Barry Jenkins’ film takes home 6 Seattle Film Critics Awards!

Seattle, Wa. – Barry Jenkins’ groundbreaking drama Moonlight was the big winner with Seattle’s film critics community, winning 6 Seattle Film Awards including Best Picture. 

In addition to winning the biggest prize as selected by the Seattle Film Critics Society, Jenkins was named Best Director and his screenplay, co-written with Tarell Alvin McCraney, earned Best Screenplay honors. The film’s cast took home the Best Ensemble Cast prize, with Mahershala Ali winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Juan, a father-figure of sorts to the film’s lead character Chiron, a young African-American male coming to terms with his sexual orientation. Elsewhere, the film nabbed a prize for Best Editing, turning 10 nominations into 6 wins.

French film Elle and South Korean import The Handmaiden took home two awards each. For her performance as a woman attempting to find out who brutally attacked her in Elle, veteran actress Isabelle Huppert was named Best Actress. Elle also was named Best Foreign Language Film. 

Though The Handmaiden did not win the Foreign Language award, Park Chan-wook’s critically acclaimed colonial Korean drama won prizes for Costume Design and Production Design.

Joining Huppert and Ali in the actor’s winning circle was Casey Affleck, who added Seattle to his vast array of wins this awards season as Best Actor for Manchester By The Sea. Viola Davis took home the Best Supporting Actress prize for her work in Denzel Washington’s Fences.

Science-fiction hit Arrival, which earned 9 nominations, scored three wins, including Best Original Score for composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s powerful work – deemed ineligible by the Academy – Best Cinematography and shared a win for Best Visual Effects with Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange.

Entering with a co-leading 10 nominations, Oscar hopeful La La Land was surprisingly shut out in all categories, going home empty-handed.

In one of the Society’s newest awards, Best Youth Performance, Anya Taylor-Joy won for horror film The Witch, playing a daughter making sense of strange, unexplainable events enveloping her family in 17th century New England.

The other new award introduced this year, Best Villain, was awarded to John Goodman for his portrayal as bunker-dwelling Howard Stambler in last spring’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. Goodman edged out a real-life goat, The Witch’s “Black Phillip” to win the villainous accolades.

Walt Disney’s Zootopia was named Best Animated Feature, while Ezra Edelman’s incredible seven-and-a-half hour look at one of the highest profile murder cases in recent history, and the racial unrest surrounding it, O.J.: Made In America, was named the year’s Best Documentary.

The official list of winners of the 2016 Seattle Film Awards are listed below:

THE 2016 SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY SEATTLE FILM AWARD WINNERS:

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Moonlight (A24)

BEST DIRECTOR: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

BEST ACTOR: Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea

BEST ACTRESS: Isabelle Huppert, Elle

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, Fences

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Moonlight

BEST SCREENPLAY: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins, Tarell McCraney

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Zootopia – Byron Howard and Rich Moore, directors; Jared Bush, co-director.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Elle – Paul Verhoeven, director

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: O.J.: Made In America – Ezra Edelman, director

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Arrival ­– Bradford Young

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: The Handmaiden – Cho Sang-kyung

BEST FILM EDITING: Moonlight – Nat Sanders, Joi McMillon

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Arrival – Jóhann Jóhannsson

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Handmaiden – Ryu Seong-hee

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS (TIE): Arrival – Louis Morin

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS (TIE): Doctor Strange – Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Richard Bluff, Vince Cerelli

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch

BEST VILLAIN: Howard Stambler (portrayed by John Goodman) – 10 Cloverfield Lane

THE SEATTLE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY NOMINATIONS FIND “ARRIVAL”, “LA LA LAND” AND “MOONLIGHT” LEADING THE PACK FOR 2016 SEATTLE FILM AWARDS

Seattle, Wa. – Members of Seattle’s film and critical community have voted and nominations for the 2016 Seattle Film Awards, honoring the best in film for 2016, have been announced. Leading the field with 10 nominations each are Damien Chazelle’s musical romance La La Land and Barry Jenkins’ dramatic, emotional coming-of-age story Moonlight. Both films are nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Chazelle and Jenkins, respectively.

Denis Villeneuve’s thought-provoking science-fiction epic Arrival landed 9 nominations, including Best Picture, and a second consecutive Seattle Film Awards Best Director nomination, recognized in 2015 for Sicario.

