MOONLIGHT WINS FIVE FROM AUSTIN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Yet another film critics group has been seduced by Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, as proven in the awards choices of the Austin Film Critics Association. You can always rely on the AFCA to deliver a strong list of award winners, and they had an equally strong slate from which to choose, as evidenced in their nominations. All the info below.

Best Film

1. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

2. La La Land

3. Arrival

4. The Handmaiden

5. Manchester by the Sea

6. Elle

7. Hell or High Water

8. The Lobster

9. Jackie

10. Sing Street

Best Director

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Actress

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Best Actor

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Original Screenplay

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Best Cinematography

Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Best Score

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Best Animated Film

Kubo and the Two Strings (Travis Knight)

Best Documentary

Tower (Keith Maitland)

Best Foreign-Language Film

The Handmaiden (Park Chan Wook)

Best Austin Film

Tower (Keith Maitland)

Best First Film

The Witch (Robert Eggers)

The Robert R. 'Bobby' McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award

Keith Maitland (Tower)

Special Honorary Award

A24 for excellence in production (20th Century Women / Green Room / The Lobster / Moonlight / Swiss Army Man / The Witch)

The ensemble cast of Moonlight and casting director Yesi Ramirez for excellence as an ensemble

Filmmaker Keith Maitland and his film Tower for revisiting a tragic event in Austin, Texas history in a sensitive and unique manner

Anton Yelchin for his contribution to the cinema of 2016, including performances in Green Room and Star Trek Beyond

THE HANDMAIDEN IS A HIT WITH AUSTIN CRITICS!

Lately shaping up to be one of awards season's unlikeliest of contenders, Park Chan Wook's The Handmaiden has won over one of the most single-minded of critics groups - the Austin Film Critics Association. The AFCA is a reliable group with generally strong tastes, and I can hardly fault their decisions this year. Winners will be announced, alongside a top 10 list and some special award recipients, on the 28th of December.

Best Film

Arrival

The Handmaiden

La La Land

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best Director

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Park Chan Wook (The Handmaiden)

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)

Best Actress

Amy Adams (Arrival)

Annette Bening (20th Century Women)

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Ruth Negga (Loving)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Actor

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Joel Edgerton (Loving)

Colin Farrell (The Lobster)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Kim Min Hee (The Handmaiden)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Ben Foster (Hell or High Water)

Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Original Screenplay

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Mike Mills (20th Century Women)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Luke Davies (Lion)

Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Eric Heisserer (Arrival)

Jeong Seo Kyeong and Park Chan Wook (The Handmaiden)

Whit Stillman (Love & Friendship)

Best Cinematography

Chung Chung Hoon (The Handmaiden)

Stephane Fontaine (Jackie)

James Laxton (Moonlight)

Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Bradford Young (Arrival)

Best Score

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Hell or High Water)

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Johann Johannsson (Arrival)

Mica Levi (Jackie)

Cliff Martinez (The Neon Demon)

Best Animated Film

Kubo and the Two Strings

The Little Prince

Moana

Tower

Zootopia

Best Documentary

13th

I Am Not Your Negro

O.J.: Made in America

Tower

Weiner

Best Foreign-Language Film

The Brand New Testament

Elle

The Handmaiden

Things to Come

Toni Erdmann

Best Austin Film

Loving

Midnight Special

Slash

Tower

Transpecos

Best First Film

The Birth of a Nation

The Edge of Seventeen

Krisha

Swiss Army Man

The Witch

The Robert R. 'Bobby' McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Sasha Lane (American Honey)

Keith Maitland (Tower)

Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight)

Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD CONQUERS THE AUSTIN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

The Austin Film Critics Association picked Mad Max: Fury Road today as the best film of 2015. Spotlight placed second on their Best Film list with Carol third, though the frailty of all three titles was exposed by their awards tallies - only the top two for Mad Max, one for Carol and nothing at all for Spotlight. Their top ten films oddly excluded Trumbo, which had been one of their five Best Film nominees. Have a hoke at what they chose below:

Best Film

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Spotlight

3. Carol

4. Anomalisa

5. Room

6. Ex Machina

=  Inside Out

8. Creed

9. The Big Short

10. Sicario

Best Director

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Best Actress

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Original Screenplay

Josh Cooley, Pete Docter and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Best Cinematography

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Best Score

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Best Animated Film

Inside Out (Pete Docter)

Best Documentary

The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)

Best Foreign-Language Film

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

Best First Film

Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

Austin Film Award

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner)

The Robert R. 'Bobby' McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award

Jacob Tremblay (Room)