2025 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

It's December which means that award season is now in full effect. The prizes are coming fast and furious with several critics groups have selected their winners or nominees for the best in cinema of this year. Here is a round-up of the early picks from various groups:

"One Battle After Another" took the top prize of Best Film from the 91st New York Film Critics Circle on December 2nd. The over fifty member, New York-based critics organization also selected Benicio Del Toro's performance for Best Supporting Actor from this film. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s "The Secret Agent" received Best International Film and star, Wagner Moura won Best Actor. Best Director went to Iranian director Jafar Panahi for his Cannes Palme d’Or-winning drama, "It Was Just an Accident" and Amy Madigan received Best Supporting Actress for her wild turn in the horror-drama, "Weapons".
Here are the winners of the 2025 New York Film Critics Circle:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just an Accident"
Best Screenplay: Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, "Marty Supreme"
Best Actor: Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent"
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Best Animated Film: "KPop Demon Hunters"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow"
Best International Film: "The Secret Agent"
Best First Film: "Eephus"
Special Prizes: Museum of Moving Image; Screen Slate

The National Board of Review also selected "One Battle After Another" as their Best Film on December 3rd. This group of filmmakers, academics and fans gave Paul Thomas Anderson's crime-drama five awards including Best Director, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro as Best Supporting Actor and Chase Infiniti for Breakthrough Performer Award. Other winners include Rose Byrne taking Best Actress for "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You" and Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" was named Best International Film with both receiving these awards from NYFCC. Here are the winners of the 2025 National Board of Review:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Directorial Debut: Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"
Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, "Train Dreams"
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another"
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Best Supporting Actress: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value"
Breakthrough Performance: Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"
Best Animated Feature: "Arco"
Best International Film: "It Was Just an Accident"
Best Documentary: "Cover-Up"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: "Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk"

The nominations for the 41st Film Independent Spirit Awards were revealed also on December 3rd with "Peter Hujar’s Day" receiving the most noms with five, followed by "Train Dreams", "Blue Sun Place", "One of Them Days", "Lurker" and "Sorry, Baby" each getting four apiece. This organization focuses only on indie film productions that cost under $30 million, leaving some films that were slightly above that figure like "Weapons", "Marty Supreme", "The Smashing Machine" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" out of consideration. The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Sunday, February 15, 2026 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Here are the nominations of the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards (Film):

Best Feature:

"Peter Hujar’s Day"
"The Plague"
"Sorry, Baby"
"Train Dreams"
"Twinless"

Best First Feature:

"Blue Sun Palace"
"Dust Bunny"
"East of Wall"
"Lurker"
"One of Them Days"

Best Director:

Clint Bentley, "Train Dreams"
Mary Bronstein, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Lloyd Lee Choi, "Lucky Lu"
Ira Sachs, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best Screenplay:

Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, "Splitsville"
Angus MacLachlan, "A Little Prayer"
James Sweeney, "Twinless"
Christian Swegal, "Sovereign"
Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best First Screenplay:

Andrew DeYoung, "Friendship"
Elena Oxman, "Outerlands"
Alex Russell, "Lurker"
Syreeta Singleton, "One of Them Days"
Constance Tsang, "Blue Sun Palace"

Best Lead Performance:

Everett Blunck, "The Plague"
Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Kathleen Chalfant, "Familiar Touch"
Chang Chen, "Lucky Lu"
Joel Edgerton, "Train Dreams"
Dylan O’Brien, "Twinless"
Keke Palmer, "One of Them Days"
Théodore Pellerin, "Lurker"
Tessa Thompson, "Hedda"
Ben Whishaw, "Peter Hujar’s Day"

Best Supporting Performance:

Naomi Ackie, "Sorry, Baby"
Zoey Deutch, "Nouvelle Vague"
Kirsten Dunst, "Roofman"
Rebecca Hall, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Nina Hoss, "Hedda"
Jane Levy, "A Little Prayer"
Archie Madekwe, "Lurker"
Kali Reis, "Rebuilding"
Jacob Tremblay, "Sovereign"
Haipeng Xu, "Blue Sun Palace"