Joining those films across multiple categories is Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea and Robert Eggers’ The Witch, earning 7 nominations each, including Best Picture of the Year and a nod for Eggers in Best Director.

Lonergan missed a mention in the Best Director category, as Paul Verhoeven was nominated for his controversial French import Elle. In addition to earning a Best Picture nomination, lead actress Isabelle Huppert earned a spot in the Best Actress race. The film also received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Rounding out the Best Picture lineup for 2016 is Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, David Mackenzie’s Hell Or High Water, South Korea’s The Handmaiden, and documentary13th, Ava DuVernay’s look at the history of African-American racism in the United States.

Manchester By The Sea placed four of its actors in the nomination pool – Casey Affleck (Lead Actor), Michelle Williams (Supporting Actress), and dual nominees Lucas Hedges and Kyle Chandler in Supporting Actor. The film also earned a nod for Best Ensemble.

Affleck competes against fellow nominees Ryan Gosling in La La Land, Viggo Mortensen in Captain Fantastic, Denzel Washington in Fences, and Logan Lerman, cited for his work in Indignation.

Williams earns her nomination alongside Viola Davis in Fences and Naomie Harris inMoonlight. Two distinctive breakout performances also caught Seattle’s eye as Kate McKinnon’s comedic turn in summer blockbuster Ghostbusters joins newcomer Lily Gladstone in the quiet, contemplative Certain Women, a film which Michelle Williams also co-stars in.

Hedges and Chandler join Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Jeff Bridges in the Best Supporting Actor lineup. Rounding out the slate is John Goodman, cited for his bunker dwelling turn in science-fiction thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane.

DuVernay’s 13th also earned a Best Documentary Feature nomination, along with the widely praised seven-plus hour O.J.: Made In America, film festival favorite Tickled,the uncomfortable look at disgraced politician Anthony Weiner in Weiner, andCameraperson, a compendium of the film projects of cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Cameraperson also earned a nod for Film Editing. Tower, an animated documentary recounting the 50th anniversary of a campus shooting in Texas, missed in the Documentary Feature category but scored an Animated Feature nomination, competing with Disney and Pixar favorites Finding Dory, Moana, Zootopia, and stop-motion film Kubo and the Two Strings.

Two new categories were added for voter consideration in 2016. For the inaugural Best Youth Performance, recognizing performances by actors who were 18 years of age or younger at the time filming began, The Witch sees lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy and co-star Harvey Scrimshaw competing with Royalty Hightower from The Fits,Sunny Pawar in Lion, and Alex Hibbert from Moonlight.

In the Best Villain category, Goodman appears for a second time, alongside menacing goat Black Phillip from The Witch, Ben Mendelsohn’s Imperial henchman Orson Krennic from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and two harrowing horror movie performances from Stephen Lang (Don’t Breathe) and Patrick Stewart in Green Room.

With nominations in place, voting for the winners will take place beginning December 21, 2016. Voting for this year’s recipients concludes January 4, 2017, with the winners announced on January 5, 2017.

The complete list of nominations for the 2016 Seattle Film Awards are listed below:

THE 2016 SEATTLE FILM AWARD NOMINEES

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR:

13th (Netflix)
ARRIVAL (Paramount)
ELLE (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE HANDMAIDEN (Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures)
HELL OR HIGH WATER (CBS Films)
JACKIE (Fox Searchlight)
LA LA LAND (Lionsgate)
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions)
MOONLIGHT (A24)
THE WITCH (A24)

BEST DIRECTOR:

Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Robert Eggers – The Witch
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Paul Verhoeven – Elle
Denis Villeneuve – Arrival

BEST ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE:

Casey Affleck – Manchester By The Sea
Ryan Gosling – La La Land
Logan Lerman – Indignation
Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington – Fences

BEST ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE:

Amy Adams – Arrival
Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship
Isabelle Huppert – Elle
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Emma Stone – La La Land

BEST ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE:

Mahershala Ali– Moonlight
Jeff Bridges – Hell Or High Water
Kyle Chandler – Manchester By The Sea
John Goodman – 10 Cloverfield Lane
Lucas Hedges – Manchester By The Sea

BEST ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE:

Viola Davis – Fences
Lily Gladstone – Certain Women
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Kate McKinnon – Ghostbusters
Michelle Williams – Manchester By The Sea

