ACADEMY of MOTION PICTURE ARTS and SCIENCES Best Screenplays and Writers

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Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.

The Best Screenplay and Writing
Academy Awards - Winners

Year Adapted Screenplay Original Screenplay 2006 The Departed William Monahan Little Miss Sunshine Michael Arndt 2005 Brokeback Mountain Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana Crash Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco 2004 Sideways Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson Lost in Translation Sofia Coppola 2002 The Pianist Ronald Harwood Talk To Her (Hable con ella) Pedro Almodóvar Year Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published - Adapted Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - Original 2001 A Beautiful Mind Akiva Goldsman Gosford Park Julian Fellows 2000 Traffic Stephen Gaghan Almost Famous Cameron Crowe 1999 The Cider House Rules John Irving American Beauty Alan Ball 1998 Gods And Monsters Bill Condon Shakespeare In Love Marc Norman & Tom Stoppard 1997 L.A. Confidential Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson Good Will Hunting Ben Affleck & Matt Damon 1996 Sling Blade Billy Bob Thornton Fargo Ethan Coen & Joel Coen 1995 Sense And Sensibility Emma Thompson The Usual Suspects Christopher McQuarrie 1994 Forrest Gump Eric Roth Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avery 1993 Schindler's List Steven Zaillian The Piano Jane Campion 1992 Howards End Ruth Prawer Jhabvala The Crying Game Neil Jordan 1991 The Silence Of The Lambs Ted Tally Thelma & Louise Callie Khouri Year Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Adapted Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen - Original 1990 Dances With Wolves Michael Blake Ghost Bruce Joel Rubin 1989 Driving Miss Daisy Alfred Uhry Dead Poets Society Tom Schulman 1988 Dangerous Liaisons Christopher Hampton Rain Man Ronald Bass & Barry Morrow 1987 The Last Emperor Mark Peploe & Bernardo Bertolucci Moonstruck John Patrick Shanley 1986 A Room With A View Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Hannah And Her Sisters Woody Allen 1985 Out Of Africa Kurt Luedtke Witness Earl W. Wallace, William Kelley & Pamela Wallace 1984 Amadeus Peter Shaffer Places In The Heart Robert Benton 1983 Terms Of Endearment James L. Brooks Tender Mercies Horton Foote 1982 Missing Costa-Gavras & Donald Stewart Gandhi John Briley 1981 On Golden Pond Ernest Thompson Chariots Of Fire Colin Welland 1980 Ordinary People Alvin Sargent Melvin And Howard Bo Goldman 1979 Kramer Vs. Kramer Robert Benton Breaking Away Steve Tesich 1978 Midnight Express Oliver Stone Coming Home Nancy Dowd, Waldo Salt & Robert C. Jones 1977 Julia Alvin Sargent Annie Hall Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman 1976 All The President's Men William Goldman Network Paddy Chayefsky Year Screenplay Adapted from Other Material Original Screenplay 1975 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Lawrence Hauben & Bo Goldman Dog Day Afternoon Frank Pierson 1974 The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo Chinatown Robert Towne Year Screenplay-- Based on Material From Another Medium - Adapted Story and Screenplay--Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced - Original 1973 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty The Sting David S. Ward 1972 The Godfather Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola The Candidate Jeremy Larner 1971 The French Connection Ernest Tidyman Hospital Paddy Chayefsky 1970 M*A*S*H Ring Lardner, Jr. Patton Francis Ford Coppola & Edmund H. North 1969 Midnight Cowboy Waldo Salt Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid William Goldman Year Screenplay-- Based on Material from Another Medium - Adapted Story and Screenplay-- Written Directly For the Screen - Original 1968 The Lion In Winter James Goldman The Producers Mel Brooks 1967 In The Heat Of The Night Stirling Silliphant Guess Who's Coming To Dinner William Rose 1966 A Man For All Seasons Robert Bolt A Man And A Woman Claude Lelouch & Pierre Uytterhoeven 1965 Doctor Zhivago Robert Bolt Darling Frederic Raphael 1964 Becket Edward Anhalt Father Goose S. H. Barnett, Peter Stone & Frank Tarloff 1963 Tom Jones John Osborne How The West Was Won James R. Webb 1962 To Kill A Mockingbird Horton Foote Divorce - Italian Style Ennio de Concini, Alfredo Giannetti & Pietro Germi 1961 Judgment At Nuremberg Abby Mann Splendor In The Grass William Inge 1960 Elmer Gantry Richard Brooks The Apartment Billy Wilder & I. A. L. Diamond 1959 Room At The Top Neil Paterson Pillow Talk Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene Stanley Shapiro & Maurice Richlin 1958 Gigi Alan Jay Lerner The Defiant Ones Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith 1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai Pierre Boulle [front], Michael Wilson & Carl Foreman (both blacklisted at the time, with no screen credit; awarded Oscars posthumously in 1984) Designing Woman George Wells (continued) ------>

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