New York Film Critics Circle Winners Full List: ‘First Cow’ Takes Top Prize

Clayton Davis
Updated ·2 min read

The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), one of the key precursors to the awards season, is announcing their best-of-the-year winners after this very strange 2020.

Comprised of nearly 50 critics and journalists from outlets such as Variety, Time Magazine and Vanity Fair, the East Coast group began voting at 9 a.m. and will announce winners as they are decided Friday morning.

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In 2019, the voting body selected Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” as the best film of the year before the Netflix drama went on to be nominated for 10 Oscars. In the last decade, only Todd Haynes’ “Carol” failed to be nominated for best picture at the Oscars after winning the best film with NYFCC. The group has also made some eclectic choices that don’t always translate to the Academy’s ballots. During last year’s voting, they shocked many prognosticators when selecting Josh and Benny Safdie as their best director choice for the A24 drama “Uncut Gems” with Adam Sandler. The feature ended the season with zero nominations from the Academy. Some other notable recent highlights have been Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip”), Regina Hall (“Support the Girls”), and Kristen Stewart (“Clouds of Sils Maria”).

Though some movies have changed their release dates given the Oscar extension, the New York group will not consider or vote on any film released after Dec. 31.

See the full winners list below (updated as they’re announced):

Best Film: “First Cow” (A24)

Best Director: Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Actor: Delroy Lindo, “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)

Best Actress: Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor: Chadwick Boseman, “Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon Studios)

Best Screenplay: Eliza Hittman for “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” (Focus Features)

Best Animated Film: “Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)

Best Cinematography: “Small Axe” – All films (Prime Video)

Best First Film: Radha Blank, “The Forty-Year-Old Version” (Netflix)

Best Foreign Language Film: “Bacarau”

Best Non-Fiction Film: “Time” (Amazon Studios)

Special Award: Kino Lorber, for their creation of Kino Marquee, a virtual cinema distribution service that was designed to help support movie theaters, not destroy them.

Special Award: Spike Lee for inspiring the New York community with his short film “New York New York” and for advocating for a better society through cinema.

Visit THE AWARDS HUB to see the full list of contenders by category.

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