1979 National Society of Film Critics Awards

1. Breaking Away
2. Kramer vs. Kramer
3. Manhattan
4. 10

1. Woody Allen – Manhattan
1. Robert Benton – Kramer vs. Kramer
3. Peter Yates – Breaking Away
4. Blake Edwards – 10

1. Dustin Hoffman – Kramer vs. Kramer and Agatha
2. Peter Sellers – Being There
3. Nick Nolte – North Dallas Forty
4. Jack Lemmon – The China Syndrome
5. Klaus Kinski – Nosferatu the Vampyre (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht) and Woyzeck
5. Richard Pryor – Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
5. Roy Scheider – All That Jazz

1. Sally Field – Norma Rae
2. Hanna Schygulla – The Marriage of Maria Braun (Die Ehe der Maria Braun)
3. Bette Midler – The Rose
4. Diane Keaton – Manhattan

1. Frederic Forrest – Apocalypse Now and The Rose
2. Melvyn Douglas – Being There and The Seduction of Joe Tynan
3. Paul Dooley – Breaking Away
4. James Mason – Murder by Decree
4. James Woods – The Onion Field

1. Meryl Streep – Kramer vs. Kramer, Manhattan and The Seduction of Joe Tynan
2. Barbara Harris – The Seduction of Joe Tynan
3. Jane Alexander – Kramer vs. Kramer
3. Barbara Barrie – Breaking Away

1. Steve Tesich – Breaking Away
2. Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman – Manhattan
3. Robert Benton – Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Jerzy Kosinski and Robert C. Jones – Being There
5. Blake Edwards – 10

1. Caleb Deschanel – The Black Stallion and Being There
2. Vittorio Storaro – Apocalypse Now and Agatha
3. Néstor Almendros – Kramer vs. Kramer
4. Gordon Willis – Manhattan