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”
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
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
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)
FILM HERITAGE AWARD: Kino Lorber’s 5-disc collection “Pioneers of African-American Cinema”
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
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
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)
Comment #1: For the first time, I and several fellow members of the NSFC voted this year in “real time” during the meetung in New York via an app called Slack, a process that worked more smoothly than we suspected it would. Part of what made it so effortless was another surprise: all the results were tabulated after single ballots in every category, something I don’t recall ever happened at the NSFC voting sessions before.
Comment #2: For me, there weren’t many surprises in this year’s results, and also not too many disappointments either, apart from not seeing La La Land or Arrival or Paterson or Indignation do any better, and also feeling left out of the general enthusiasm for Manchester by the Sea, which, in spite of my admiration for the same writer-director’s Margaret (still as scandalously overlooked and neglected as Damien Chazelle’s Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench), leaves me relatively uninterested and indifferent. All of which makes me wonder if the overall spirit of near-unanimity in this year’s NSFC awards and its overall rejection of what we normally regard as “mainstream” might point indirectly towards a feeling of a united front against Trump and everything he promises to do to us. [1/7/17]