The New York Film Critics Circle announced their annual year-end honors, giving an awards season boost to one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s “Drive My Car.” Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” took three honors including Best Director, Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Best Supporting Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee). For those paying attention, it’s worth noting the NYFCC’s top pick hasn’t won the Oscar for Best Picture since “The Artist” 10 years ago, but every winner has been nominated in the category.
READ MORE: “Licorice Pizza” named Best Film of 2021 by National Board of Review
The New York critics also chose Lady Gaga as Best Actress for “House of Gucci” and Kathryn Hunter as Best Supporting Actress for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” took Best Screenplay.
“The Mitchells vs. The Machines” won the Animated prize, while two NEON releases, “Flee” and “The Worst Person in the World,” took Non-Fiction and Foreign Language Film, respectfully. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” which dominated the Gotham Awards on Monday night, took Best First Film.
Best Cinematography went to Janusz Kamiński for “West Side Story.”
With the National Board of Review anointing “Licorice Pizza” yesterday all eyes will now be on the Los Angeles Film Critics Association who will pick their winners on Sunday.
All of this year’s winners are as follows:
Best Film: “Drive My Car”
Best First Film: “The Lost Daughter”
Best Director: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
Best Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Best Actress: Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci”
Best Supporting Actress: Kathryn Hunter, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Best Supporting Actor: Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
Best Screenplay: “Licorice Pizza”
Best Cinematography: “West Side Story”
Best Animated Film: “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
Best Non-Fiction Film: “Flee”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “The Worst Person in the World”
Special Award: Diane Weyermann, posthumous award for supporting daring and impactful filmmaking at Sundance and Participant
Special Award: Maya Cade for the creation of the Black Film Archive
Special Award: Marshall Fine for his years of service as NYFCC’s General Manager and decades on the NY film scene