The movie was written by Michael Hirst and directed by Shekhar Kapur.
It won the Academy Award for Makeup, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Cate Blanchett), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Picture.
Joseph Fiennes and Geoffrey Rush also starred in the other Elizabethan era movie from the same year, Shakespeare in Love.