The 2016 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominees PDF Print E-mail

 

THE CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR 2016 FILM AWARDS

“Moonlight,” “Jackie” and “Manchester by the Sea” lead the pack with the most nominations for the group’s awards.


“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins’s acclaimed drama following the journey of self-discovery taken by a young man over the course of three key moments between adolescence and adulthood, clearly struck a chord with members of the Chicago Film Critics Association. The film received the most nominations for the group’s 2016 film awards with eleven nods, including Best Picture, Jenkins for Director and Original Screenplay, Mahershala Ali and Trevante Rhodes for Supporting Actor, Naomie Harris for Supporting Actress, James Laxton for Cinematography, Nicholas Britell for Original Score, Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders for Editing and both Janelle Monae and Rhodes for Most Promising Performer. (Monae’s Promising Performer nomination was shared with “Hidden Figures,” for which she was also nominated for Supporting Actress.)


Two films tied for second place in the nomination count with eight apiece, including Best Picture for each. “Jackie,” the innovative drama looking at the first few days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy through the eyes of his widow earned nominations for Natalie Portman (her fifth to date from the group) for Best Actress, Pablo Larrain for Director, Noah Oppenheim for Original Screenplay and was also shortlisted for Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction and Editing. “Manchester by the Sea,” the wrenching drama about a troubled man returning home following the death of his brother earned Kenneth Lonergan nominations for Director and Original Screenplay, Casey Affleck for Best Actor, Michelle Williams for Supporting Actress (her fourth CFCA nomination), Lucas Hedges for Supporting Actor and Promising Performer and Jennifer Lame for Editing.


Rounding out the Best Picture nominees were the glorious musical extravaganza “La La Land,” which earned seven nominations, including Damien Chazelle for Director, Emma Stone for Best Actress and additional citations for Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction and Editing and “The Handmaiden,” the sexy and twisty thriller about a plot to defraud a heiress in 1930s-era Korea that received six, including two for controversial filmmaker Park Chan-wook for Director and Adapted Screenplay (sharing the latter with Seo-Kyung Chung) as well as nods for Cinematography, Art Direction and Foreign-Language Film. Two additional films received three nominations each—the sci-fi drama “Arrival” earned slots for Adapted Screenplay and Original Score and also earned Amy Adams a nod (her fifth) for Best Actress. Among her competitors is Isabelle Huppert, who was nominated for her performance in the electrifying French drama “Elle,” which also received nominations for Adapted Screenplay and Foreign-Language Film.


Among the other films receiving multiple nominations, Denzel Washington received a record eighth nomination from the CFCA with his Best Actor selection for “Fences” and his co-star, Viola Davis, was cited for Supporting Actress. Martin Scorsese’s long-anticipated religious drama “Silence” earned nods for Scorsese and Jay Cocks for Adapted Screenplay and Rodrigo Prieto for Cinematography. The quirky comedy “The Lobster” was cited for Original Screenplay and Colin Farrell was shortlisted for Best Actor. As was the case with Lucas Hedges, Janelle Monae and Trevante Rhodes, newcomer Lily Gladstone received two nominations for one performance as her work in the drama “Certain Women” landed her nods for Supporting Actress and Promising Performer. Another Promising Performer candidate was Royalty Hightower, whose film, “The Fits,” also saw its director, Anna Rose Holmer, nominated for Promising Filmmaker. “Tower,” an innovative look at the killing spree of Charles Whitman, was nominated for both Best Documentary and Animated Feature. In addition to an Animated Feature slot, “Kubo and the Two Strings” also earned a Promising Filmmaker nomination for Travis Knight. “Cameraperson” was shortlisted for both the Documentary and Editing prizes and the contemporary Western “Hell or High Water” earned nominations for Supporting Actor for Ben Foster and Original Screenplay for Taylor Sheridan. And proving that they are even willing to embrace horror, a genre too often ignored by award groups, the CFCA gave nominations to “The Neon Demon” for Original Score and Art Direction and “The Witch” for Art Direction and Robert Eggers for Promising Filmmaker.


Now in its 27th year, the CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of December 15, 2016. Follow @ChicagoCritics on Twitter for the real-time announcements.

 

BEST PICTURE

The Handmaiden

Jackie

La La Land

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (-) La La Land

Barry Jenkins (-) Moonlight

Pablo Larraín (-) Jackie

Kenneth Lonergan (-) Manchester by the Sea

Chan-wook Park (-) The Handmaiden

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck (-) Manchester by the Sea

Adam Driver (-) Paterson

Joel Edgerton (-) Loving

Colin Farrell (-) The Lobster

Denzel Washington (-) Fences

BEST ACTRESS

Amy Adams (-) Arrival

Rebecca Hall (-) Christine

Isabelle Huppert (-) Elle

Natalie Portman (-) Jackie

Emma Stone (-) La La Land

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (-) Moonlight

Alden Ehrenreich (-) Hail, Caesar!

Ben Foster (-) Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges (-) Manchester by the Sea

Trevante Rhodes (-) Moonlight

Michael Shannon (-) Nocturnal Animals

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (-) Fences

Lily Gladstone (-) Certain Women

Naomie Harris (-) Moonlight

Janelle Monae (-) Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams (-) Manchester by the Sea

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell or High Water (-) Taylor Sheridan

Jackie (-) Noah Oppenheim

The Lobster (-) Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou

Manchester by the Sea (-) Kenneth Lonergan

Moonlight (-) Barry Jenkins

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Arrival (-) Eric Heisserer

Elle (-) David Birke

The Handmaiden (-) Seo-Kyung Chung & Chan-wook Park

Love and Friendship (-) Whit Stillman

Silence (-) Jay Cocks & Martin Scorsese

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

The Red Turtle

Tower

Zootopia

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Cameraperson

Life, Animated

OJ: Made In America

Tower

Weiner

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Elle

The Handmaiden

Julieta

Neruda

Toni Erdmann

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Handmaiden

Jackie

La La Land

The Neon Demon

The Witch

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Handmaiden (-) Chung-hoon Chung

Jackie (-) Stéphane Fontaine

La La Land (-) Linus Sandgren

Moonlight (-) James Laxton

Silence (-) Rodrigo Prieto

BEST EDITING

Cameraperson (-) Nels Bangerter

Jackie (-) Sebastián Sepúlveda

La La Land (-) Tom Cross

Manchester by the Sea (-) Jennifer Lame

Moonlight (-) Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Arrival (-) Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jackie (-) Mica Levi

La La Land (-) Justin Hurwitz

Moonlight (-) Nicholas Britell

The Neon Demon (-) Cliff Martinez

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER

Kelly Fremon Craig (-) The Edge of Seventeen

Robert Eggers (-) The Witch

Anna Rose Holmer (-) The Fits

Travis Knight (-) Kubo and the Two Strings

Trey Edward Shults (-) Krisha

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER

Lily Gladstone (-) Certain Women

Lucas Hedges (-) Manchester by the Sea

Royalty Hightower (-) The Fits

Janelle Monae (-) Hidden Figures & Moonlight

Trevante Rhodes (-) Moonlight

NOMINATION TOTALS

11 - Moonlight

8 – Jackie, Manchester by the Sea

7 - La La Land

6 - The Handmaiden

3 – Arrival, Elle

2 – Cameraperson, Certain Women, Fences, The Fits, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Lobster, The Neon Demon, Silence, Tower, The Witch

1 – Christine, The Edge of Seventeen, Hail Caesar!, Julieta, Krisha, Life Animated, Love and Friendship, Moana, Neruda, Nocturnal Animals, OJ: Made in America, Paterson, The Red Turtle, Toni Erdmann, Weiner, Zootopia