Fargo 1996 Set in the Midwest region of America, the movie is about a car dealer (William H. Macy) who hires two men (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap them for a $1,000,000 ransom. A kidnapping leads to a string of murders, and Gunderson (Frances McDormand), a pregnant cop, begins investigating them. At the 69th Academy Awards, Fargo won two Oscars: Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). The film also received numerous international awards, including the BAFTA Award (David Lean Award for Directing - Joel Coen) and the Best Director Award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. "Fargo" was selected as one of the "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" films by the Library of Congress in 2006 and was retained in the US National Film Registry.