Educating Rita – Lewis Gilbert
Heat and Dust – Ismail Merchant* Local Hero – David Puttnam* Tootsie – Sydney Pollack and Dick Richards | Bill Forsyth – Local Hero* James Ivory – Heat and Dust* Sydney Pollack − Tootsie* Martin Scorsese – The King of Comedy |
| Dustin Hoffman – Tootsie as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy MichaelsMichael Caine – Educating Rita as Professor Frank Bryant* Michael Caine – The Honorary Consul as Charley Fortnum* Robert De Niro – The King of Comedy as Rupert Pupkin | Julie Walters – Educating Rita as Susan White* Jessica Lange – Tootsie as Julie Nichols* Phyllis Logan − Another Time, Another Place as Janie* Meryl Streep – Sophie's Choice as Zofia Zawistowski |
| Denholm Elliott – Trading Places as Coleman* Bob Hoskins – The Honorary Consul as Colonel Perez* Burt Lancaster – Local Hero as Felix Happer* Jerry Lewis – The King of Comedy as Jerry Langford | Jamie Lee Curtis – Trading Places as Ophelia* Teri Garr – Tootsie as Sandy Lester* Rosemary Harris – The Ploughman's Lunch as Ann Barrington* Maureen Lipman − Educating Rita as Trish |
| The King of Comedy – Paul D. Zimmerman* Local Hero – Bill Forsyth* Trading Places – Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod* Zelig – Woody Allen | Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala* Betrayal – Harold Pinter* Educating Rita – Willy Russell* Tootsie – Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal |
| Fanny and Alexander – Sven Nykvist* Heat and Dust – Walter Lassally* Local Hero – Chris Menges* Zelig – Gordon Willis | La Traviata – Piero Tosi* Fanny and Alexander – Marik Vos-Lundh* Heat and Dust – Barbara Lane* Tootsie – Ruth Morley |
| Flashdance – Bud S. Smith and Walt Mulconery* The King of Comedy – Thelma Schoonmaker* Local Hero – Michael Bradsell* Zelig – Susan E. Morse | Tootsie – Dorothy Pearl, George Masters, Romaina Ford and Allen Weisinger* Heat and Dust – Gordon Kay* Return of the Jedi – Phil Tippett and Stuart Freeborn* Zelig – Fred Buchner and John Caglione Jr. |
| Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence – Ryuichi Sakamoto* Flashdance – Giorgio Moroder* Local Hero – Mark Knopfler* An Officer and a Gentleman – Jack Nitzsche | "Up Where We Belong" – Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings* "Flashdance... What a Feeling" – Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey and Irene Cara* "Tootsie" – Dave Grusin, Alan and Marilyn Bergman* "Every Sperm Is Sacred" – Andre Jacquemin, Dave Howman, Michael Palin and Terry Jones |
| La Traviata – Franco Zeffirelli and Gianni Quaranta* Heat and Dust – Wilfred Shingleton* Return of the Jedi – Norman Reynolds* WarGames – Angelo P. Graham | WarGames – Willie D. Burton, Michael J. Kohut and William Manger* Flashdance – Jim Webb, Robert Knudson, Robert Glass and Don Digirolamo* La Traviata – Cesare D'Amico, Jean-Louis Ducarme, Claude Villand and Federico Savina* Return of the Jedi – Ben Burtt, Tony Dawe and Gary Summers |
| Return of the Jedi – Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston and Kit West* The Dark Crystal – Roy Field, Brian Smithies and Ian Wingrove* WarGames – Mike Fink, Joe Digaetano, Jack Cooperman, Don Hansard, Colin Cantwell and William A. Fraker* Zelig – Gordon Willis, Joel Hynek, Stuart Robertson and Richard Alan Greenberg | Phyllis Logan – Another Time, Another Place as Janie* Greta Scacchi – Heat and Dust as Olivia Rivers* Julie Walters – Educating Rita as Susan White* Kevin Kline – Sophie's Choice as Nathan Landau |
| Schindler – Jon Blair* Forty Minutes: Female Circumcision – Louise Panton* The Visit: Part 3: The Boy David – Alex McCall* Wildlife On One: Night Life – Dilys Breese | Danton – Margaret Ménégoz, Barbara Pec-Slesicka and Andrzej Wajda* Confidentially Yours – Armand Barboult and François Truffaut* Fanny and Alexander – Jörn Donner and Ingmar Bergman* La Traviata – Tarak Ben Ammar and Franco Zeffirelli |
| Henry's Cat – Bob Godfrey* Danger Mouse – Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall* Paddington Goes to the Movies – Barry Leith* The Wind in the Willows – Mark Hall and Brian Cosgrove | Goodie Two Shoes – Ian Emes* The Crimson Permanent Assurance – Terry Gilliam* John Love – John Davis* Keep Off the Grass – Paul Weiland |