1989 Film Year: Oscar Winners & Nominees
The AwardWentTo archive contains 103 Academy Award records for the 1989 film year, covering 51 films and including 23 wins.
Years follow the source film eligibility/dataset year, which may differ from the ceremony calendar year. Counts describe film-linked archive records, including historical and special-award context where supplied.
Best Picture result
- ★ Driving Miss DaisyRichard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck, Producers
5 Best Picture award records for this film year. See the full result · Best Picture history
Acting category results
Leading winning films
Ranked by winning records in this film-year selection.
- Driving Miss Daisy
4 wins from 9 award records
- Glory
3 wins from 5 award records
- Born on the Fourth of July
2 wins from 8 award records
- My Left Foot
2 wins from 5 award records
- The Little Mermaid
2 wins from 3 award records
- Dead Poets Society
1 win from 4 award records
Category winners
Select a category to explore its history, or jump to this year's full records.
- ★ My Left Foot — Christy Brown
- ★ Glory — Trip
- ★ Driving Miss Daisy — Daisy Werthan
- ★ My Left Foot — Mrs. Brown
- ★ Batman
- ★ Glory
- ★ Henry V
- ★ The Little Mermaid — Under The Sea
- ★ Balance
- ★ Glory
Nominations and award records by category
Showing 103 of 103 archive records. Gold stars mark winning records.
Best Picture
- ★ Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck, Producers
- Born on the Fourth of July IMDB — A. Kitman Ho and Oliver Stone, Producers
- Dead Poets Society IMDB — Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas, Producers
- Field of Dreams IMDB — Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, Producers
- My Left Foot IMDB — Noel Pearson, Producer
Best Actor
- ★ My Left Foot IMDB — Daniel Day LewisChristy Brown
- Henry V IMDB — Kenneth BranaghHenry V
- Born on the Fourth of July IMDB — Tom CruiseRon Kovic
- Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Morgan FreemanHoke Colburn
- Dead Poets Society IMDB — Robin WilliamsJohn Keating
Best Supporting Actor
- ★ Glory IMDB — Denzel WashingtonTrip
- Do the Right Thing IMDB — Danny AielloSal
- Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Dan AykroydBoolie Werthan
- A Dry White Season IMDB — Marlon BrandoMcKenzie
- Crimes and Misdemeanors IMDB — Martin LandauJudah Rosenthal
Best Actress
- ★ Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Jessica TandyDaisy Werthan
- Camille Claudel IMDB — Isabelle AdjaniCamille Claudel
- Shirley Valentine IMDB — Pauline CollinsShirley Valentine
- Music Box IMDB — Jessica LangeAnn Talbot
- The Fabulous Baker Boys IMDB — Michelle PfeifferSusie Diamond
Best Supporting Actress
- ★ My Left Foot IMDB — Brenda FrickerMrs. Brown
- Enemies, A Love Story IMDB — Anjelica HustonTamara
- Enemies, A Love Story IMDB — Lena OlinMasha
- Steel Magnolias IMDB — Julia RobertsShelby Eatenton
- Parenthood IMDB — Dianne WiestHelen
Art Direction
- ★ Batman IMDB — Art Direction: Anton Furst; Set Decoration: Peter Young
- The Abyss IMDB — Art Direction: Leslie Dilley; Set Decoration: Anne Kuljian
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen IMDB — Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
- Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Art Direction: Bruno Rubeo; Set Decoration: Crispian Sallis
- Glory IMDB — Art Direction: Norman Garwood; Set Decoration: Garrett Lewis
Cinematography
Costume Design
Best Director
Documentary Feature
- ★ Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt IMDB — Robert Epstein and Bill Couturié, Producers
- Adam Clayton Powell IMDB — Richard Kilberg and Yvonne Smith, Producers
- Crack USA: County under Siege IMDB — Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag, Producers
- For All Mankind IMDB — Al Reinert and Betsy Broyles Breier, Producers
- Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren IMDB — Judith Leonard and Bill Jersey, Producers
Documentary Short Subject
- ★ The Johnstown Flood IMDB — Charles Guggenheim, Producer
- Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9 IMDB — David Petersen, Producer
- Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future IMDB — Ray Errol Fox, Producer
Film Editing
- ★ Born on the Fourth of July IMDB — David Brenner, Joe Hutshing
- The Bear IMDB — Noëlle Boisson
- Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Mark Warner
- The Fabulous Baker Boys IMDB — William Steinkamp
- Glory IMDB — Steven Rosenblum
International Feature Film
- ★ Cinema Paradiso IMDB — Italy
- Camille Claudel IMDB — France
