1994 in Film

1994 In Film

1994 was a significant year in film.

The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time. Domestically in North America, it was slightly overtaken by Forrest Gump, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and a second consecutive Academy Award for Best Actor for Tom Hanks.

There were also several popular action films, including Speed and True Lies. In the comedy realm, there was The Mask and Four Weddings and a Funeral, the latter of which shocked Forrest Gump to win the BAFTA award for Best Film. 1994 also featured the watershed Quentin Tarantino film and Palme d'Or winner, Pulp Fiction.

Although a box office disappointment when originally released, 1994's The Shawshank Redemption, based on a Stephen King short story, would eventually become regarded as one of the films considered the greatest ever.

Additionally, Hoop Dreams, a documentary that follows the story of two African-American high school students in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players, received high critical and popular acclaim and is generally considered one of the best documentary films ever made.

In Blackburn, England, the discovery of approximately 800 well-preserved nitrate negatives shot by the British film pioneers Mitchell and Kenyon, active from 1897 to 1913 but previously known for only a handful of surviving titles, became a major contribution to early cinema.