Kansas City Film Critics Circle Winners: Manchester by Sea is Best Film, Director, Actor

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

Manchester by the Sea won Best Film from the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the 2nd oldest critics group in the United States. It’s Manchester‘s first since its win at National Board of Review, which is, incidentally, the oldest awards-giving organization. They also matched up in Supporting Actor with Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water. Natalie Portman picked up another Best Actress win for Jackie and Viola Davis (Fences) and Naomie Harris (Moonlight) tied for Best Supporting Actress.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Film: Manchester by the Sea

Robert Altman Award for Best Director: Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences) & Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Arrival

Best Original Screenplay: Hell or High Water

Best Foreign Language Film: The Handmaiden

Best Documentary: O.J.: Made in America

Best Animated Film: Zootopia

The Vince Koehler Award for Best SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Film: Arrival

Tom Poe Award for Best LGBT Film: Moonlight

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More - March 20, 2026
• Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’ - March 20, 2026
• Six Join 51st Residence of the Festival de Cannes, including Harry Lighton, Mansi Maheshwari, Oliver McGoldrick - March 20, 2026