The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.
Highest-grossing films (U.S.)
The top ten 1971 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows:
+ Highest-grossing films of 1971 Rank Title Distributor Domestic rentals 1Fiddler on the Roof United Artists $40,500,000 2 Billy Jack Warner Bros. $32,500,000 3 The French Connection 20th Century Fox $26,300,000 4 Summer of '42 Warner Bros. $20,500,000Top 20 Films of 1971 by Domestic Revenue 5 Diamonds Are Forever United Artists $19,727,000 6 Dirty HarryWarner Bros. $18,000,000 7 A Clockwork Orange $17,000,000 8 Carnal Knowledge Embassy $14,075,000 9 The Last Picture Show Columbia $13,110,000 10 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Disney $11,426,000
Events February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music. The film includes footage from Dylan's 1966 UK tour. April 23 - Melvin Van Peebles film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song becomes the highest-grossing independent film of 1971. May - The first permanent IMAX projection system begins showing at Ontario Place's "Cinesphere" in Toronto. May 10 - Frank Yablans becomes President of Paramount Pictures. Britain's National Film School begins operation at Beaconsfield Film Studios.
Awards
Category/Organization 29th Golden Globe AwardsFebruary 6, 1972 25th BAFTA AwardsFebruary 26, 1972 44th Academy AwardsApril 10, 1972 Drama Comedy or Musical Best Film The French Connection Fiddler on the Roof Sunday Bloody Sunday The French Connection Best Director William FriedkinThe French Connection John SchlesingerSunday Bloody Sunday William FriedkinThe French Connection Best Actor Gene HackmanThe French Connection Chaim TopolFiddler on the Roof Peter FinchSunday Bloody Sunday Gene HackmanThe French Connection Best Actress Jane FondaKlute TwiggyThe Boy Friend Glenda JacksonSunday Bloody Sunday Jane FondaKlute Best Supporting Actor Ben JohnsonThe Last Picture Show Edward FoxThe Go-Between Ben JohnsonThe Last Picture Show Best Supporting Actress Ann-MargretCarnal Knowledge Margaret LeightonThe Go-Between Cloris LeachmanThe Last Picture Show Best Screenplay, Original The Hospital<br/ >Paddy Chayefsky The Go-BetweenHarold Pinter The HospitalPaddy Chayefsky Best Screenplay, Adapted The French ConnectionErnest Tidyman Best Original Score Isaac HayesShaft Michel LegrandSummer of '42 Michel LegrandSummer of '42John WilliamsFiddler on the Roof Best Original Song "Life Is What You Make It"Kotch N/A "Theme from Shaft"Shaft Best Foreign Language Film The Policeman N/A The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
Palme d'Or (Cannes Film Festival): The Go-Between, directed by Joseph Losey, United Kingdom
Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival): The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini), directed by Vittorio De Sica, Italy / W. Germany
1971 films By country/region List of American films of 1971 List of Argentine films of 1971 List of Australian films of 1971 List of Bangladeshi films of 1971 List of British films of 1971 List of Canadian films of 1971 List of French films of 1971 List of Hong Kong films of 1971 List of Indian films of 1971 List of Hindi films of 1971 List of Kannada films of 1971 List of Malayalam films of 1971 List of Marathi films of 1971 List of Tamil films of 1971 List of Telugu films of 1971 List of Japanese films of 1971 List of Mexican films of 1971 List of Pakistani films of 1971 List of South Korean films of 1971 List of Soviet films of 1971 List of Spanish films of 1971
By genre/medium List of action films of 1971 List of animated feature films of 1971 List of avant-garde films of 1971 List of comedy films of 1971 List of drama films of 1971 List of horror films of 1971 List of science fiction films of 1971 List of thriller films of 1971 List of western films of 1971
Births January 2 Taye Diggs, American actor Renée Elise Goldsberry, American actress and singer January 3 - Sarah Alexander, English actress January 7 Kevin Rahm, American actor Jeremy Renner, American actor January 11 - Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter and actress January 13 - Caspar Phillipson, Danish actor and singer January 14 - Jennifer Dundas, American actress January 15 - Regina King, American actress January 16 Josh Evans, American filmmaker, screenwriter and actor Jonathan Mangum, American actor and comedian January 17 - Youki Kudoh, Japanese actress and singer January 19 - Shawn Wayans, American actor, comedian, writer and producer January 20 - Questlove, American musician, filmmaker and actor January 21 - Dylan Kussman, American writer and actor January 22 - Katie Finneran, American actress January 23 - Diana Barrows, American actress, singer and dancer January 24 Jonathan Aris, English actor Stanislas Merhar, French actor January 27 Karin Tammaru, Estonian actress Fann Wong, Singaporean actress, singer and model January 31 Darren Boyd, British actor Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan actress February 1 Michael C. Hall, American actor Jill Kelly, American pornographic actress Liisa Repo-Martell, Canadian actress Hynden Walch, American actress, voice actress, writer and singer February 2 - Arly Jover, Spanish actress February 3 - Elisa Donovan, American actress February 4 - Rob Corddry, American actor and comedian February 5 - Myndy Crist, American actress February 6 - Brian Stepanek, American actor February 11 - Damian Lewis, English actor February 12 - Scott Menville, American actor February 14 Kris Aquino, Filipino actress, television presenter and producer Noriko Sakai, Japanese actress and singer February 15 Alex Borstein, American actress Renee O'Connor, American actress February 17 - Denise Richards, American actress February 18 E. Roger Mitchell, American actor Hiep Thi Le, Vietnamese-American actress (d. 2017) February 21 - Andréa Burns, American actress and singer February 22 - Lea Salonga, Filipina actress, singer, and columnist February 25 - Sean Astin, American actor February 28 - Tasha Smith, American actor, director and producer March 1 Ma Dong-seok, South Korean-born American actor Teresa Gallagher, American-born British actress, voice actress and singer March 2 Stefano Accorsi, Italian actor Method Man, American actor and musician Amber Smith, American actress March 4 - Shavar Ross, American actor, director, screenwriter, producer and editor March 5 Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor Scott Mosier, American producer, director and editor March 7 Peter Sarsgaard, American actor Matthew Vaughn, English filmmaker March 8 - Rose Keegan, British actress March 10 - Jon Hamm, American actor March 11 - Johnny Knoxville, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter March 13 - Annabeth Gish, American actress March 15 - Chris Patton, American voice actor March 16 - Alan Tudyk, American actor and voice actor March 22 Iben Hjejle, Danish actress Keegan-Michael Key, American actor, comedian, writer and producer Will Yun Lee, American actor and martial artist March 24 - Megyn Price, American actress March 25 - Peter Shinkoda, Canadian actor March 26 - Francis Lawrence, Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer March 27 - Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor March 29 Michael-Leon Wooley, American theatre, film, television and voice actor Hidetoshi Nishijima, Japanese actor March 31 Craig McCracken, American cartoonist, animator, director, writer and producer Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor April 1 - Lachy Hulme, Australian actor and screenwriter April 5 Krista Allen, American actress, model and stand-up comedian Victoria Hamilton, English actress April 7 - Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, American actress April 12 Nicholas Brendon, American actor and writer (d. 2026) Shannen Doherty, American actress (d. 2024) April 15 Andy Daly, American actor, comedian and writer Kate Harbour, English voice actress April 16 Max Beesley, English actor and musician Peter Billingsley, American actor, director and producer April 18 - David Tennant, Scottish actor April 19 Gad Elmaleh, Moroccan-Canadian stand-up comedian and actor Desreta Jackson, Virgin Islander actress Wendy Powell, American voice actress April 22 - Eric Mabius, American actor April 24 Anastasia Barzee, American actress Stefania Rocca, Italian actress April 26 - Shondrella Avery, American actress and comedian April 28 - Bridget Moynahan, American actress April 30 - Stephen Kunken, American actor May 10 Adriano Giannini, Italian actor and voice actor Leslie Stefanson, American actress May 12 - Steven Mond, Canadian former child actor May 14 - Sofia Coppola, American actress, writer, and director May 17 - Randy Davison, American actor May 21 - Amy Spanger, American actress and singer May 22 - MC Eiht, American rapper and actor May 23 - Laurel Holloman, American actress May 25 - Justin Henry, American actor May 26 - Matt Stone, American actor, creator of South Park May 27 Paul Bettany, English actor Lisa Lopes, American singer and actress (d. 2002) May 30 Duncan Jones, British director, producer and screenwriter Idina Menzel, American actress, singer and songwriter John Ross Bowie, American actor and comedian 31 May - Jon Øigarden, Norwegian actor June 2 Anthony Montgomery, American actor Espen Sandberg, Norwegian director June 4 James Callis, British actor Noah Wyle, American actor June 5 Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress Mark Wahlberg, American actor and musician June 8 Kent Faulcon, American actor, director and writer Mark Feuerstein, American actor June 11 - Kenjiro Tsuda, Japanese actor June 13 - Bryan Massey, American actor June 14 - Sophiya Haque, English actress and singer (d. 2013) June 15 Jake Busey, American actor Taavi Eelmaa, Estonian actor Daniel Lapaine, Australian actor June 16 Eva Püssa, Estonian actress Tupac Shakur, American actor and rapper (d. 1996) June 18 Lisa Barbuscia, American model, singer and actress Mara Hobel, American actress June 20 - Josh Lucas, American actor June 22 - Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actress and comedian June 28 Benito Martinez, American actor Aileen Quinn, American actress and singer June 30 Tom Green, Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor and filmmaker Monica Potter, American actress July 1 Missy Elliott, American musician and actress Melissa Peterman, American actress, television host and comedian July 4 Kate Dickie, Scottish actress Al Madrigal, American comedian, writer, actor and producer July 7 - Christian Camargo, American actor, producer, writer and director July 8 - Amanda Peterson, American actress (d. 2015) July 9 - Scott Grimes, American actor and singer July 15 - Jim Rash, American actor, comedian and filmmaker July 16 - Corey Feldman, American actor July 18 - Sarah McLeod, New Zealand actress July 19 Kate Henshaw, Nigerian actress Andres Puustusmaa, Estonian actor and director July 20 - Sandra Oh, Canadian-American actress July 21 - Charlotte Gainsbourg, French-British actress July 24 - Patty Jenkins, American director, screenwriter and producer July 25 - Miriam Shor, American actress July 29 - Selena Tan, Singaporean actress, producer, director and writer July 30 - Christine Taylor, American actress July 31 - Eve Best, British actress August 4 Stuart Beattie, Australian filmmaker Yo-Yo, American rapper and actress August 6 - Merrin Dungey, American actress August 9 Mark Povinelli, American actor Nikki Ziering, American model and actress August 10 Luca Guadagnino, Italian director and producer Justin Theroux, American actor August 12 Rebecca Gayheart, American actress Yvette Nicole Brown, American actress, comedian, writer and host August 13 Moritz Bleibtreu, German actor and director Heike Makatsch, German actress, voice actress and singer Rolando Molina, Salvadoran actor August 14 Raoul Bova, Italian actor Scott Michael Campbell, American actor, writer, producer and director August 17 - Oliver Robins, American actor, writer and director August 18 - Jacob Vargas, Mexican-American actor August 20