Mel Gibson effort. In winning the Academy Award for Best Director, Gibson became only the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to do so. "Braveheart" influenced the Scottish nationalist movement and helped to revive the film genre of the historical epic; the Battle of Stirling Bridge sequence is considered by critics to be one of the all-time-best-directed battle scenes. The film's depiction of the Prince of Wales as an effeminate homosexual caused the film to be attacked by the Gay Alliance. The Gay Alliance was especially enraged by a scene in which King Edward I murders his son's male lover by throwing him out of a
Empire Award for Best Director Empire Award for Best Director The Empire Award for Best Director is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine "Empire" to honor directors working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best Director is one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996 (the others being Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film and Best British Film) with Danny Boyle receiving the award for his direction of "Shallow Grave". Winners are voted by the readers of "Empire" magazine. Since its inception, the award has been given to 16 directors.