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Liz Larsen, "The Baltimorons"
Misha Osherovich, "She’s the He"
Kayo Martin, "The Plague"
SZA, "One of Them Days"
Tabatha Zimiga, "East of Wall"

Best Cinematography:

Alex Ashe, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Norm Li, "Blue Sun Palace"
David J. Thompson, "Warfare"
Adolpho Veloso, "Train Dreams"
Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, "Dust Bunny"

Best Editing:

Ben Leonberg, "Good Boy"
Carson Lund, "Eephus"
Fin Oates, "Warfare"
Sara Shaw, "Splitsville"
Sofía Subercaseaux, "The Testament of Ann Lee"

Best Documentary:

"Come See Me in the Good Light"
"Endless Cookie"
"My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow"
"The Perfect Neighbor"
"The Tale of Silyan"

Best International Film:

"All That’s Left of You" (Palestine, Jordan, Germany, Cyprus)
"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" (Zambia, UK, Ireland)
"A Poet" (Colombia)
"The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
"Sirāt" (Spain)

John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000):

"The Baltimorons"
"Boys Go to Jupiter"
"Eephus"
"Esta Isla (This Island)"
"Familiar Touch"

Someone to Watch Award (recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition):

Tatti Ribeiro, "Valentina"
Neo Sora, "Happyend"
Annapurna Sriram, "Fucktoys"

Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Tony Benna, "André is an Idiot"
Rajee Samarasinghe, "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible"
Brittany Shyne, "Seeds"

Robert Altman Award (given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast):

"The Long Walk"

The American Film Institute announced their annual picks of the top-ten films of the year on December 4th. These selections tend to be a fairly accurate indicator of which films will probably land Oscar nominations with eight of the AFI picks from the last two years also received Best Picture noms. The annual AFI Awards will be presented during a private luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles on January 9, 2026.

Here are AFI’s Top 10 Movies of 2025:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash"
"Bugonia"
"Frankenstein"
"Hamnet"
"Jay Kelly"
"Marty Supreme"
"One Battle After Another"
"Sinners"
"Train Dreams"
"Wicked: For Good"

And the Los Angeles Film Critics Association also awarded "One Battle After Another" as their selection for Best Film. Paul Thomas Anderson received Best Director and Teyana Taylor took the Best Supporting Performance for this film. Taylor shared this prize, which the acting awards here are gender neutral categories, with Stellan Skarsgård, who was honored for his work in “Sentimental Value". The Lead Performance Award went to Rose Byrne, who has been sweeping up prizes for her riveting turn in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Ethan Hawke, who was quite impressive in the period biopic, “Blue Moon”.

Here are the winners of 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”
Best Lead Performance: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Best Supporting Performance: Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” and Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Best Documentary/Nonfiction: “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow”
Best Animation: "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
Best Cinematography: Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams”
Best Film Editing: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
Best Production Design: Hannah Beachler, “Sinners”
Best Music Score: Kangding Ray, “Sirât”

2024 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

Award season has officially begun and the prizes are coming fast and furious for the best in this year's cinema. Here is a round-up of some of the award winners from various groups:

The Gothams are the first awards out of the gate, announced on December 2nd at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, and "A Different Man" was chosen as Best Feature. This dark, comedic drama from Aaron Schimberg features Sebastian Stan as a facially disfigured actor who undergoes a medical procedure to transform his appearance. But this causes him to lose an opportunity to play a dream role. While there were ten nominees in each of the two non-gender specific acting categories, only one winner was selected for the lead and supporting prizes. And it was Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin winning for their performances in "Sing Sing", a drama directed by Greg Kwedar involving a group of incarcerated men involved in the creation of theatrical shows through the prison's arts program. This indie-focused awards organization removed a budget cap on eligibility last year, opening larger budgeted films to be considered for prizes. 