- Jesus of Montreal IMDB — Canada
- Waltzing Regitze IMDB — Denmark
- What Happened to Santiago IMDB — Puerto Rico
Makeup and Hairstyling
- ★ Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Manlio Rocchetti, Lynn Barber, Kevin Haney
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen IMDB — Maggie Weston, Fabrizio Sforza
- Dad IMDB — Dick Smith, Ken Diaz, Greg Nelson
Original Score
Original Song
- ★ The Little Mermaid IMDB — Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Howard AshmanUnder The Sea
- Chances Are IMDB — Music by Tom Snow; Lyric by Dean PitchfordAfter All
- Shirley Valentine IMDB — Music by Marvin Hamlisch; Lyric by Alan Bergman and Marilyn BergmanThe Girl Who Used To Be Me
- Parenthood IMDB — Music and Lyric by Randy NewmanI Love To See You Smile
- The Little Mermaid IMDB — Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Howard AshmanKiss The Girl
Animated Short Film
- ★ Balance IMDB — Christoph Lauenstein, Wolfgang Lauenstein
- The Cow IMDB — Alexander Petrov
- The Hill Farm IMDB — Mark Baker
Live Action Short Film
Sound Editing
- ★ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade IMDB — Ben Burtt, Richard Hymns
- Black Rain IMDB — Milton C. Burrow, William L. Manger
- Lethal Weapon 2 IMDB — Robert Henderson, Alan Robert Murray
Sound Mixing
- ★ Glory IMDB — Donald O. Mitchell, Gregg C. Rudloff, Elliot Tyson, Russell Williams II
- The Abyss IMDB — Don Bassman, Kevin F. Cleary, Richard Overton, Lee Orloff
- Black Rain IMDB — Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Keith A. Wester
- Born on the Fourth of July IMDB — Michael Minkler, Gregory H. Watkins, Wylie Stateman, Tod A. Maitland
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade IMDB — Ben Burtt, Gary Summers, Shawn Murphy, Tony Dawe
Visual Effects
- ★ The Abyss IMDB — John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman, Dennis Skotak
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen IMDB — Richard Conway, Kent Houston
- Back to the Future Part II IMDB — Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell, Steve Gawley
Adapted Screenplay
- ★ Driving Miss Daisy IMDB — Alfred Uhry
- Born on the Fourth of July IMDB — Oliver Stone, Ron Kovic
- Enemies, A Love Story IMDB — Roger L. Simon, Paul Mazursky
- Field of Dreams IMDB — Phil Alden Robinson
- My Left Foot IMDB — Jim Sheridan, Shane Connaughton
Original Screenplay
Nominated films and other recorded entries
51 films represented in the 1989 archive selection.
- A Dry White Season
- Adam Clayton Powell
- Amazon Diary
- Back to the Future Part II
- Balance
- Batman
- Black Rain
- Blaze
- Born on the Fourth of July
- Camille Claudel
- Chances Are
- Cinema Paradiso
- Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
- Crack USA: County under Siege
- Crimes and Misdemeanors
- Dad
- Dead Poets Society
- Do the Right Thing
- Driving Miss Daisy
- Enemies, A Love Story
- Field of Dreams
- Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9
- For All Mankind
- Glory
- Harlem Nights
- Henry V
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Jesus of Montreal
- Lethal Weapon 2
- Music Box
- My Left Foot
- Parenthood
- sex, lies, and videotape
- Shirley Valentine
- Steel Magnolias
- Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren
- The Abyss
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
- The Bear
- The Childeater
- The Cow
- The Fabulous Baker Boys
- The Hill Farm
- The Johnstown Flood
- The Little Mermaid
- Valmont
- Waltzing Regitze
- What Happened to Santiago
- When Harry Met Sally...
- Work Experience
- Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future
About these award records
This independent archive groups film-linked award records by film, credited name, category and eligibility year. The film year can differ from the year the ceremony took place. Ceremony numbers are shown where supplied by the records.
Each distinct performance, song or award credit remains a separate record, even when it belongs to the same film. Shared credits stay together. A person's page covers the name shown, without combining aliases or shared credits into a complete career total.
Totals can include honorary, special and historical awards alongside competitive nominations. Awards without a linked film are outside these page totals. Source notes and uncertain records are retained; category comparisons omit groups with unresolved notes, ties or conflicting identities.
For the official record, search the Academy Awards Database (opens in a new tab). Award Went To is an independent exploration tool and is not affiliated with the Academy.