1996

1. Drifting Clouds- Aki Kaurismäki
2. Irma Vep- Olivier Assayas
3. Breaking the Waves- Lars Von Trier
4. Fargo- Joel Coen
5. My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument- Arnaud Desplechin
6. Crash- David Cronenberg
7. Nightjohn- Charles Burnett
8. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills- Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
9. La Promesse- Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
10. Mission: Impossible- Brian DePalma
11. Lone Star- John Sayles
12. Everyone Says I Love You- Woody Allen
13. Hamlet- Kenneth Branagh
14. A Summer’s Tale- Eric Rohmer
15. Big Night- Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott
16. Leila- Dariush Mehrjui
17. Sling Blade- Billy Bob Thornton

Notable shorts: Happy-End (Peter Tscherkassky)

Ripe for re-appraisal: Beavis and Butthead Do America (Mike Judge), Citizen Ruth (Alexander Payne), Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien), Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (Kelly Makin)

Need to see: Un Air de Famille (Cedric Klapisch), L’Appartement (Gilles Mimouni), Capitaine Conan (Bertrand Tavernier), Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Peter Chan), Conspirators of Pleasure (Jan Svankmajer), The Day a Pig Fell Into a Well (Hong Sang-soo), Deep Crimson (Arturo Ripstein), The Funeral (Abel Ferrara), Gabbeh (Mohsen Makhmalbaf), God’s Comedy (Joao Cesar Monteiro), Lilies (John Greyson), Mahjong (Edward Yang), A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf), Oriental Elegy (Aleksandr Sokurov), Perfect Love (Catherine Breillat), Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (Srdjan Dragojevic), The Quiet Room (Rolf de Heer), Three Lives and Only One Death (Raul Ruiz), When It Rains (Charles Burnett), When the Cat’s Away (Cedric Klapisch), Will It Snow For Christmas? (Sandrine Veysset)

Academy Awards (USA), Best Picture: The English Patient (Anthony Minghella)
BAFTA Film Awards, Best Film: The English Patient
César Awards, Best Film: Ridicule (Patrice Leconte)
Cannes, Palme d’Or: Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh)
Venice, Golden Lion: Michael Collins (Neil Jordan)
Berlin, Golden Bear: Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee)
Sundance, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic): Welcome to the Dollhouse (Todd Solondz)
Toronto, Audience Award: Shine (Scott Hicks)
Skandies, Best Film: Breaking the Waves