Here is the complete list of nominees of the 2024 Gotham Awards (with the winners highlighted):

Best Feature:

"Anora"
"Babygirl"
"Challengers"
"A Different Man"
"Nickel Boys"

Best Director:

Payal Kapadia, "All We Imagine as Light"
Sean Baker, "Anora"
Guan Hu, "Black Dog"
Jane Schoenbrun, "I Saw the TV Glow"
RaMell Ross, "Nickel Boys"

Best Breakthrough Director:

Shuchi Talati, "Girls Will Be Girls"
India Donaldson, "Good One"
Alessandra Lacorazza, "In the Summers"
Vera Drew, "The People’s Joker"
Mahdi Fleifel, "To a Land Unknown"

Best Screenplay:

Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells, "Between The Temples"
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, "Evil Does Not Exist"
Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, "Femme"
Azazel Jacobs, "His Three Daughters"
Annie Baker, "Janet Planet"

Best Outstanding Lead Performance:

Pamela Anderson, "The Last Showgirl"
Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Hard Truths"
Nicole Kidman, "Babygirl"
Keith Kupferer, "Ghostlight"
Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Demi Moore, "The Substance"
Saoirse Ronan, "The Outrun"
Justice Smith, "I Saw the TV Glow"

Best Outstanding Supporting Performance:

Yura Borisov, "Anora"
Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Danielle Deadwyler, "The Piano Lesson"
Brigette Lundy-Paine, "I Saw the TV Glow"
Natasha Lyonne, "His Three Daughters"
Clarence Maclin, "Sing Sing"
Katy O’Brian, "Love Lies Bleeding"
Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist"
Adam Pearson, "A Different Man"
Brian Tyree Henry, "The Fire Inside"

Best Breakthrough Performer:

Lily Collias, "Good One"
Ryan Destiny, "The Fire Inside"
Maisy Stella, "My Old Ass"
Izaac Wang, "Dìdi"
Brandon Wilson, "Nickel Boys"

Best International Feature:

"All We Imagine as Light"
"Green Border"
"Hard Truths"
"Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell"
"Vermiglio"

Best Documentary Feature:

"Dahomey"
"Intercepted"
"No Other Land"
"Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"
"Sugarcane"
"Union"

"The Brutalist", Brady Corbet’s over three-hour long, epic saga (plus a built-in intermission), received the top prize of Best Film from the New York Film Critics Circle. In their 90th year, making this organization the oldest film critics group in the US, the NYCC announced their selections on December 3rd. Adrien Brody, who plays a World War II Hungarian refugee architect landing in America, won Best Actor for his performance in "The Brutalist". The Best Director Award went to RaMell Ross for his inventive work on "Nickel Boys", a drama involving two young Black men who form a bond while trying to survive at a brutal Florida reform school, and Best Cinematography went to Jomo Fray for his innovative camerawork for this film. Sean Baker won Best Screenplay for his latest, "Anora", a dark, dramatic comedy about a whirlwind romance between a stripper and the son of a Russian oligarch. 

The rest of the acting winners by the NYCC are inspired choices: Best Actress went to Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her hilarious turn as a severely prickly wife and mother in Mike Leigh’s "Hard Truths"; Kieran Culkin was awarded Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "A Real Pain", directed by his co-star, Jesse Eisenberg and Carol Kane was recognized as Best Supporting Actress in Nathan Silver’s comedy, "Between the Temples" where she plays an adult Bat Mitzvah student of a cantor (Jason Schwartzman) who was her grade school student.

