The 1978 Academy Awards were presented April 91, 1979 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.
| Best Picture | Coming Home, Jerome Hellman, producer (United Artists) |
| The Deer Hunter, Barry Spikings, Michael Deeley, Michael Cimino and John Peverall, producers (Universal) |
| Heaven Can Wait, Warren Beatty, producer (Paramount) |
| Midnight Express, Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, producers (Columbia) |
| An Unmarried Woman, Paul Mazursky and Tony Ray, producers (Twentieth Century-Fox) |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait |
| Gary Busey, The Buddy Holly Story |
| Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter |
| Laurence Olivier, The Boys From Brazil |
| Jon Voight, Coming Home |
| Actress in a Leading Role | Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata |
| Ellen Burstyn, Same Time, Next Year |
| Jill Clayburgh, An Unmarried Woman |
| Jane Fonda, Coming Home |
| Geraldine Page, Interiors |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Bruce Dern, Coming Home |
| Richard Farnsworth, Comes a Horseman |
| John Hurt, Midnight Express |
| Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter |
| Jack Warden, Heaven Can Wait |
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 Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter Archive Photos |
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| Actress in a Supporting Role | Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait |
| Penelope Milford, Coming Home |
| Maggie Smith, California Suite |
| Maureen Stapleton, Interiors |
| Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter |
| Directing | Woody Allen, Interiors |
| Hal Ashby, Coming Home |
| Warren Beatty and Buck Henry, Heaven Can Wait |
| Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter |
| Alan Parker, Midnight Express |
| Writing | | Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen | Woody Allen, Interiors | | Ingmar Bergman, Autumn Sonata | | Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle and Quinn K. Redeker, story; Deric Washburn, screenplay, The Deer Hunter | | Nancy Dowd, story; Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones, screenplay, Coming Home | | Paul Mazursky, An Unmarried Woman | | Screenplay Based on Material From Another Medium | Elaine May and Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait | | Walter Newman, Bloodbrothers | | Neil Simon, California Suite | | Bernard Slade, Same Time, Next Year | | Oliver Stone, Midnight Express |
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| Cinematography | Nestor Almendros, Days of Heaven |
| William A. Fraker, Heaven Can Wait |
| Oswald Morris, The Wiz |
| Robert Surtees, Same Time, Next Year |
| Vilmos Zsigmond, The Deer Hunter |
| Art Direction | Mel Bourne, art direction; Daniel Robert, set decoration, Interiors |
| Albert Brenner, art direction; Marvin March, set decoration, California Suite |
| Paul Sylbert and Edwin O'Donovan, art direction; George Gaines, set decoration, Heaven Can Wait |
| Dean Tavoularis and Angelo Graham, art direction; George R. Nelson and Bruce Kay, set decoration, The Brink's Job |
| Tony Walton and Philip Rosenberg, art direction; Edward Stewart and Robert Drumheller, set decoration, The Wiz |
| Sound | Robert Knudson, Robert J. Glass, Don MacDougall and Jack Solomon, Hooper |
| Gordon K. McCallum, Graham Hartstone, Nicholas Le Messurier and Roy Charman, Superman |
| Richard Portman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin and Darin Knight, The Deer Hunter |
| Tex Rudloff, Joel Fein, Curly Thirlwell and Willie Burton, The Buddy Holly Story |
| John K. Wilkinson, Robert W. Glass, Jr., John T. Reitz and Barry Thomas, Days of Heaven |
| Music | | Original Song | “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” Grease, John Farrar, music and lyrics | | “Last Dance,” Thank God It's Friday, Paul Jabara, music and lyrics | | “The Last Time I Felt Like This,” Same Time, Next Year, Marvin Hamlisch, music; Alan and Marilyn Bergman, lyrics | | “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” Foul Play, Charles Fox, music; Norman Gimbel, lyrics | | “When You're Loved,” The Magic of Lassie, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, music and lyrics | | Original Score | Jerry Goldsmith, The Boys From Brazil | | Dave Grusin, Heaven Can Wait | | Giorgio Moroder, Midnight Express | | Ennio Morricone, Days of Heaven | | John Williams, Superman | | Adaptation Score | Quincy Jones, The Wiz | | Joe Renzetti, The Buddy Holly Story | | Jerry Wexler, Pretty Baby |
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| Film Editing | Stuart Baird, Superman |
| Gerry Hambling, Midnight Express |
| Robert E. Swink, The Boys From Brazil |
| Don Zimmerman, Coming Home |
| Peter Zinner, The Deer Hunter |
| Costume Design | Renie Conley, Caravans |
| Patricia Norris, Days of Heaven |
| Anthony Powell, Death on the Nile |
| Tony Walton, The Wiz |
| Paul Zastupnevich, The Swarm |
| Short Films | | Animated | Oh My Darling (Nico Crama, producer; Nico Crama Productions) | | Rip Van Winkle (Will Vinton, producer; Will Vinton Productions) | | Special Delivery (Eunice Macaulay and John Weldon, producers; National Film Board of Canada) | | Live Action | A Different Approach (Jim Belcher and Fern Field, producers; Jim Belcher/Brookfield Production) | | Mandy's Grandmother (Andrew Sugerman, producer; Illumination Films) | | Strange Fruit (Seth Pinsker, producer; American Film Institute) | | Teenage Father (Taylor Hackford, producer; New Visions Inc. for the Children's Home Society of California) |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | The Divided Trail: A Native American Odyssey (Jerry Aronson, producer; Jerry Aronson Production) | | An Encounter With Faces (K. K. Kapil, producer; Films Division, Government of India) | | The Flight of the Gossamer Condor (Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd, producers; Shedd Production) | | Goodnight Miss Ann (August Cinquegrana, producer; August Cinquegrana Films Production) | | Squires of San Quentin (J. Gary Mitchell, producer; J. Gary Mitchell Film Company) | | Feature | The Lovers' Wind (Ministry of Culture and Arts of Iran) | | Mysterious Castles of Clay (Survival Anglia Ltd. Production) | | Raoni (Franco-Brazilian Production) | | Scared Straight! (Golden West Television Production) | | With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade (Women's Labor History Film Project Production) |
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| Foreign Language Film | Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, France |
| The Glass Cell, German Federal Republic—West |
| Hungarians, Hungary |
| Viva Italia!, Italy |
| White Bim Black Ear, U.S.S.R. |
| Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Leo Jaffe |
| Honorary Awards | To Walter Lantz for bringing joy and laughter to every part of the world through his unique animated motion pictures |
| To Laurence Olivier for the full body of his work, for the unique achievements of his entire career and his lifetime of contribution to the art of film |
| To King Vidor for his incomparable achievements as a cinematic creator and innovator |
| To the Museum of Modern Art Department of Film for the contribution it has made to the public's perception of movies as an art form |
| To Linwood G. Dunn, Loren L. Ryder and Waldon O. Watson in appreciation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| Special Achievement Award | | Visual Effects | Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings and Zoran Perisic, Superman |
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