42nd British Academy Film Awards

42nd British Academy Film Awards
Date	19 March 1989
Site	Grosvenor House Hotel
Hosted by	Anna Ford David Dimbleby
Highlights
Best Film	The Last Emperor
Best Actor	John Cleese A Fish Called Wanda
Best Actress	Maggie Smith The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Most awards	**Empire of the Sun and The Last Emperor** (3)
Most nominations	The Last Emperor (11)
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The 42nd British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 19 March 1989 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1988. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 1988.

Jeremy Thomas' and Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor won the award for Best Film.

The ceremony was hosted by Anna Ford and David Dimbleby.

Winners and nominees

Awards

Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.

Best Film The Last Emperor – Jeremy Thomas and Bernardo Bertolucci Au revoir les enfants – Louis Malle Babette's Feast – Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Gabriel Axel A Fish Called Wanda – Michael Shamberg and Charles Crichton	Best Direction Louis Malle – Au revoir les enfants Bernardo Bertolucci – The Last Emperor Charles Crichton – A Fish Called Wanda Gabriel Axel – Babette's Feast
Best Actor in a Leading Role *John Cleese – A Fish Called Wanda* as Archie Leach** Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda as Otto West Michael Douglas – Fatal Attraction as Dan Gallagher Robin Williams – Good Morning, Vietnam as Adrian Cronauer	Best Actress in a Leading Role *Maggie Smith – The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne* as Judith Hearne** Cher – Moonstruck as Loretta Castorini Jamie Lee Curtis – A Fish Called Wanda as Wanda Gershwitz Stéphane Audran – Babette's Feast as Babette Hersant
Best Actor in a Supporting Role *Michael Palin – A Fish Called Wanda* as Ken Pile** David Suchet – A World Apart as Muller Joss Ackland – White Mischief as Jock Delves Broughton Peter O'Toole – The Last Emperor as Reginald Johnston	Best Actress in a Supporting Role *Judi Dench – A Handful of Dust* as Mrs. Beaver** Anne Archer – Fatal Attraction as Beth Rogerson Gallagher Maria Aitken – A Fish Called Wanda as Wendy Leach Olympia Dukakis – Moonstruck as Rose Castorini
Best Original Screenplay A World Apart – Shawn Slovo Au revoir les enfants – Louis Malle A Fish Called Wanda – John Cleese Moonstruck – John Patrick Shanley	Best Adapted Screenplay The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Jean-Claude Carrière and Philip Kaufman Babette's Feast – Gabriel Axel Empire of the Sun – Tom Stoppard Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman
Best Cinematography Empire of the Sun – Allen Daviau Babette's Feast – Henning Kristiansen The Last Emperor – Vittorio Storaro Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Dean Cundey	Best Costume Design The Last Emperor – James Acheson The Dressmaker – Judy Moorcroft Empire of the Sun – Bob Ringwood White Mischief – Marit Allen
Best Editing Fatal Attraction – Michael Kahn and Peter E. Berger A Fish Called Wanda – John Jympson The Last Emperor – Gabriella Cristiani Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Arthur Schmidt	Best Makeup and Hair The Last Emperor – Fabrizio Sforza Beetlejuice – Steve La Porte, Ve Neill and Robert Short A Handful of Dust – Sally Sutton RoboCop – Carla Palmer
Best Original Music Empire of the Sun – John Williams Bird – Lennie Niehaus The Last Emperor – Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su Moonstruck – Dick Hyman	Best Production Design Tucker: The Man and His Dream – Dean Tavoularis Empire of the Sun – Norman Reynolds The Last Emperor – Ferdinando Scarfiotti Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Elliot Scott
Best Sound Empire of the Sun – Charles L. Campbell, Colin Charles, Louis Edemann, Robert Knudson and Tony Dawe Bird – Alan Robert Murray, Robert G. Henderson, Willie D. Burton and Les Fresholtz Good Morning, Vietnam – Bill Phillips, Clive Winter and Terry Porter The Last Emperor – Ivan Sharrock, Bill Rowe and Les Wiggins	Best Special Visual Effects Who Framed Roger Rabbit – George Gibbs, Richard Williams, Ken Ralston and Edward Jones Beetlejuice – Peter Kuran, Alan Munro, Robert Short and Ted Rea The Last Emperor – Giannetto De Rossi and Fabrizio Martinelli RoboCop – Rob Bottin, Phil Tippett, Peter Kuran and Rocco Gioffre
Best Documentary This Week: Death on the Rock – Chris Oxley The Duty Men: East Enders – Paul Hamann In from the Cold: A Portrait of Richard Burton – Tony Palmer Viewpoint Special: The Men Who Killed Kennedy – Nigel Turner	Best Film Not in the English Language Babette's Feast – Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Gabriel Axel Au revoir les enfants – Louis Malle Dark Eyes – Silvia D'Amico Bendico, Carlo Cucchi and Nikita Mikhalkov Wings of Desire – Wim Wenders and Anatole Dauman
Best Short Animation The Hill Farm – Mark Baker Clothes Animation – Osbert Parker Daddie's Little Piece of Dresden China – Karen Watson Rarg – Tony Collingwood	Best Short Film Defence Counsel Sedov – Evgeny Tsymbal Cane Toads: An Unnatural History – Mark Lewis The Unkindest Cut – Jim Shields Water's Edge – Suri Krishnamma

Statistics

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
11	The Last Emperor
9	A Fish Called Wanda
6	Babette's Feast
6	Empire of the Sun
5	Who Framed Roger Rabbit
4	Au revoir les enfants
4	Moonstruck
3	Fatal Attraction
2	Beetlejuice
	Bird
	Good Morning, Vietnam
	A Handful of Dust
	RoboCop
	White Mischief
	A World Apart

Films that received multiple awards
Awards	Film
3	Empire of the Sun
3	The Last Emperor
2	A Fish Called Wanda

References

"Film in 1989". BAFTA. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
Morgan, David (19 January 2023). "BAFTA Best Film Award Winners Since 1990 – A Photo Gallery". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

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42nd British Academy Film Awards

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