ANORA is consolidating its position as a Best Picture frontrunner. Mikey Madison nears lock status, too, but Best Actress is a more volatile race.
The season has started in full, which means an avalanche of awards coming our way every single day. It's impossible to keep up, so we'll be doing these weekend wrap-ups from now on – like last year, sort of. The past few days saw such groups as Gotham Awards, the NYFCC, and the NBR handing out their honors. All of those have posts of their own, but there's still more to consider. For example, this Sunday was busy as all hell, with the LA, Boston, and Washington, DC, critics announcing their winners. At the same time, across the Atlantic, the British Independent Film Awards held their annual ceremony. That last one is exciting because it's one of the few industry awards we get before the onslaught of guild nominations. One can say the same about the European Film Award and the International Documentary Association. Discover their victors, after the jump…
LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
Best Picture: ANORA
Runner-Up: THE BRUTALIST
Best Film Not in the English Language: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
Runner-Up: THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Best Director: Mohammad Rasoulof, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Runner-Up: Sean Baker, ANORA
Best Lead Performance: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS & Mikey Madison, ANORA
Runners-Up: Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE & Fernanda Torres, I'M STILL HERE
Best Supporting Performance: Yura Borisov, ANORA & Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN
Runners-Up: Clarence Maclin, SING SING & Adam Pearson, A DIFFERENT MAN
Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, A REAL PAIN
Runner-Up: Sean Baker, ANORA
Best Editing: Nicholas Monsour, NICKEL BOYS & Hansjörg Weißbrich, SEPTEMBER 5 (tie)
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, NICKEL BOYS
Runner-Up: Lol Crawley, THE BRUTALIST
Best Production Design: Judy Becker, THE BRUTALIST
Runner-Up: Adam Stockhausen, BLITZ
Best Music/Score: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, CHALLENGERS
Runner-Up: Eiko Ishibashi, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
Best Animation: FLOW
Runner-Up: CHICKEN FOR LINDA
Best Documentary: NO OTHER LAND
Runner-Up: DAHOMEY
New Generation: Vera Drew, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER
Douglas Edward Experimental Film Prize: Eduardo Williams, THE HUMAN SURGE 3
The LAFCA solution to non-gendered acting awards was to give two winners for Lead and Supporting performances. There have been many types of results so far, including last season when Rachel McAdams shared the Supporting prize with future Oscar winner Da'Vine Joy Randolph. However, this is the first year where only women were represented in Lead, only men in Supporting. Whatever the case, this is a big boost for all winners and runners-up, though it's sad that critics continue to be in lockstep about crowning Kieran Culkin's lead performance as supporting. He seems to be the year's big sweeper, though things might yet change. It's early in the season, after all. For me, the happiest surprise of this bunch was surely Mohammad Rasoulof in Best Director.
It's both sad and important to note that Marianne Jean-Baptiste is the first Black actress to win a lead prize with the LAFCA. Neither with gendered or non-gendered categories had a Black leading lady ever gotten the award from the LA critics. It only took fifty years.
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
Best Film: ANORA
Best Non-English Language Film: DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD
Best Director: Sean Baker, ANORA
Best Actress: Mikey Madison, ANORA
Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Deadwyler, THE PIANO LESSON
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Best Ensemble: SING SING
Best Original Screenplay: Sean Baker, ANORA
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joslyn Barnes & RaMell Ross, NICKEL BOYS
Best Editing: Marco Costa, CHALLENGERS
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, NICKEL BOYS
Best Score: Daniel Blumberg, THE BRUTALIST
Best Animated Feature: FLOW
Best Documentary: NO OTHER LAND
Best New Filmmaker: Annie Baker, JANET PLANET
The Boston critics used to have a more adventurous style, but they seem to have been tamed in the past few years, becoming increasingly conventional in their choices. Oh well, their choices are still worth acknowledging and even celebrating, especially when they go slightly against consensus as they do with Edward Norton in Best Supporting Actor. He might surprise us as an Oscar contender, even if most of the attention will be on Chalamet's Best Actor-vying Bob Dylan. In other news, let's hear it for Radu Jude and Annie Baker, two of the year's best filmmakers without a snowball's chance in hell of getting into the Oscar conversation.
Now, while the BSFC doesn't announce runners-up like their LA colleagues, some people reveal who was in the conversation on social media. This year, Ty Burr did the honors. The Brutalist won score in the first round, beating Challengers and Conclave, and the same happened with Guadagnino's tennis movie in editing, distantly trailed by The Brutalist and Nickel Boys. Nosferatu and Nickel Boys were the unofficial runners-up for Cinematography, while Queendom and Porcelain War were among the many titles discussed for Documentary. There was significant support for Hundreds of Beavers in the Best New Filmmaker vote, and A Real Pain and His Three Daughters trailed behind Anora in Original Screenplay. For the adapted category, Conclave and A Complete Unknown were among the titles in contention.
