincy Jones, Producers
Witness(1985)
Edward S. Feldman, Producer

Cinematography

Out of Africa(1985)
David Watkin
Winner
Murphy's Romance(1985)
William A. Fraker
Ran(1985)
Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda, Asakazu Nakai
The Color Purple(1985)
Allen Daviau
Witness(1985)
John Seale

Costume Design

Ran(1985)
Emi Wada
Winner
Out of Africa(1985)
Milena Canonero
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
Donfeld
The Color Purple(1985)
Aggie Guerard Rodgers
The Journey of Natty Gann(1985)
Albert Wolsky

Directing

Out of Africa(1985)
Sydney Pollack
Winner
Kiss of the Spider Woman(1985)
Hector Babenco
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
John Huston
Ran(1985)
Akira Kurosawa
Witness(1985)
Peter Weir

Documentary (Feature)

Broken Rainbow(1985)
Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd, Producers
Winner
Soldiers in Hiding(1985)
Japhet Asher, Producer
The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo(1985)
"Las Madres -- The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo" Susana Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo, Producers
The Statue of Liberty(1985)
Ken Burns and Buddy Squires, Producers
Unfinished Business(1985)
Steven Okazaki, Producer

Documentary (Short Subject)

Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements(1985)
David Goodman, Producer
Winner
Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date(1985)
Michael Crowley and James Wolpaw, Producers
Making Overtures: The Story of a Community Orchestra(1984)
Barbara Willis Sweete, Producer
The Courage to Care(1985)
Robert Gardner, Producer
The Wizard of the Strings(1985)
Alan Edelstein, Producer

Film Editing

Witness(1985)
Thom Noble
Winner
A Chorus Line(1985)
John Bloom
Out of Africa(1985)
Fredric Steinkamp, William Steinkamp, Pembroke Herring, Sheldon Kahn
Prizzi's Honor(1985)
Rudi Fehr, Kaja Fehr
Runaway Train(1985)
Henry Richardson

International Feature Film

The Official Story(1985)
Argentina
Winner
Angry Harvest(1985)
Federal Republic of Germany
Colonel Redl(1985)
Hungary
Three Men and a Cradle(1986)
France
When Father Was Away on Business(1985)
Yugoslavia

Music (Original Score)

Out of Africa(1985)
John Barry
Winner
Agnes of God(1985)
Georges Delerue
Silverado(1985)
Bruce Broughton
The Color Purple(1985)
Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rod Temperton, Caiphus Semenya, Andrae Crouch, Chris Boardman, Jorge Calandrelli, Joel Rosenbaum, Fred Steiner, Jack Hayes, Jerry Hey, Randy Kerber
Witness(1985)
Maurice Jarre

Music (Original Song)

White Nights(1985)
Say You, Say Me in "White Nights" Music and Lyric by Lionel Richie
Winner
A Chorus Line(1985)
Surprise, Surprise in "A Chorus Line" Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyric by Edward Kleban
Back to the Future(1985)
The Power Of Love in "Back to the Future" Music by Chris Hayes and Johnny Colla; Lyric by Huey Lewis
The Color Purple(1985)
Miss Celie's Blues (Sister) in "The Color Purple" Music by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton; Lyric by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie
White Nights(1985)
Separate Lives (Love Theme From 'White Nights') in "White Nights" Music and Lyric by Stephen Bishop

Sound

Out of Africa(1985)
Chris Jenkins, Gary Alexander, Larry Stensvold, Peter Handford
Winner
A Chorus Line(1985)
Donald O. Mitchell, Michael Minkler, Gerry Humphreys, Chris Newman
Back to the Future(1985)
Bill Varney, B. Tennyson Sebastian II, Robert Thirlwell, William B. Kaplan
Ladyhawke(1985)
Les Fresholtz, Dick Alexander, Vern Poore, Bud Alper
Silverado(1985)
Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell, David Ronne

Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Witness(1985)
Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace, William Kelley; Story by William Kelley, Pamela Wallace, Earl W. Wallace
Winner
Back to the Future(1985)
Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
Brazil(1985)
Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown
The Official Story(1985)
Luis Puenzo, Aida Bortnik
The Purple Rose of Cairo(1985)
Woody Allen