Claim: Dennis Quaid is an actor.

Breaking Away is a 1979 American coming of age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich . It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington , Indiana , who have recently graduated from high school . The film stars Dennis Christopher , Dennis Quaid , Daniel Stern , Jackie Earle Haley , Barbara Barrie , Paul Dooley , and Robyn Douglass .   Breaking Away won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Tesich , and received nominations in four other categories , including Best Picture . It also won the 1979 Golden Globe Award for Best Film -LRB- Comedy or Musical -RRB- , and received nominations in three other Golden Globe categories .   As the film 's young lead , Christopher won the 1979 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the 1979 Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actor , as well as getting a Golden Globe nomination as New Star of the Year .   The film is ranked eighth on the List of America 's 100 Most Inspiring Movies compiled by the American Film Institute -LRB- AFI -RRB- in 2006 . In June 2008 , AFI announced its `` Ten top Ten '' -- the best ten films in ten classic American film genres -- after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community . Breaking Away ranked as the eighth best film in the sports genre .   Tesich was an alumnus of Indiana University Bloomington . The film was shot in and around Bloomington and on the university 's campus .