Since then, only a few foreign-language or foreign-made films have earned a Best Picture nomination: Z (1969, Fr./Alg.) , The Emigrants (1971/72, Swe.) , Cries & Whispers (1972, Swe.) , Il Postino (1994, It.) , Life Is Beautiful (1997, It.) , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/HK), Amour (2012, Fr.), Roma (2018, Mex.) and Parasite (2019, S. Korea) .

For example, most foreign-made or foreign-language potential nominees for Best Picture have usually been relegated to the Best Foreign Language Film category, a newly-formed category for non-English speaking films that was first awarded for 1956 films (at the 1957 Academy Awards ceremony).

There are obvious biases in the selection of Best Picture winners by the Academy. (Biases related to acting roles or characters are discussed in the Best Actor and Best Actress sections.) Films not considered to have the stature of a Best Picture are often not nominated.

Best Picture Genre Biases

Major Genre Categories Description and Examples Title Screen

Silent

Films



The first (and only) silent film to win 'Best Picture' was Wings (1927/28). The second, a modern-day mostly-'silent' film (a co-French and US production) with a soundtrack, The Artist (2011, Fr./US), also won Best Picture. Silents

Biopics



Films inspired by real-life individuals (especially when they face adversity) usually do very well in terms of nominations, and often win - especially if they are of epic proportion or are intense character studies. Often they are combined with other genre categories: there are musical biopics, historical or epic biopics, dramatic biopics, war biopics, etc. Biopic winners of the Best Picture Academy Award have included: The Great Ziegfeld (1936) - a musical biopic

The Life of Emile Zola (1937) - the first true biopic winner

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

A Man for All Seasons (1966) - an historical-literary biopic

Patton (1970) - a war biopic

Chariots of Fire (1981) - a sports-drama biopic

Gandhi (1982) - an historical-epic biopic

Amadeus (1984) - a musical biopic

Out of Africa (1985)

The Last Emperor (1987) - an historical-epic biopic

Braveheart (1995) - an historical-epic biopic

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

The King's Speech (2010)

Green Book (2018) - a biographical drama (or dramedy)

Biopics

Musicals



Musical Best Picture winners are semi-rare and have included only the following ten films (with the total number of Oscars in parentheses): The Broadway Melody (1928/29) (1), and the first sound film to win Best Picture

The Great Ziegfeld (1936) (3)

Going My Way (1944) (7), a hybrid musical/comedy/drama

An American in Paris (1951) (6)

Gigi (1958) (9)

West Side Story (1961) (10), noted for having the most Academy Oscar wins of any movie musical

My Fair Lady (1964) (8)

The Sound of Music (1965) (5)

Oliver! (1968) (5)

Chicago (2002) (6), winning after a 34 year gap between musicals that have won Best Picture There were five musical Best Picture winners between 1958 and 1968. Four of the ten Best Pictures in the 1960s were musicals (all based on previous Broadway hits). The musical to receive the most nominations was La La Land (2016) at 14 nominations - with six wins (but not Best Picture), followed by 13 nominations for Chicago (2002) -- with six wins, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress.





Musicals

Animated

Films



Before 2001, the only animated film nominated for Best Picture was: Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) After the creation of the Best Animated Feature category in 2001, Beauty and the Beast (1991) was predicted to be the ONLY animated film ever nominated for Best Picture, until two other animations were also nominated for Best Picture: Up (2009) - the first animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination since animated films received their own category in 2001; it was also the first computer (or CG)-animated film to be Best Picture-nominated

Toy Story 3 (2010) Winning films in this category of films are often huge blockbusters. Animated



Children's

Films

(not including any Animated films)



These are G-rated films specifically made for young kids (they are often appropriate for families and adults too). Often, they are nominated (or win) for various music-related categories.. They are rarely taken seriously, and therefore not often nominated for Best Picture, with the following exceptions: Skippy (1930/31)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Yearling (1946)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Doctor Dolittle (1967)

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Babe (1995) Children's

Sports

Films



Only a small number of sports/drama films have even received a nomination for Best Picture, let alone a Best Picture Oscar. Only three sports films (all dramas as well) have won Best Picture in Oscar history: Rocky (1976)

Chariots of Fire (1981, UK)

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Others that have received Best Picture nominations have included: The Champ (1931/32)

The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

The Hustler (1961)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Breaking Away (1979)

Raging Bull (1980)

Field of Dreams (1989)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Seabiscuit (2003)

The Fighter (2010)

Moneyball (2011)

Sports

Romance

Films



Pure love stories (not including musicals) which often have strong romantic subplots are popular Best Picture winners and nominees during escapist periods in American history, such as the Depression Era and World War II, the 50's, and at the turn of the modern century. There are many examples of both romances and romantic comedies that have been nominated for Best Picture. Romance films (often hybrids with dramas or other categories) that have won Best Picture have included: Gone With the Wind (1939)

Rebecca (1940) - a Gothic romance

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Casablanca (1942/43)

Marty (1955) - a romantic drama

Out of Africa (1985)

Forrest Gump (1994) - a romantic drama

The English Patient (1996)

Titanic (1997)

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) Light romantic comedies that have won Best Picture have included: It Happened One Night (1934)

Annie Hall (1977) Romances

R-rated

Films The first R-rated film to win Best Picture was The French Connection (1971) since the institution of the MPAA ratings system.



There were six consecutive R-rated Best Picture winners beginning in 2005: Crash (2005)

The Departed (2006)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The Hurt Locker (2009)

The King's Speech (2010) Another recent streak of six consecutive R-rated Best Picture winners include: Argo (2012)

12 Years A Slave (2013)

Birdman (2014)

Spotlight (2015)

Moonlight (2016)

The Shape of Water (2017) - (for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language)

X-rated

Films The only X-rated film (later reduced to R in the following decade) to win Best Picture was: Midnight Cowboy (1969). A Clockwork Orange (1971) was the only other X-rated film (since re-rated) nominated for Best Picture. Actor Marlon Brando and director Bernard Bertolucci were also Oscar nominees for an X-rated film (not re-rated since its release), but it did not have a Best Picture nomination: Last Tango in Paris (1972)