The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) have announced their nominees for the best in film for 2024 and The Brutalist leads the pack with nominations in 10 categories, including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and a host of acting categories.
Other films racking up multiple nominations include Anora (nominations in 7 categories), Dune: Part Two (nominations in 8 categories),and The Substance (nominations in 7 categories).
In the Best First Film category, nominations were Vera Drew (The People’s Joker), Zoe Kravitz (Blink Twice), Josh Margolin (Thelma), Arkasha Stevenson (The First Omen), and Sean Wang (Didi).
As part of the organization’s annual voting, the Austin Film Critics Association acknowledges standout titles with local ties — works made by directors who live in Austin. This award is distinct to this group of critics, recognizing the talent of Austin filmmakers as they celebrate the best films of the year, with this year’s nominees for the Best Austin Film award.
Here are the full list of nominees.
Best Picture
Anora
The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Conclave
Love Lies Bleeding
Nosferatu
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Sing Sing
Wicked
Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Rose Glass, Love Lies Bleeding
Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two
Best Actress
Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Daniel Craig, Queer
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Hugh Grant, Heretic
Best Supporting Actress
Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Best Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
Guy Pierce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Best Ensemble
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Sing Sing
Best Original Screenplay
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers
Best Adapted Screenplay
Dana Fox & Winnie Holzman, Wicked
Greg Kwedar & Clint Bentley, Sing Sing
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Peter Straughan, Conclave
Denis Villeneuve & Jon Spaihts, Dune: Part Two
Best Cinematography
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys
Greig Frasier, Dune: Part Two
Benjamin Kracun, The Substance
Best Editing
Sean Baker, Anora
Coralie Fargeat Jérôme Eltabet, & Valentin Féron, The Substance
Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Joe Walker, Dune: Part 2
Hansjörg Weißbrich, September 5
Best Original Score
Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot
Robin Carolan, Nosferatu
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Challengers
Hans Zimmer, Dune: Part 2
Best International Film
Emilia Perez
Flow
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Best Documentary
Dahomey
No Other Land
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper
Best Animated Film
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Best Voice Acting/Animated/Digital Performance
Kevin Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Lupita Nyong’o, The Wild Robot
Amy Poehler, Inside Out 2
Sarah Snook, Memoir of a Snail
Robbie Williams/Jonno Davies, Better Man
Best Stunt Work
Dune: Part Two
The Fall Guy
Furiosa
Kill
Monkey Man
Best First Film
Vera Drew, The People’s Joker
Zoe Kravitz, Blink Twice
Josh Margolin, Thelma
Arkasha Stevenson, The First Omen
Sean Wang, Didi
The Robert R. “Bobby” McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award
In a change to this category, all 5 top nominees will be honored with the award, and will be announced on January 6th.
In alphabetical order, the five nominees for Best Austin Film 2024 are:
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.