CAROL Awarded Top Honors By New York Film Critics; Saoirse Ronan And Michael Keaton Garner Acting Awards

The New York Film Critics Circle voted today at the Film Society of Lincoln Center for their 2015 awards winners. The awards will be handed out during their annual ceremony on Monday, January 4th at Tao Downtown.

Carol was awarded Best Picture and Todd Haynes was named Best Director. Saoirse Ronan was selected as Best Actress for her role in Brooklyn, and Michael Keaton was chosen as Best Actor for Spotlight.

CAROL

Two Special Awards were given, honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films and Ennio Morricone for his extraordinary contribution to the language of cinema. Full list of winners below.

Says 2015 NYFCC Chairman, Star Magazine’s Marshall Fine, “This group is known for inserting films into the awards conversation and this year was no different. I’m particularly pleased at how New York-centric so many of the films are, representing many parts of the city, as well as several different eras.”

The NYFCC also announced that David Edelstein, film critic for New York magazine, will serve as vice chairman this year and become chairman next year.

This year’s ceremony will be dedicated to late Time Magazine film critic and NYFCC member, Richard Corliss.

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is the oldest and most prestigious in the country. The circle’s membership includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and the web’s most respected online publications. Every year the organization meets in New York to vote on awards for the calendar year’s films.

The Circle’s awards are often seen as shaping the Oscar race. The Circle’s awards are also viewed — perhaps more accurately — as a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring aesthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures.

BOOKLYN. Photo by Kerry Brown. © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Best Picture: “Carol”
Best Director: Todd Haynes, “Carol”
Best Screenplay: “Carol”
Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
Best Actor: Michael Keaton, “Spotlight”
Best Supporting Actress: Kristen Stewart, “Clouds of Sils Maria”
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Timbuktu”
Best Cinematography: Edward Lachman, “Carol”
Best Nonfiction Film: “In Jackson Heights”
Best First Film: “Son of Saul”
Best Animated Film: “Inside Out”
Special Award: Posthumous Award honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films
Special Award: Ennio Morricone, composer

SPOTLIGHT

A full list of voting members is below:

Melissa Anderson
ARTFORUM

John Anderson
FREELANCE

Michael Atkinson
VILLAGE VOICE

Richard Brody
THE NEW YORKER

Dwight Brown
NNPA SYNDICATION/BlackPressUSA.com

Karen Durbin
ELLE

Bilge Ebiri
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

David Edelstein
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Marshall Fine
STAR MAGAZINE

Graham Fuller
ARTINFO.COM

Owen Gleiberman
BBC.com

Ed Gonzalez
SLANTMAGAZINE.COM

Rafer Guzman
NEWSDAY

Jordan Hoffman
THE GUARDIAN

Stuart Klawans
THE NATION

Eric Kohn
INDIEWIRE

Lou Lumenick
NEW YORK POST

Joe Morgenstern
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Farran Smith Nehme
NEW YORK POST

Joe Neumaier
NY DAILY NEWS / FREELANCE

Andrew O’Hehir
SALON.COM

Nick Pinkerton
FREELANCE

Peter Rainer
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

Rex Reed
NEW YORK OBSERVER

Joshua Rothkopf
TIME OUT NEW YORK

Richard Schickel
TRUTHDIG.COM

Kyle Smith
NEW YORK POST

Dana Stevens
SLATE.COM

Sara Stewart
NEW YORK POST

Amy Taubin
ARTFORUM

Peter Travers
ROLLING STONE

Keith Uhlich
FREELANCE

Stephen Whitty
THE STAR-LEDGER/NJ.COM

Alison Willmore
BUZZFEED

Stephanie Zacharek
TIME