Here are the winners of the 2024 NYCC Awards:

Best Film: "The Brutalist"
Best Director: RaMell Ross, "Nickel Boys"
Best Screenplay: Sean Baker, "Anora"
Best Actor: Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
Best Actress: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Hard Truths"
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain"
Best Supporting Actress: Carol Kane, "Between Two Temples"
Best First Film: Annie Baker, "Janet Planet"
Best International Film: "All We Imagine As Light"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "No Other Land"
Best Animated Film: "Flow"
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, "Nickel Boys"

The National Board of Review has selected "Wicked", the Broadway hit musical turned into a recent filmed box-office smash, as the Best Film of the year. John M. Chu won Best Director for his work on the film. The acting categories also offered some unexpected yet commendable selections with Nicole Kidman receiving Best Actress for her mesmerizing turn in the upcoming sexually-charged drama, "Babygirl" while Daniel Craig completely sheds his former spy character in the drama, "Queer", helping him win Best Actor by the NBR. Elle Fanning received Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the Bob Dylan bio, "A Complete Unknown" and Kieran Culkin adds another award for his mantle for his comedic yet moving work in "A Real Pain".

Here are the winners of the 2024 National Board of Review awards:

Best Film: "Wicked"
Best Director: Jon M. Chu, "Wicked"
Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh, "Hard Truths"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, "Sing Sing"
Best Directorial Debut: India Donaldson, "Good One"
Best Actress: Nicole Kidman, "Babygirl"
Best Actor: Daniel Craig, "Queer"
Best Supporting Actress: Elle Fanning, "A Complete Unknown"
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
Best Ensemble: The cast of "Conclave"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Mikey Madison, "Anora"
Best Animated Feature: "Flow"
Best International Film: "The Seed of the Sacred Fig"
Best Documentary: "Sugarcane"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, "Nosferatu"
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
NBR Spotlight Award: The Creative Collaboration of Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "No Other Land"

And we have the top ten films of the year selected by the American Film Institute. Since AFI usually deems most international or foreign films ineligible, this list is not as expansive to recognize all of the great works that were released this year yet these picks still remain impressive.

Here are the Best Films of 2024 by the AFI:

"Anora"
"The Brutalist"
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Nickel Boys"
"A Real Pain"
"Sing Sing"
"Wicked"

2023 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

The 2023 award season has finally begun with several critics groups weighing on what each considers the best of the year. As always, this can vary wildly yet there are a few select films and performances that tends to appear somewhere in each group's list. But they also tend to find room to recognize films  under the radar that will greatly benefit from the attention.

Since 1975, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, comprised of L.A.-based professional film critics, honor screen excellence on both sides of the camera. This year, "The Zone of Interest" took the top prize from the LAFCA. This intense drama about an Auschwitz commandant and his family trying to live a comfortable life in their home next to a concentration camp also marked the return of the British filmmaker, Jonathan Glazer after a ten year absence, who received the Best Director award. This group does reveal the runners-up in each category and the acting categories are genderless but two winners are selected in each of them.

Here are the winners of the 2023 Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Picture: "The Zone of Interest"
Best Director: Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"
Best Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, "All of Us Strangers"
Best Lead Performance: Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest" and Emma Stone, "Poor Things"
Best Supporting Performance: Rachel McAdams, "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"
Best Documentary/Nonfiction: "Menus-Paisirs – Les Troisgros"
Best Animation: "The Boy and the Heron"
Best Cinematography: Robbie Ryan, "Poor Things"
Best Editing: Laurent Sénéchal, "Anatomy of a Fall"
Best Production Design: Sarah Greenwood, "Barbie"
Best Music/Score: Mica Levi, "The Zone of Interest"
Career Achievement Award: Agnieszka Holland

The New York Film Critics Circle Awards annually make their selections to honor excellence in cinema worldwide. While the group chose "Killers of the Flower Moon", Scorsese's lengthy period drama, as their Best Film, the members of NYFCC spread the other awards around to honor "Oppenheimer", "The Holdovers", "May December" and an inspired Best Actor choice with Franz Rogowski for his amazing work in "Passages"

Here are the winners of the 2023 The New York Film Critics Circle:

Best Film: "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer"
Best Screenplay: Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik, "May December"
Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best Actor: Franz Rogowski, "Passages"
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"
Best Supporting Actor: Charles Melton, "May December"
Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, "Oppenheimer"
Best International Film: "Anatomy of a Fall"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros"
Best Animated Feature Film: "The Boy and the Heron"
Best First Film: "Past Lives"

For over a hundred years the National Board of Review has been dedicated in its efforts to support cinema as both art and entertainment. This private organization of film enthusiasts, largely New York based, has been offering their selections for the best in cinema each Year. Usually the first of the critics groups to announce their picks but recently others have jumped ahead to try and be the first out the gate. This year, the NBR has selected Martin Scorsese's recent "Killers of the Flower Moon" as the big winner with Best Film, Best Director, Lily Gladstone as Best Actress and Rodrigo Prieto for his camerwork for this film and "Barbie". "The Holdovers" follows with three awards for Best Original Screenplay and Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

Here are the winners of the 2023 National Board of Review:

Best Film: "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best Original Screenplay: David Hemingson, "The Holdovers"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tony McNamara, "Poor Things"
Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers"
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"
Best Ensemble: "The Iron Claw"
Best Documentary: "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie"
Best International Film: "Anatomy of a Fall" (France)
Best Animated Feature: "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, "Barbie" and "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: Chad Stahelski, Director and Stephen Dunlevy & Scott Rogers, Stunt Coordinators, "John Wick: Chapter 4"
Best Directorial Debut: Celine Song, "Past Lives"
Breakthrough Performance: Teyana Taylor, "A Thousand and One"
NBR Icon Award: Bradley Cooper

And the nominations of the Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced with "Past Lives", "May December" and "American Fiction" each receiving five noms apiece. To be eligble for a Spirit Award, films must have a budget below $30 million, making many of the most buzzed about movies of this season unable to be recognized by this non-profit arts organization. The 39th Spirit Awards will be held on February 25, 2024 on the beach in Santa Monica, CA. hosted by Aidy Bryant. The awards will be streamed live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels.

Here are the nominations of the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards (Film):

Best Feature:

"All of Us Strangers"
"American Fiction"
"May December"
"Passages"
"Past Lives"
"We Grown Now"

Best Director:

Andrew Haigh, "All of Us Strangers"
Todd Haynes, "May December"
William Oldroyd, "Eileen"
Ira Sachs, "Passages"
Celine Song, "Past Lives"

Best Screenplay:

David Hemingson, "The Holdovers"
Cord Jefferson, "American Fiction"
Laura Moss and Brendan J. O’Brien, "Birth/Rebirth"
Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, "Bottoms"
Celine Song, "Past Lives"

Best Lead Performance:

Jessica Chastain, "Memory"
Greta Lee, "Past Lives"
Trace Lysette, "Monica"
Natalie Portman, "May December"
Judy Reyes, "Birth/Rebirth"
Franz Rogowski, "Passages"
Andrew Scott, "All of Us Strangers"
Teyana Taylor, "A Thousand and One"
Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"
Teo Yoo, "Past Lives"

Best Supporting Performance:

Erika Alexander, "American Fiction"
Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction"
Noah Galvin, "Theater Camp"
Anne Hathaway, "Eileen"
Glenn Howerton, "BlackBerry"
Marin Ireland, "Eileen"
Charles Melton, "May December"
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"
Catalina Saavedra, "Rotting in the Sun"
Ben Whishaw, "Passages"

Best Cinematography:

Katelin Arizmendi, "Monica"
Eigil Bryld, "The Holdovers"
Jomo Fray, "All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt"
Pablo Lozano, "Chronicles of a Wandering Saint"
Pat Scola, "We Grown Now"

Best Editing:

Santiago Cendejas, Gabriel Díaz and Sofía Subercaseaux, "Rotting in the Sun"
Stephanie Filo, "We Grown Now"
Daniel Garber, "How to Blow Up a Pipeline"
Jon Philpot, "Theater Camp"
Emanuele Tiziani, "Upon Entry"

