So yesterday, the members of the NYFCC, yours truly included, sat down in a windowless room and voted. At one point I murmured, “Jesus, this has been a really strong year.” And it really has, but not until I saw it all in the same place, being voted on, did I really get the sense of just how good a year it’s been. At any rate, here are our winners. Scribbled in my serial killer handwriting, as we voted.
Two additional things: we are giving a special award to Indie Collect, in honor of the essential work they do in preserving independent American films, in danger of being lost, and another special award to Randy Newman, for his lifelong contributions to film composing. RANDY NEWMAN. AHHHHHH.
I was also on the committee judging the Student Critic Contest, reading all the reviews written by the entrants. The real standout was Cole Kronman, a student at NYU. This comes with a $2,000 prize.
So it’s all very exciting.
Many of my #1 picks were eventually voted in as winners by the group – so that always feels good (if you’re interested, that would be: Best Actor, Best Supporting, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay), but I’m very happy with our choices. The main reason I’m happy is the wide variety of films represented. It’s exciting when one film “sweeps” multiple categories – see Roma last year – but it’s also really cool when it’s the OPPOSITE. And I’m SO happy about Antonio Banderas. Many other worthy candidates, but this award is a good way to signal to people “See Pain and Glory, for God’s sake.”
