1991 Oscars: Winners and Nominees

53 films were recognised at the 1991 Academy Awards, across 23 categories. 14 of them took home at least one award.

The biggest winner of the year was Dances with Wolves, with 7 awards, ahead of Dick Tracy with 3. The categories below run from Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), Actor in a Leading Role and Actor in a Supporting 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

Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen)

Ghost(1990)
Bruce Joel Rubin
Winner
Alice(1990)
Woody Allen
Alice in Wonderland(1951)
Woody Allen
Avalon(1990)
Barry Levinson
Green Card(1990)
Peter Weir
Metropolitan(1990)
Whit Stillman

Actor in a Leading Role

Reversal of Fortune(1990)
Jeremy Irons
Winner
Awakenings(1990)
Robert De Niro
Cyrano de Bergerac(1990)
Gerard Depardieu
Dances with Wolves(1990)
Kevin Costner
The Field(1990)
Richard Harris

Actor in a Supporting Role

GoodFellas(1990)
Joe Pesci
Winner
Dances with Wolves(1990)
Graham Greene
Dick Tracy(1990)
Al Pacino
Longtime Companion(1989)
Bruce Davison
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Andy Garcia

Actress in a Leading Role

Misery(1990)
Kathy Bates
Winner
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge(1990)
Joanne Woodward
Postcards from the Edge(1990)
Meryl Streep
Pretty Woman(1990)
Julia Roberts
The Grifters(1990)
Anjelica Huston

Actress in a Supporting Role

Ghost(1990)
Whoopi Goldberg
Winner
Dances with Wolves(1990)
Mary McDonnell
GoodFellas(1990)
Lorraine Bracco
The Grifters(1990)
Annette Bening
Wild at Heart(1990)
Diane Ladd

Art Direction

Dick Tracy(1990)
Art Direction: Richard Sylbert; Set Decoration: Rick Simpson
Winner
Cyrano de Bergerac(1990)
Art Direction: Ezio Frigerio; Set Decoration: Jacques Rouxel
Dances with Wolves(1990)
Art Direction: Jeffrey Beecroft; Set Decoration: Lisa Dean
Hamlet(1990)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Art Direction: Dean Tavoularis; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

Best Picture

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner, Producers
Winner
Awakenings(1990)
Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, Producers
Ghost(1990)
Lisa Weinstein, Producer
GoodFellas(1990)
Irwin Winkler, Producer
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Francis Ford Coppola, Producer

Cinematography

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Dean Semler
Winner
Avalon(1990)
Allen Daviau
Dick Tracy(1990)
Vittorio Storaro
Henry & June(1990)
Philippe Rousselot
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Gordon Willis

Costume Design

Cyrano de Bergerac(1990)
Franca Squarciapino
Winner
Avalon(1990)
Gloria Gresham
Dances with Wolves(1990)
Elsa Zamparelli
Dick Tracy(1990)
Milena Canonero
Hamlet(1990)
Maurizio Millenotti

Directing

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Kevin Costner
Winner
GoodFellas(1990)
Martin Scorsese
Reversal of Fortune(1990)
Barbet Schroeder
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Francis Ford Coppola
The Grifters(1990)
Stephen Frears

Documentary (Feature)

American Dream(1990)
Barbara Kopple and Arthur Cohn, Producers
Winner
Berkeley in the Sixties(1990)
Mark Kitchell, Producer
Building Bombs(1989)
Mark Mori and Susan Robinson, Producers
Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade(1990)
Judith Montell, Producer
Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey(1990)
Robert Hillmann and Eugene Corr, Producers

Documentary (Short Subject)

Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo(1991)
Steven Okazaki, Producer
Winner
Burning Down Tomorrow(1990)
Kit Thomas, Producer
Chimps: So Like Us(1990)
Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, Producers
Journey Into Life: The World of the Unborn(1990)
Derek Bromhall, Producer
Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember(1990)
Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders, Producers

Film Editing

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Neil Travis
Winner
Ghost(1990)
Walter Murch
GoodFellas(1990)
Thelma Schoonmaker
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Barry Malkin, Lisa Fruchtman, Walter Murch
The Hunt for Red October(1990)
Dennis Virkler, John Wright

International Feature Film

Journey of Hope(1990)
Switzerland
Winner
Cyrano de Bergerac(1990)
France
Ju Dou(1990)
People's Republic of China
Open Doors(1990)
Italy
The Nasty Girl(1990)
Germany

Music (Original Score)

Dances with Wolves(1990)
John Barry
Winner
Avalon(1990)
Randy Newman
Ghost(1990)
Maurice Jarre
Havana(1990)
David Grusin
Home Alone(1990)
John Williams

Music (Original Song)

Dick Tracy(1990)
Sooner Or Later (I Always Get My Man) in "Dick Tracy" Music and Lyric by Stephen Sondheim
Winner
Home Alone(1990)
Somewhere In My Memory in "Home Alone" Music by John Williams; Lyric by Leslie Bricusse
Postcards from the Edge(1990)
I'm Checkin' Out in "Postcards from the Edge" Music and Lyric by Shel Silverstein
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Promise Me You'll Remember in "The Godfather, Part III" Music by Carmine Coppola; Lyric by John Bettis
Young Guns II(1990)
Blaze Of Glory in "Young Guns II" Music and Lyric by Jon Bon Jovi

Short Film (Live Action)

The Lunch Date(1989)
Adam Davidson
Winner
12:01 PM(1990)
Hillary Ripps, Jonathan Heap
Bronx Cheers(1990)
Raymond De Felitta, Matthew Gross
Dear Rosie(1991)
Peter Cattaneo, Barnaby Thompson
What Have We Done?(1990)
Bernard Joffa, Anthony E. Nicholas

Sound

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Jeffrey Perkins, Bill W. Benton, Greg Watkins, Russell Williams II
Winner
Days of Thunder(1990)
Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell, Charles Wilborn
Dick Tracy(1990)
Chris Jenkins, David E. Campbell, D. M. Hemphill, Thomas Causey
The Hunt for Red October(1990)
Don Bassman, Richard Overton, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Bryce Goodman
Total Recall(1990)
Michael J. Kohut, Carlos de Larios, Aaron Rochin, Nelson Stoll