Todd Field's symphonic backstage drama "Tár" and the existential comedy "Everything Everywhere All at Once" tied for top honors with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) in awards announced Sunday.
The critics group opted to split its best film award between the two acclaimed films. "Tár," which was also chosen as best film by the New York Film Critics Circle, cleaned up in other categories as well. Field won for both directing and screenplay, and Cate Blanchett, who stars as an internationally renowned conductor, won best lead performance. The critics, who don't separate award by gender, also gave best lead performance to Bill Nighy for the "Ikiru" remake "Living."
"Everything Everywhere All at Once," the madcap metaverse movie from Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also picked up an award for Ke Huy Quan, for supporting performer. The former child star added to his rapidly increasingly awards haul for his lauded comeback performance. The other supporting performer winner was Dolly de Leon from Ruben Östlund's class satire "Triangle of Sadness."
Other winners from LAFCA included Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio" for best animation; Jerzy Skolimowski's "EO" for best non-English language film; and Laura Poitras' "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" for best documentary.
As previously announced, LAFCA has chosen writer-director Claire Denis as the recipient of this year’s Career Achievement Award.
The critics will hand out their awards at a gala on Jan. 14. The French filmmaker Claire Denis was previously announced as the recipient of the group's career achievement award. Last year, the LAFCA awarded Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car" best film.
Award winners are:
PICTURE (tie): EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE and TÁR
DIRECTOR: Todd Field, TÁR
Runner-up: S. S. Rajamouli, RRR
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE: Cate Blanchett, TÁR
Runner-up: Danielle Deadwyler, TILL
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE: Bill Nighy, LIVING
Runner-up: Michelle Yeoh, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Dolly de Leon, TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Runner-up: Jessie Buckley, WOMEN TALKING
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Ke Huy Quan, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Runner-up: Brian Tyree Henry, CAUSEWAY
SCREENPLAY: Todd Field, TÁR
Runner-up: Martin McDonagh, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
ANIMATION: GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO
Runner-up: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: EO
Runner-up: SAINT OMER
DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
Runner-up: FIRE OF LOVE
NEW GENERATION: Davy Chou and Park Ji-Min, RETURN TO SEOUL
FILM EDITING: Blair McClendon, AFTERSUN
Runner-up: Monika Willi, TÁR
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michał Dymek, EO
Runner-up: Hoyte van Hoytema, NOPE
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Runner-up: Jason Kisvarday, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
MUSIC/SCORE: M.M. Keeravani, RRR
Runner-up: Paweł Mykietyn, EO
DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA
SPECIAL CITATION: Gwen Deglise, Deputy Director and Co-Director of Programming at American Cinematheque
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Claire Denis
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More