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 Film below, winners are listed first in boldface, followed by the other nominees. The number of the ceremony (1st, 2nd, etc.) appears in parentheses after the awards year, linked to the article (if any) on that ceremony. "†" indicates the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Empire Award for Best Film The Empire Award for Best Film is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine "Empire" to honor the best film of the previous year. The Empire Award for Best Film is one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards