Events

• March 5 - Production begins on .
• April 13 - The Adventure of Sudsakorn, Thailand's first (and as of 2006 only) animated feature film is released.
• July - Production begins on The Blues Brothers.
• September 19 - Don Bluth and a group of fellow animators resign from The Walt Disney Company's animation department to set up a rival studio, Don Bluth Productions.
• November 1 - Production begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• December 7 - debuts in the United States to mixed reviews but strong box office, launching a film franchise that would span 10 films over the next 23 years. It also would eventually lead to the creation of four spin-off television series based upon the franchise.

Top grossing films

North America

1. Kramer vs. Kramer
2. Rocky II, starring Sylvester Stallone
3. Alien
4. tie, The Amityville Horror and
5. tie,
6. Moonraker starring Roger Moore
7. The Muppet Movie
8. California Suite
9. The Deer Hunter

Awards

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer - Jaffe, Columbia

Best Director: Robert Benton - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas - Being There

Best Foreign Language Film: The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

Drama:

Best Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actor: Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer

Best Actress: Sally Field - Norma Rae

Musical or comedy:

Best Picture: Breaking Away

Best Actor: Peter Sellers - Being There

Best Actress: Bette Midler - The Rose

Other

Best Director: Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now

Best Foreign Language Film: La Cage aux Folles (France)

Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, United States

The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel), directed by Volker Schlöndorff, W. Germany

David, directed by Peter Lilienthal, West Germany

Films released in 1979

• 10, directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore
• 1941, starring Dan Aykroyd
• The Adventure of Sudsakorn, Thailand's first and only cel-animated feature film
• Agatha
• Alexandria... Why?
• Alien
• Alien Encounters, The
• All That Jazz, Palme d'Or winner
• The Amityville Horror
• Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, Palme d'Or winner
• Being There, starring Peter Sellers
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
• The Black Hole
• The Black Stallion
• Breaking Away
• The Brood, directed by David Cronenberg
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Bye Bye Brazil
• Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass, written by Gore Vidal, starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren and Peter O'Toole
• The Champ (1979 film)
• The China Syndrome
• Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è fermato a Eboliby), by Francesco Rosi
• David, Golden Bear (award) winner
• Don Giovanni
• Dracula, starring Frank Langella as Dracula and Sir Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing. With Trevor Eve
• The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda
• Escape from Alcatraz
• Gal Young 'Un
• The Great Santini
• HAIR
• Hardcore, starring George C. Scott
• Heartland, Golden Bear (award) winner, Sundance Grand Jury Prize
• Hanover Street
• I as in Icarus
• The In-Laws
• The Jerk, starring Steve Martin
• Just You and Me, Kid
• Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, both of whom won Oscars for their performances
• Love At First Bite, starring George Hamilton
• Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson
• The Main Event, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal
• Manhattan
• The Marriage of Maria Braun
• Meatballs, starring Bill Murray
• Monty Python's Life of Brian
• Moonraker starring Roger Moore
• Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears - Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film
• Mr. Mike's Mondo Video
• The Muppet Movie
• Norma Rae
• ("Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht")
• The Odd Angry Shot
• Quadrophenia
• Rock 'n' Roll High School, produced by Roger Corman, featuring The Ramones
• Rocky II
• Roller Boogie
• The Rose
• Siberiade
• Soldier of Orange
• Tess, directed by Roman Polanski, starring Nastassja Kinski
• The Third Generation
• Time After Time
• The Tin Drum, Palme d'Or winner
• Vengeance Is Mine
• The Warriors
• Wolfman
• Woyzeck
• Zulu Dawn

Births

• January 8 - Sarah Polley, actress
• January 12 - Isidra Vega, actress
• January 27 - Rosamund Pike, actress
• February 9 - Mena Suvari, actress
• February 9 - Zhang Ziyi, actress and dancer
• April 4 - Bunko Kanazawa, actress
• April 12 - Claire Danes, actress
• April 19 - Kate Hudson, actress
• April 23 - Jaime King, actress
• May 9 - Rosario Dawson, actress
• May 25 - Monica Keena, actress
• October 4 - Rachael Leigh Cook, actress
• October 8 - Kristanna Loken, actress
• December 23 - Summer Altice, model and actress

Deaths

• February 12 - Jean Renoir, director
• March 1 - Dolores Costello, actress
• March 22 - Ben Lyon, actor, also credited as the person who "discovered" and renamed Marilyn Monroe
• May 29 - Mary Pickford, actress, movie studio founder
• June 11 - John Wayne, actor
• August 17, Vivian Vance, actress
• September 8 - Jean Seberg, actress
• September 12 - Jocelyne LaGarde, Tahitian actress
• November 23 - Merle Oberon, American actress
• December 11 - Adile Nasit, actress, director