New York Film Critics Circle Announce 2011 Winners

The New York Film Critics Circle voted today for their picks for the 2011 awards at the Film Society at Lincoln Center. The awards will be handed out at a ceremony to be held on Monday, January 9, 2012. The NYFCC has decided that they will not be awarding for Best Animated Film for 2011. Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist” was selected as best picture with a second award for Best Director. Brad Pitt was selected as Best Actor and Meryl Streep as Best Actress, full list of winners below.

Best Picture: “The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball”
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for “Moneyball” and “Tree of Life”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for “Drive”
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for “Tree of Life,” “The Help” and “Take Shelter”
Best Foreign Language Film: “A Separation”
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for “Tree of Life”
Best Nonfiction Film: “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” (dir: Werner Herzog)
Best First Feature: “Margin Call”
Special Award to be given to filmmaker Raoul Ruiz

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 newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines and the Web’s most respected on-line 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 viewed as harbingers of the Oscar nominations. 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.