National Society of Film Critics

We join our colleagues in @lafilmcritics.bsky.social and @nsfc.bsky.social in condemning the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air.

FILM CRITICS’ GROUPS DENOUNCE NEXSTAR AND DISNEY-ABC DECISIONS TO SUSPEND “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” We, the members of the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics, strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air. For decades, our organizations have represented a profession that is enabled by the First Amendment. Kimmel’s long-running talk show promotes free speech, including when it gives film artists the chance to discuss their work. There is only one word to describe the decision by powerful media corporations to silence an individual’s perspective due to fear of repercussions by the government: censorship. This is the antithesis of the values embodied by our work. We demand a reversal of this decision and encourage our colleagues across the industry to do the same.

We strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! off the air.

FILM CRITICS’ GROUPS DENOUNCE NEXSTAR AND DISNEY-ABC DECISIONS TO SUSPEND “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” We, the members of the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics, strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air. For decades, our organizations have represented a profession that is enabled by the First Amendment. Kimmel’s long-running talk show promotes free speech, including when it gives film artists the chance to discuss their work. There is only one word to describe the decision by powerful media corporations to silence an individual’s perspective due to fear of repercussions by the government: censorship. This is the antithesis of the values embodied by our work. We demand a reversal of this decision and encourage our colleagues across the industry to do the same.

We strongly condemn the actions taken by Nexstar and Disney-ABC to pull JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! off the air.

Warmest of welcomes to Lovia Gyarkye, the newest member of the National Society of Film Critics. Congratulations, Lovia!

U.S. FILM CRITICS’ GROUPS 
CONDEMN VIOLENCE AGAINST HAMDAN BALLAL We, the members of the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Boston Society of Film Critics, express our support for the Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal and condemn, in the strongest terms, the brutal and unlawful attack he suffered this week at the hands of Israeli settlers, as well as his detainment by Israeli authorities. We are gravely concerned for Mr. Ballal’s health and safety, as well as the safety of his loved ones, and, now that he has been released, extend our hopes for his full recovery from his injuries. Mr. Ballal was assaulted near his home in Khirbet Susya, a village in the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank. Attacks on the residents of Masafer Yatta are nothing new, as we have seen from “No Other Land,” the Academy Award-winning documentary that Mr. Ballal co-directed with Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor. As critics representing four of the numerous organizations that honored “No Other Land” as the best documentary of 2024, we are infuriated that a filmmaker’s brave and principled advocacy has made him even more of a target in a community where Palestinians already exist under continual threat of displacement and violence. One of the most powerful aspects of “No Other Land” — and the reason so many have tried, in vain, to limit its reach and silence its message — is that it is itself a rare feat of collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and artists, united by their belief in dignity and equality for all. By the very nature of its form and creation, the film represents, and dares to imagine, a more peaceful future. We applaud Mr. Ballal and his colleagues for the courage and artistry with which they have advanced that vision and affirm that it will never be forgotten.

We join our colleagues in @nyfcc.bsky.social, @lafilmcritics.bsky.social and @bsfc.bsky.social in condemning the attack on NO OTHER LAND co-director Hamdan Ballal.

This concludes our 59th annual voting meeting. Thank you for following along, and congratulations to all our winners.

Best Nonfiction Film: NO OTHER LAND (70 points)

Runners-up:
DAHOMEY (50 points)
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT (24 points)

Best Film Not in the English Language: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (44 points)

Runners-up:
DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (41 points)
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (28 points)

Best Director: Payal Kapadia, ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (49 points)

Runners-up:
RaMell Ross, NICKEL BOYS (42 points)
Sean Baker, ANORA (33 points)

Best Picture: NICKEL BOYS (47 points)

Runners-up:
ANORA and ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (34 points)

Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, A REAL PAIN (47 points)

Runners-up:
Radu Jude, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (46 points)
Sean Baker, ANORA (45 points)

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN (52 points)

Runners-up:
Guy Pearce, THE BRUTALIST (50 points)
Edward Norton, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, and Adam Pearson, A DIFFERENT MAN (41 points)

Best Actor: Colman Domingo, SING SING ( 60 points)

Runners-up:
Adrien Brody, THE BRUTALIST (51 points)
Ralph Fiennes, CONCLAVE (45 points)

Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, NICKEL BOYS (80 points)

Runners-up:
Lol Crawley, THE BRUTALIST (38 points)
Jarin Blaschke, NOSFERATU (21 points)

Best Supporting Actress: Michele Austin, HARD TRUTHS (55 points)

Runners-up:
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, NICKEL BOYS, and Natasha Lyonne, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS (39 points)

Best Actress: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS (79 points)

Runners-up:
Mikey Madison, ANORA (35 points)
Ilinca Manolache, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD (32 points)

Special Citation for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: NO OTHER LAND

Best Experimental Film: THE BALLAD OF SUZANNE CÉSAIRE

Film Heritage Award: To Save and Project: The MoMa International Festival of Film Preservation, for more than two decades of superb restorations and diverse programming from all over the world, in collaboration with archives, foundations, studios and other organizations.

Film Heritage Award: IndieCollect, which, since its founding in 2010 by Sandra Schulberg, has met the challenge of preserving independent films with a rare sense of artistic responsibility.

Film Heritage Award: Scott Eyman, for his outstanding books on film artists and epochal shifts in moviemaking, most recently with “Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided” (2023), a revelatory study of the nexus of American politics and American pop culture.

If no winner is declared on the first ballot, the category goes to a second ballot, this time without the proxies. Voting continues with as many rounds as needed until a nominee receives the most points and appears on a majority of ballots.

Voting is conducted via a weighted ballot system. On the first ballot, members vote for their top three choices (first choice = 3 points, second choice = 2 points, third choice = 1 point). The nominee that receives the most points and appears on a majority of ballots wins.

Our categories are: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenplay and Cinematography. Prizes may also be given for Film Not in the English Language, Nonfiction Film, Production Design, Film Heritage, Experimental Film and Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution.

The National Society of Film Critics’ 59th annual voting meeting is about to begin. Follow this account for live winner announcements, category by category.

The National Society of Film Critics is now on Bluesky.

We will be voting on our awards for 2024's best achievements in film on Saturday, Jan. 4. Please follow us here for the winner and runner-up announcements, category by category.