The 17th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1996. The awards were given on 13 December 1996.

• Best Film:
  • Trainspotting
• Best Actor:
  • Geoffrey Rush – Shine
• Best Actress:
  • Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies
• Best Supporting Actor:
  • Edward Norton – The People vs. Larry Flynt, Primal Fear and Everyone Says I Love You
• Best Supporting Actress:
  • Courtney Love – The People vs. Larry Flynt
• Best Director:
  • Mike Leigh – Secrets & Lies
• Best Screenplay:
  • Stanley Tucci and Joseph Tropiano – Big Night
• Best Cinematography:
  • John Seale – The English Patient
• Best Documentary:
  • Anne Frank Remembered
• Best Foreign-Language Film:
  • My Favorite Season (Ma saison préférée) • France
• Best New Filmmaker:
  • Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci – Big Night

• Past Winners

• Boston crix nix most U.S. pix; ‘Night,’ ‘Flynt’ score Variety
• 1996 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Internet Movie Database