Best Documentary:

"Bye Bye Tiberias"
"Four Daughters"
"Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project"
"Kokomo City"
"The Mother of All Lies"

Best International Film:

"Anatomy of a Fall" (France)
"Godland" (Denmark/Iceland)
"Mami Wata" (Nigeria)
"Tótem" (Mexico)
"The Zone of Interest" (United Kingdom, Poland)

Best First Feature:

"All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt"
"Chronicles of a Wandering Saint"
"Earth Mama"
"A Thousand and One"
"Upon Entry"

Best First Screenplay:

Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik, "May December"
Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman and Ben Platt, "Theater Camp"
Tomás Gómez Bustillo, "Chronicles of a Wandering Saint"
Laurel Parmet, "The Starling Girl"

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Marshawn Lynch, "Bottoms"
Atibon Nazaire, "Mountains"
Tia Nomore, "Earth Mama"
Dominic Sessa, "The Holdovers"
Anaita Wali Zada, "Fremont"
Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, "Upon Entry"

John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000):

"The Artifice Girl"
"Cadejo Blanco"
"Fremont"
"Rotting in the Sun" "The Unknown Country"

Someone To Watch (Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition):

Joanna Arnow, "The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed"
Laura Moss, "Birth/Rebirth"
Monica Sorelle, "Mountains"

Truer Than Fiction Award (Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Set Hernandez, "unseen"
Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli, "Lakota Nation vs. United States"
Sierra Urich, "Joonam"

Robert Altman Award (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast):

"Showing Up"

2022 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

The season has officially begun to bestow awards on some of the most compelling, dazzling and moving works of cinema that were released this year. The first to be announced are from a wide section of regional film critic groups who will bring attention to films and performances that should be recognized for their outstanding achievement.

The National Board of Review announced their winners today with "Top Gun: Maverick", the Tom Cruise-lead sequel and the year's biggest box-office champ unexpectedly taking their top prize of Best Film. The New York Film Critics Circle selected "Tár", Todd Field's riveting drama that features an electrifying performance from star, Cate Blanchett, as Best Film while The Gotham Awards, the New York-based group that honors independent cinema and television, handed their Best Feature to "Everything Everywhere All at Once", the absurdist comedy-drama by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

So far, what has been generating significant award buzz to date has been writer/director Martin McDonagh's Irish comedy, "The Banshees of Inisherin" along with co-star, Colin Farrell; Ke Huy Quan and his heart-warming comeback performance in "Everything Everywhere All at Once"; the delightful, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" which has been accepted as an animated film depsite being set in live-action world; Charlotte Wells and her astonishing directorial debut, "Aftersun" and the films's stars, Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio; And the outstanding acting work from Janelle Monáe in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery", Keke Palmer in "Nope" and Danielle Deadwyler in "Till" has been highlighted. This is all just getting started so I'm sure there will be a lot more interesting selections to come.

Here are the 2023 award winners by the National Board of Review:

Best Film: "Top Gun: Maverick"
Best Director: Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell, "All Quiet on the Western Front"
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Actor: Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Supporting Actress: Janelle Monáe, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
Breakthrough Performance: Danielle Deadwyler, "Till"
Breakthrough Performance: Gabriel LaBelle, "The Fabelmans"
Best Directorial Debut: Charlotte Wells, "Aftersun" 

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Best Documentary: "Sr."
Best International Film: "Close"
Best Animated Feature: "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On"
Best Ensemble: "Women Talking"
NBR Freedom of Expression Awards: "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" and "Argentina, 1985"

Here are the winners of the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

Best Film: "Tár"
Best Director: S.S. Rajamouli, "RRR"
Best Screenplay: Martin McDonagh, "The Banshees of Inisherin"
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Best Actor: Colin Farrell, "The Banshees of Inisherin" and "After Yang"
Best Supporting Actress: Keke Palmer, "Nope"
Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, "Top Gun: Maverick"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed"
Best International Film: "EO" (Poland)
Best Animated Feature Film: "Marcel the Shell With Shoes On"
Best First Film: Charlotte Wells, "Aftersun"

