In 1996, Leigh directed his fifth feature film the drama "Secrets &amp; Lies" (1996). The film's ensemble featured a cast of Leigh regular's including Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The film premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival where it received the Palme d'Or and the Best Actress award for Blethyn. The film was both a financial and critical success. Influential film critic Roger Ebert, writing for the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave "Secrets &amp; Lies" four out of four stars. He wrote that "moment after moment, scene after scene, "Secrets &amp; Lies" unfolds with the fascination of eavesdropping". He called the film "a flowering of his technique. It moves us on a human level, it keeps us guessing during scenes as unpredictable as life, and it shows us how ordinary people have a chance of somehow coping with their problems, which are rather ordinary, too." In 2009, he added the film to his "Great Movies" list. The film received five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and Best Director.