The 2022 / 23 Awards Season has begun, and the Big Apple critics took the first bite.
Sticking with their reputation as a highbrow voting body, the New York Film Critics Circle chose the art house character study TÁR as the Best Film of 2022.
It stars Cate Blanchett, who the NYFCC also named Best Actress.
She plays as a world-renowned orchestra conductor who, at the peak of her career, is faced with #MeToo allegations and, as a result, begins to psychologically unravel.
Colin Ferrell won Best Actor honors for his performances in the indie films The Banshees of Inisherin and After Yang. Having garnered awards steam with Banshees, this win is likely to be the first of many accolades for Ferrell this awards season. The NYFCC also cited Ferrell’s Banshees writer/director Martin McDonagh for Best Screenplay.
In perhaps the biggest (and most exciting) surprise, Indian filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli was named Best Director for his sprawling 3-hour gonzo action epic RRR (which can be streamed on Netflix). Considered a dark horse for an Academy Award nomination, this is the kind of high profile boost that could catapult Rajamouli (and his film) into the broader Oscar conversation.
Also exciting (if less surprising) was the NYFCC’s choice for Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan. He was lauded for his unexpected showcase in the smash indie hit Everything Everywhere All At Once. Quan, the former Indiana Jones sidekick Short Round, has been the feel-good comeback story of the year. His role in the wild Everything Everywhere multiverse allowed him to utilize his strengths while also expanding beyond them in surprising ways.
In an instance of category fraud, Keke Palmer won Best Supporting Actress for Nope, despite clearly being the lead in Jordan Peele’s summer thriller. NYFCC clearly decided to go with the category designation that Universals Studios chose to submit to the Academy.
Below is the complete list of the NYFCC’s winners (plus special award citations) for 2022.
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE
2022 Film Awards
Best Film: TÁR
Best Director: S. S. Rajamouli, RRR
Best Actor: Colin Farrell, After Yang and The Banshees of Inisherin
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, TÁR
Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Supporting Actress: Keke Palmer, Nope
Best Screenplay: The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh
Best Animated Feature: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Best First Film: Aftersun (dir. Charlotte Wells)
Best International Film: EO, Poland
Best Non-Fiction Film: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Best Cinematography: Top Gun: Maverick, d.p. Claudio Miranda
Special mention: The NYFCC is happy to award cash prizes to two students focusing on film criticism/journalism attending college in the region. This year’s winners are:
– Undergraduate, Nico Pedrero-Setzer
– Graduate, Greg Nussen
Special Award: Jake Perlin, curator, distributor, publisher, in recognition of his indispensable contributions to film culture.
Special Award: dGenerate Films, for their invaluable work bringing independent films from China to a wider audience.
Special Award: Jafar Panahi, for his dogged bravery as an artist, and for the humanity and beauty of a body of work created under the most oppressive circumstances.
Founded in 1935, the organization’s membership includes critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines and qualifying online general-interest publications.
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Click on links below for other major Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far for the 2022 / 23 season:
The 95th Academy Award Nominations
Producers Guild of America Nominees
Directors Guild of America Nominees
Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominees
Golden Globe Winners
Chicago Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
American Film Institute Top 10 Films of 2022
National Board of Review