Here are the winners of the 2022 Gotham Awards (Film):

Best Feature: "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Best Screenplay: Todd Field, "Tár"
Outstanding Lead Performance: Danielle Deadwyler, "Till"
Outstanding Supporting Performance: Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Breakthrough Performer: Gracija Filipovic, "Murina"
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award: Charlotte Wells, "Aftersun"
Best Documentary Feature: "All That Breathes"
Best International Feature: "Happening"

And the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced November 22nd with the big arthouse blockbuster, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" leading the pack with eight nominations. One major change this year is that the acting categories are no longer separated by gender (like the Gotham Awards did last year) which means there are now ten nominees in Lead Performance and Supporting Performance and in the new Breakthrough Performance, there are five (but still only one winner).The Spirit Awards will be held on March 4, 2023 (eight days before the Oscars) at their usual spot at the Santa Monica Pier however at this time, there is no official broadcast sponsor will air the ceremony.

Here are the nomination of the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Award:

Best Feature:

"Bones and All"
"Everything Everywhere All At Once"
"Our Father, the Devil"
"Tár"
"Women Talking"

Best Director:

Todd Field, "Tár"
Kogonada, "After Yang"
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Sarah Polley, "Women Talking"
Halina Reijn, "Bodies Bodies Bodies"

Best Screenplay:

Lena Dunham, "Catherine Called Birdy" Todd Field, "Tár"
Kogonada, "After Yang"
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Sarah Polley, "Women Talking"

Best First Feature:

"Aftersun"
"Emily the Criminal"
"The Inspection"
"Murina"
"Palm Trees and Power Lines"

Best First Screenplay:

Joel Kim Booster, "Fire Island"
Jamie Dack and Audrey Findlay; Story by Jamie Dack, "Palm Trees and Power Lines"
K.D. Dávila, "Emergency"
Sarah DeLappe; Story by Kristen Roupenian, "Bodies Bodies Bodies"
John Patton Ford, "Emily the Criminal"

Best Lead Performance:

Cate Blanchett, "Tár"
Dale Dickey, "A Love Song"
Mia Goth, "Pearl"
Regina Hall, "Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul."
Paul Mescal, "Aftersun"
Aubrey Plaza, "Emily the Criminal"
Jeremy Pope, "The Inspection"
Andrea Riseborough, "To Leslie"
Taylor Russell, "Bones and All"
Michelle Yeoh, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"

Best Supporting Performance:

Jamie Lee Curtis, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Brian Tyree Henry, "Causeway"
Nina Hoss, "Tár"
Brian d’Arcy James, "The Cathedral" 

Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Trevante Rhodes, "Bruiser"
Theo Rossi, "Emily the Criminal"
Mark Rylance, "Bones and All"
Jonathan Tucker, "Palm Trees and Power Lines"
Gabrielle Union, "The Inspection"

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Frankie Corio, "Aftersun"
Gracija Filipović, "Murina"
Stephanie Hsu, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Lily McInerny, "Palm Trees and Power Lines"
Daniel Zolghadri, "Funny Pages"

Best Documentary:

"All That Breathes"
"All the Beauty and the Bloodshed"
"A House Made of Splinters"
"Midwives"
"Riotsville, U.S.A."