Best Supporting Actress was the most contentious of the acting race, with various contenders and three rounds of voting needed before a consensus was reached. Kieran Culkin and Yuri Borisov got some Best Supporting Actor votes, while Colman Domingo, Daniel Craig, and Adrien Brody were potential Best Actor picks. Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World's Ilinca Manolache battled it out in Best Actress. Anora and His Three Daughters were other Best Ensemble possibilities, while Jane Schoenbrun and Brady Corbet came close to the Best Director prize. Apparently, there were many contenders for the top two categories, including The Brutalist, Emilia Peréz, and The Substance.
WASHINGTON DC AREA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
Best Feature: WICKED
Best Director: Brady Corbet, THE BRUTALIST
Best Actress: Mikey Madison, ANORA
Best Actor: Colman Domingo, SING SING
Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Deadwyler, THE PIANO LESSON
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN
Best Voice Actor: Lupita Nyong'o, THE WILD ROBOT
Best Motion Capture: Owen Teague, KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Best Youth Performance: Elliott Heffernan, BLITZ
Best Acting Ensemble: CONCLAVE
Best Original Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, A REAL PAIN
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Straughan, CONCLAVE
Best Editing: Sean Baker, ANORA & Joe Walker, DUNE: PART TWO (tie)
Best Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, NOSFERATU
Best Production Design: Nathan Crowley, WICKED
Best Original Score: Daniel Blumberg, THE BRUTALIST & Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, CHALLENGERS (tie)
Best Stunts: THE FALL GUY
Best Animated Feature: THE WILD ROBOT
Best Documentary: SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY
Best International Film: EMILIA PÉREZ
Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC: CIVIL WAR
I don't even know where to start regarding that last award, so let's just ignore it. Washington, DC, has a more populist taste than many of its fellow regional groups, which goes a long way to explain Wicked's success. More interestingly, we have the ascendance of A Real Pain as a force to be reckoned with in Best Original Screenplay. Many assumed that Sean Baker had this prize in the bag, but Eisenberg might give him a run for his money. Deadwyler and Domingo solidify their foothold on their respective races, while Madison continues to emerge as one of the strongest Best Actress candidates. A nomination seems secure, at this point, but is she in it to win it?
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS
European Film: EMILIA PÉREZ
European Director: Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ
European Actress: Karla Sofía Gascón, EMILIA PÉREZ
European Actor: Abou Sangare, SOULEYMANE'S STORY
European Screenwriter: Jacques Audiard, EMILIA PÉREZ
European Editing: Juliette Welfling, EMILIA PÉREZ
European Cinematography: Benjamin Kracun, THE SUBSTANCE
European Production Design: Jagna Dobesz, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
European Costume Design: Tanja Hausner, THE DEVIL'S BATH
European Make-Up & Hair: Evalotte Oosterop, WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS
European Visual Effects: THE SUBSTANCE
European Original Score: Frdereikke Hoffmeier, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
European Sound: SOULEYMANE'S STORY
European Documentary: NO OTHER LAND
European Animated Feature: FLOW
European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI: ARMAND
European Young Audience Award: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN
European University Film Award: THREE KILOMETERS TO THE END OF THE WORLD
European Short Film: THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT
European Lifetime Achievement: Wim Wenders
European Achievement in World Cinema: Isabella Rossellini
European International Co-Production: Labina Mitevska
In the past few years, the EFAs have been the place of many a sweep. Indeed, Emilia Pérez replicates Anatomy of a Fall's performance last year to a T, down to each specific category win. Even if it has been faltering with critics, France's Oscar submission seems to soar when it comes to industry honors which the EFAs are. There's more overlap with the Academy membership here than with any of the regional critics groups, no matter how much we might like to pretend otherwise. That's good news for the musical's team and fans alike. It's also a boost to the profile of Flow and No Other Land, two supposed dark horses that have been dominating these early days of the season when it comes to the animation and documentary races, respectively.
The biggest surprise – maybe the only true surprise – was Abou Sangare's victory in Best Actor. His triumph means that French cinema took all the so-called above-the-line awards, but you won't hear me complaining about this pick. Sangare is exceptional in Souleymane's Story, an Un Certain Regard selection from this year's Cannes that follows a couple of days in the life of an African immigrant trying to build a new life for himself in France, struggling with an ilicit delivery job and the pressures of needing a perfect story to acquire citizenship. It's a tour de force that burrows under your skin, ratcheting up the tension until it all comes to a close in one formidable monologue.
BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS
Best British Independent Film: KNEECAP
Best Director: Rungano Nyoni, ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL
Best Lead Performance: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS
Best Joint Lead Performance: Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Hanaidh & JJ Ó Dochartaigh, KNEECAP
Best Supporting Performance: Franz Rogowski, BIRD
Breakthrough Performance: Susan Chardy, ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL
Best Casting: Carla Stronge, KNEECAP
Best Ensemble: WICKED LITTLE LETTERS
Best Screenplay: Sandhya Suri, SANTOSH
Best Editing: Chris Gill & Julian Ulrichs, KNEECAP
Best Cinematography: Ben Fordesman, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
Best Production Design: Jan Houllevigue, THE ASSESSMENT
Best Costume Design: Michael O'Connor, FIREBRAND
Best Make-Up & Hair: Lisa Mustafa, UNICORNS
Best Effects: David Simpson, CIVIL WAR
Best Original Music: Michael 'Mikey J' Asante, KNEECAP
Best Sound: CIVIL WAR
Best Feature Documentary: WITCHES
Best International Independent Film: ANORA
Best Debut Director: Christopher Andrews, BRING THEM DOWN
Best Debut Director – Documentary: GRAND THEFT HAMLET
Best Debut Screenwriter: Rich Peppiatt, KNEECAP
Breakthrough Producer: James Bowsher & Balthazar De Ganay, SANTOSH
Best British Short Film: WANDER TO WONDER
Raindance Maverick Award: GRAND THEFT HAMLET
To no one's surprise, the nomination leader who broke the record for most individual honors in BIFA history also took home the most awards. Kneecap is Ireland's Oscar submission, a madcap mix of musical biopic convention and self-mythologizing fiction centered around the titular hip-hop group. Notably, it's a political anti-British narrative that even stops itself from calling its country Northern Ireland in the title cards, preferring the republican convention of The North of Ireland. Overall, this is a smashing selection, with a variety of worthy winners despite the overwhelming Kneecap fever.
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION
Best Feature Documentary: NO OTHER LAND
Best Director: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal & Rachel Szor, NO OTHER LAND
Best Writing: Johan Grimonprez, SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ÉTAT
Best Editing: Rik Chaubet, SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ÉTAT
Best Cinematography: Ruslan Fedotov, QUEENDOM
Best Original Music Score: Víctor Hernández Stumpfhauser, FRIDA
Best Music Documentary: OMAR & CEDRIC: IF THIS EVER GETS WEIRD
Best TV Feature Documentary: TWO AMERICAN FAMILIES: 1991 – 2024
Best Curated Series: INDEPENDENT LENS
Best Episodic Series: WE'RE HERE
Best Limited Series: A TOWN CALLED VICTORIA
Best Audio Documentary: WHAT'S UP, MICHAEL FREEMAN?
Best Short Documentary: INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART
David L. Wolper Award for Student Documentary: HER NAME WAS ZEHAVA
At this point, it's pure unadulterated political cowardice for no American distributor to step forward and give No Other Land a proper release. If nothing else, this nonsense showcases one of the awards season's proper purposes – to make more people aware of certain titles and expand interest in their distribution. If not necessarily in American theaters, then abroad. I worked at a Portuguese distribution company for a couple of years, and I can't begin to tell you how many titles were acquired only after they made a splash with awards. It's often the difference between a theatrical release or a straight-to-PVOD release over here. And that's in the best scenario since sometimes they get no distribution whatsoever. Anyway, I hope No Other Land gets picked up soon.
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE
AFI Top Ten Films of the Year:
- A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, James Mangold
- A REAL PAIN, Jesse Eisenberg
- ANORA, Sean Baker
- CONCLAVE, Edward Berger
- DUNE: PART TWO, Denis Villeneuve
- EMILIA PÉREZ, Jacques Audiard
- NICKEL BOYS, RaMell Ross
- SING SING, Greg Kwedar
- THE BRUTALIST, Brady Corbet
- WICKED, Jon M. Chu
The most remarkable thing about this AFI top ten is how unremarkable it is. Usually, they throw us, awards obsessives, some curveballs. Not so, this year. Indeed, they went as far as bending their long-standing rules to vote for Emilia Pérez, a Mexico-set French production. I guess the presence of two American actresses in main roles was enough for AFI eligibility? I'm puzzled.
What do you make of these results so far? Any hopes for next week? And don’t forget that we get the Golden Globe nominations tomorrow!