The 1990 Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1991 at the Shrine Civic Auditorium, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | Awakenings, Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, producers (Columbia) |
| Dances With Wolves, Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner, producers (Orion) |
| Ghost, Lisa Weinstein, producer (Paramount) |
| The Godfather Part III, Francis Ford Coppola, producer (Paramount) |
| GoodFellas, Irwin Winkler, producer (Warner Bros.) |
| |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Kevin Costner, Dances With Wolves |
| Robert De Niro, Awakenings |
| Gérard Depardieu, Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Richard Harris, The Field |
| Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune |
| Actress in a Leading Role | Kathy Bates, Misery |
| Anjelica Huston, The Grifters |
| Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman |
| Meryl Streep, Postcards From the Edge |
| Joanne Woodward, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Bruce Davison, Longtime Companion |
| Andy Garcia, The Godfather Part III |
| Graham Greene, Dances With Wolves |
| Al Pacino, Dick Tracy |
| Joe Pesci, GoodFellas |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Annette Bening, The Grifters |
| Lorraine Bracco, GoodFellas |
| Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost |
| Diane Ladd, Wild at Heart |
| Mary McDonnell, Dances With Wolves |
| Directing | Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part III |
| Kevin Costner, Dances With Wolves |
| Stephen Frears, The Grifters |
| Barbet Schroeder, Reversal of Fortune |
| Martin Scorsese, GoodFellas |
| Writing | | Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Woody Allen, Alice | | Barry Levinson, Avalon | | Bruce Joel Rubin, Ghost | | Whit Stillman, Metropolitan | | Peter Weir, Green Card | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | Michael Blake, Dances With Wolves | | Nicholas Kazan, Reversal of Fortune | | Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese, GoodFellas | | Donald E. Westlake, The Grifters | | Steven Zaillian, Awakenings |
|
| Cinematography | Allen Daviau, Avalon |
| Philippe Rousselot, Henry & June |
| Dean Semler, Dances With Wolves |
| Vittorio Storaro, Dick Tracy |
| Gordon Willis, The Godfather Part III |
| Art Direction | Jeffrey Beecroft, art direction; Lisa Dean, set decoration, Dances With Wolves |
| Dante Ferretti, art direction; Francesca Lo Schiavo, set decoration, Hamlet |
| Ezio Frigerio, art direction; Jacques Rouxel, set decoration, Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Richard Sylbert, art direction; Rick Simpson, set decoration, Dick Tracy |
| Dean Tavoularis, art direction; Gary Fettis, set decoration, The Godfather Part III |
| Sound | Don Bassman, Richard Overton, Kevin F. Cleary and Richard Bryce Goodman, The Hunt for Red October |
| Chris Jenkins, David E. Campbell, D. M. Hemphill and Thomas Causey, Dick Tracy |
| Michael J. Kohut, Carlos de Larios, Aaron Rochin and Nelson Stoll, Total Recall |
| Donald O. Mitchell, Rick Kline, Kevin O'Connell and Charles Wilborn, Days of Thunder |
| Jeffrey Perkins, Bill W. Benton, Greg Watkins and Russell Williams II, Dances With Wolves |
| Music | | Song | “Blaze of Glory,” Young Guns II, Jon Bon Jovi, music and lyrics | | “I'm Checkin' Out,” Postcards From the Edge, Shel Silverstein, music and lyrics | | “Promise Me You'll Remember,” The Godfather Part III, Carmine Coppola, music; John Bettis, lyrics | | “Somewhere in My Memory,” Home Alone, music by John Williams; lyrics by Leslie Bricusse | | “Sooner Or Later” (I Always Get My Man), Dick Tracy, Stephen Sondheim, music and lyrics] | | Original Score | John Barry, Dances With Wolves | | David Grusin, Havana | | Maurice Jarre, Ghost | | Randy Newman, Avalon | | John Williams, Home Alone |
|
| Film Editing | Barry Malkin, Lisa Fruchtman and Walter Murch, The Godfather Part III |
| Walter Murch, Ghost |
| Thelma Schoonmaker, GoodFellas |
| Neil Travis, Dances With Wolves |
| Dennis Virkler, John Wright, The Hunt for Red October |
| Costume Design | Milena Canonero, Dick Tracy |
| Gloria Gresham, Avalon |
| Maurizio Millenotti, Hamlet |
| Franca Squarciapino, Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Elsa Zamparelli, Dances With Wolves |
| Makeup | Michèle Burke and Jean-Pierre Eychenne, Cyrano de Bergerac |
| John Caglione, Jr. and Doug Drexler, Dick Tracy |
| Ve Neill and Stan Winston, Edward Scissorhands |
| Sound Effects Editing | Charles L. Campbell and Richard Franklin, Flatliners |
| Stephen H. Flick, Total Recall |
| Cecelia Hall and George Watters II, The Hunt for Red October |
| Short Films | | Animation | Creature Comforts (Nick Park, producer; Aardman Animations Ltd. Production) | | A Grand Day Out (Nick Park, producer; National Film and Television School) | | Grasshoppers (Cavallette) (Bruno Bozzetto, producer; Bruno Bozzetto Production) | | Live Action | Bronx Cheers (Raymond De Felitta and Matthew Gross, producers; American Film Institute) | | Dear Rosie (Peter Cattaneo and Barnaby Thompson, producers; World's End Production) | | The Lunch Date (Adam Davidson, producer; Adam Davidson Production) | | Senzeni Na? (What Have We Done?) (Bernard Joffa and Anthony E. Nicholas, producers; American Film Institute) | | 12: 01 P.M. (Hillary Ripps and Jonathan Heap, producers; Chanticleer Films) |
|
| Documentary | | Short Subject | Burning Down Tomorrow (Kit Thomas, producer; Interscope Communications Inc.) | | Chimps: So Like Us (Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, producers; Simon and Goodman Picture Company) | | Days of Waiting (Steven Okazaki, producer; Mouchette Films Production) | | Journey Into Life: The World of the Unborn (Derek Bromhall, producer; ABC/Kane Productions International, Inc.) | | Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember (Sanders and Mock Productions and American Film Foundation) | | Feature | American Dream (Barbara Kopple and Arthur Cohn, producers; Cabin Creek Films) | | Berkeley in the Sixties (Mark Kitchell, producer; Berkeley in the Sixties Production Partnership) | | Building Bombs (Mark Mori and Susan Robinson, producers; Mori/Robinson Production) | | Forever Activists: Stories From the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (Judith Montell, producer; Judith Montell Production) | | Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey (Robert Hillmann and Eugene Corr, producers; Waldo Productions, Inc.) |
|
| Foreign Language Film | Cyrano de Bergerac, France |
| Journey of Hope, Switzerland |
| Ju Dou, People's Republic of China |
| The Nasty Girl, Germany |
| Open Doors, Italy |
| Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award | David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck |
| Special Achievement Awards | | Visual Effects | Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern and Alex Funke, Total Recall |
|
| Honorary Awards | To Sophia Loren, one of the genuine treasures of world cinema who, in a career rich with memorable performances, has added permanent luster to our art form |
| To Myrna Loy, in recognition of her extraordinary qualities both on screen and off, with appreciation for a lifetime's worth of indelible performances |
| To Roderick T. Ryan, Don Trumbull and Geoffrey H. Williamson in appreciation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
