Brokeback Mountain garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories, including for its directing, screenplay, acting, original score, and cinematography. At the 78th Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and won three awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Original Score.[113] The film garnered seven nominations at the 63rd Golden Globe Awards, winning four for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Screenplay.[114] At the 59th British Academy Film Awards, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for nine awards, winning in the categories of Best Film, Best Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal.[115]
After Brokeback Mountain lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Crash, some critics accused the Academy of homophobia and for making a non-groundbreaking choice.[116] Commentators including Kenneth Turan and Nikki Finke derided the Academy's decision,[117][118] but Roger Ebert defended the decision to award Crash Best Picture, arguing that the better film won.[119] Proulx wrote an essay expressing disappointment in the film not winning Best Picture. She also opined that Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance in Capote required less effort than that required of the actors in Brokeback Mountain.[120] Following the loss, more than 800 supporters raised up to $26,000 to place an advertisement in the Daily Variety.[121] The advert thanked the filmmakers "for transforming countless lives through the most honored film of the year."[122][123]
The film is one of several highly acclaimed LGBT-related films of 2005 to be nominated for critical awards; others include Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, Rent, and Transamerica. It was voted the top film involving homosexual relationships by readers at TheBacklot.com.[124] In 2010, the Independent Film & Television Alliance selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.[125]
In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter polled Academy members on controversial past decisions, in which Brokeback Mountain won the revote for Best Picture.[126][127]