Best International Film:

"Corsage" (Austria/Luxembourg)
"Joyland" (Pakistan)
"Leonor Will Never Die" (Philippines)
"Return to Seoul" (South Korea)
"Saint Omer" (France)

Best Cinematography:

Florian Hoffmeister, "Tár"
Hélène Louvart, "Murina"
Gregory Oke, "Aftersun"
Eliot Rockett, "Pearl"
Anisia Uzeyman, "Neptune Frost"

Best Editing:

Ricky D’Ambrose, "The Cathedral"
Dean Fleischer Camp and Nick Paley, "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On"
Blair McClendon, "Aftersun"
Paul Rogers, "Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Monika Willi, "Tár"

John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000):

"The African Desperate"
"A Love Song"
"The Cathedral"
"Holy Emy"
"Something in the Dirt"

Someone To Watch Award:

Adamma Ebo, "Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul."
Nikyatu Jusu, "Nanny"
Araceli Lemos, "Holy Emy"

Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Isabel Castro, "Mija"
Reid Davenport, "I Didn’t See You There"
Rebeca Huntt, "Beba"

Robert Altman Award (given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast):

"Women Talking"

AWARD SEASON 2021 BEGINS

"Licorice Pizza", the latest from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, took Best Film and Best Director from the National Board of Review. Set in the 1970's San Fernando Valley, this coming-of-age comedy-drama looks at a fifteen year old student getting ready for picture day at school when he falls for a decade older photographer's assistant. The stars, Alana Haim of the indie band, Haim and Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, were both recognized for Best Breakthrough Performance. Two outstanding performances in "King Richard", the story of how Venus and Serena Williams were helped guided by their parents into becoming two of the greatest tennis players of all time, were honored with Will Smith as their father, Richard for Best Actor and Aunjanue Ellis as their mother, Oracene for Best Supporting Actress. One surprise was the unexpected selection of Rachel Zegler as Best Actress for her film debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story". The film isn't due out in theaters until Decemeber 11th but this is a good sign for the anticipated musical. And one of my favorite films of the year, "Summer of Soul (...or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)", which revealed amazing, rarely-seen footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, received the well-deserved prize for Best Documentary.

This organization, made up of select filmmakers, academics, students and film enthusiasts in New York, has been around since 1909 and traditionally has been the first of the film critic groups to announce their picks to kick off award season. The NBR Awards will be handed out at a gala hosted by Willie Gest on January 11, 2022.

2021 winners of The National Board of Review:

Best Film: "Licorice Pizza"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "Licorice Pizza"
Best Original Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, "A Hero"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, "The Tragedy Of Macbeth"
Best Actor: Will Smith, "King Richard"
Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, "West Side Story"
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, "Belfast"
Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, "King Richard"
Best Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, "The Tragedy Of Macbeth 

Best Directorial Debut: Michael Sarnoski, "Pig"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, "Licorice Pizza"
Best Ensemble: "The Harder They Fall"
Best Animated Feature: "Encanto"
Best Foreign Language Film: "A Hero"
Best Documentary: "Summer of Soul (...or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "Flee"

NBR Best Films of the Year:

"Belfast"
"Don’t Look Up"
"Dune"
"King Richard"
"The Last Duel"
"Nightmare Alley" "Red Rocket"
"The Tragedy of Macbeth"
"West Side Story"

Meanwhile the New York Film Critics Circle went in another direction by selecting "Drive My Car", the nearly three-hour drama by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, as Best Film. This group, founded in 1935 and includes critics from newspapers, magazines and online publications, went with a film that won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes earlier this year and will represent Japan in the Oscars for Best International Feature. Other standout selections include Lady Gaga for Best Actress for her turn as Patrizia Reggiani in "House of Gucci" and Kodi Smit-McPhee's mesmerizing performance in "The Power of The Dog" which includes the director, Jane Campion and co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch also receiving prizes for the film.

Winners of the 2021 New York Film Critics Circle:

Best Film: "Drive My Car"
Best Director: Jane Campion, "The Power of the Dog"

Best Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "Licorice Pizza"
Best Actress: Lady Gaga, "House of Gucci"
Best Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Power of the Dog"
Best Supporting Actress: Kathryn Hunter, "The Tragedy of Macbeth"
Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee, "The Power of the Dog"

Best Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński, "West Side Story"
Best First Film: "The Lost Daughter"
Best Animated Film: "The Mitchells vs. the Machines"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "Flee"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Worst Person in the World"