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:

Captain Fantastic
Hell Or High Water
Fences
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight

BEST SCREENPLAY:

Arrival – Eric Heisserer
Hell Or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
La La Land – Damien Chazelle
Manchester By The Sea – Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight – Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Finding Dory – Andrew Stanton, director; Angus MacLane, co-director
Kubo And The Two Strings – Travis Knight, director
Moana – Ron Clements and John Musker, directors
Tower – Keith Maitland, director
Zootopia – Byron Howard and Rich Moore, directors; Jared Bush, co-director.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

Elle – Paul Verhoeven, director
The Handmaiden – Park Chan-wook, director
The Innocents – Anne Fontaine, director
Under The Shadow – Babak Anvari, director
The Wailing – Na Hong-jin, director

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

13th – Ava DuVernay, director
Cameraperson – Kirsten Johnson, director
O.J.: Made In America – Ezra Edelman, director
Tickled – David Farrier, Dylan Reeve, directors
Weiner – Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Arrival – Bradford Young
Jackie – Stéphane Fontaine
La La Land – Linus Sandgren
Moonlight – James Laxton
The Witch – Jarin Blaschke

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

The Handmaiden – Cho Sang-kyung
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine
La La Land – Mary Zophres
Love & Friendship – Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
The Witch – Linda Muir

BEST FILM EDITING:

Arrival – Joe Walker
Cameraperson – Nels Bangerter
Hell Or High Water – Jake Roberts
La La Land – Tom Cross
Moonlight – Nat Sanders, Joi McMillon

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Arrival – Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jackie – Mica Levi
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz
Moonlight – Nicholas Britell
Swiss Army Man – Andy Hull, Robert McDowell

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Arrival – Patrice Vermette (production designer); Paul Hotte (key decorator)
The Handmaiden – Ryu Seong-hee
Jackie – Jean Rabasse (production designer); Véronique Melery (set decorator)
La La Land – David Wasco (production designer); Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (set decorator)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Doug Chiang, Neil Lamont (production designers); Lee Sandales (set decorator)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Arrival – Louis Morin
Captain America: Civil War – Dan DeLeeuw, Dan Sudick, Russell Earl, Greg Steele
Doctor Strange – Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Richard Bluff, Vince Cerelli
The Jungle Book – Robert Legato, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez, Dan Lemmon
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel, Neil Corbould

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (18 years of age or younger upon start of filming):

Alex Hibbert – Moonlight
Royalty Hightower – The Fits
Sunny Pawar – Lion
Harvey Scrimshaw – The Witch
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch

BEST VILLAIN:

Darcy Banker – Green Room – portrayed by Patrick Stewart
Black Phillip – The Witch – portrayed by Charlie and voiced by Wahab Chaudary
Orson Krennic – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn
Norman Nordstrom (a/k/a ‘The Blind Man’) – Don’t Breathe – portrayed by Stephen Lang
Howard Stambler – 10 Cloverfield Lane – portrayed by John Goodman

To celebrate local, national and international film, members of Seattle’s film and critical community have officially formed the Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS). The society’s mission is to highlight the best and most interesting movies that should be seen each year, and to enhance public education, awareness and appreciation of cinema in the greater Seattle area.

Members of the Seattle Film Critics Society include the region’s top print, online and broadcast movie critics.

For several years, an informal group has voted on the year’s best movies and performances, culminating in the Seattle Film Critics Awards. The Society will formalize this process to further highlight the year’s most prominent and deserving films, actors and filmmakers. For 2016 releases, nominations will be announced on Dec. 21, 2016 and winners on Jan. 5, 2017.

“We’ve had a thriving film community here for as long as I can remember, but it hasn’t always had a voice,” said Michael Ward, interim chairman and editor of the website Should I See It. “I’m thrilled that Seattle’s film critics have come together to share their love and knowledge of film with local moviegoers.”

The Society will operate with an interim steering committee during its launch phase. A full Board of Directors will be selected by Society members in February 2017.

About the Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS)

The Seattle Film Critics Society (SFCS) seeks to highlight the best and most interesting movies that should be seen each year, and to enhance public education, awareness and appreciation of cinema in the greater Seattle area. For more information, visit seattlefilmcritics.com.

Press contact

For press inquiries, contact press@seattlefilmcritics.com