National Society of Film Critics (NSFC): Moonlight Takes Best Pic, Director

Moonlight won Best Picture from the National Society of Film Critics today, capping off a hugely successful and surprising awards season run for the indie film. This was its 18th Best Picture win overall. Manchester by the Sea and La La Land were the runners-up.

Moonlight‘s director, Barry Jenkins, also took home the directing win, his 17th. As in Best Picture, the runners-up were Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) and Damien Chazelle (La La Land). The film picked up two more awards, Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali (his 26th win this season) and for James Laxton’s cinematography.

Manchester by the Sea also had a good day with Casey Affleck winning Best Actor, director Kenneth Lonergan winning for his screenplay and Supporting Actress for Michelle Williams.

Overall, the films and performances that have been leading the critics awards this season came out on top here today. Only Michelle Williams and Foreign Language Film winner Toni Erdmann triumphed here over Viola Davis (Fences) and The Handmaiden in their respective categories.

READ: The 2016/2017 Awards Tracker

Here is the full list of winners and runners-up (with vote totals) from the 51st National Society of Film Critics awards for the best in film for 2016.

BEST PICTURE
*1. Moonlight (54)
2. Manchester by the Sea (39)
3. La La Land (31)

BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Barry Jenkins (53) – Moonlight
2. Damien Chazelle (37) – La La Land
3. Kenneth Lonergan (23) – Manchester by the Sea

BEST ACTOR
*1. Casey Affleck (65) – Manchester by the Sea
2. Denzel Washington (21) – Fences
3. Adam Driver (20) – Paterson

BEST ACTRESS
*1. Isabelle Huppert (55) – Elle and Things to Come
2. Annette Bening (26) – 20th Century Women
2. Sandra Hüller (26) – Toni Erdmann [tied with Bening]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1. Mahershala Ali (72) – Moonlight
2. Jeff Bridges (18) – Hell or High Water
3. Michael Shannon (14) – Nocturnal Animals

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Michelle Williams (58) – Manchester by the Sea
2. Lily Gladstone (45) – Certain Women
3. Naomie Harris (25) – Moonlight

BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. Manchester by the Sea (61) – Kenneth Lonergan
2. Moonlight (39) – Barry Jenkins
3. Hell or High Water (16) – Taylor Sheridan

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. Moonlight (52) – James Laxton
2. La La Land (27) – Linus Sandgren
3. Silence (23) – Rodrigo Prieto

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
*1. Toni Erdmann (52)
2. The Handmaiden (26)
3. Elle (19)
3 Things to Come (19) tied

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
*1. O.J.: Made in America (64)
2. I Am Not Your Negro (36)
3. 13th (20)

SPECIAL CITATION for a film awaiting American distribution: Sieranevada (Romania) Cristi Puiu

FILM HERITAGE AWARD: Kino Lorber’s 5-disc collection “Pioneers of African-American Cinema”

Founded in l966, the National Society of Film Critics differs from other critical associations in a number of significant ways. In the first place, it is truly national. Its members include critics from major papers in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Denver. Its members also include the critics not just of The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and The New Yorker, but also of The Village Voice, The Boston Herald, and prominent online sites. Second, membership is by election. Variety’s Justin Chang is the group’s current Chair.

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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), 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.

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