Early this month, the New York Film Critics Circle met up at Lincoln Center – in person – for the first time in over a year – to vote on our 2021 awards. The awards show is being held in January in New York City – and as of now the ceremony is still going on as planned. We’ll see. I’m extremely pleased with our list, since it has quirks and surprises. A lot of year-end lists look the same. But there’s so much going on! Some of my faves ended up getting chosen – this is a numerical vote, not an argue-til-we-reach-consensus vote – which is always exciting, but I’m pleased on the whole with our list, and I look forward to seeing everyone at the awards show.

NYFCC 2021 Awards

Best Picture
Drive My Car, directed by Todd Field

Best Director
Jane Campion, Power of the Dog

Best Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Best Actress
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Best Supporting Actress
Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Supporting Actor
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best Cinematographer
Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story

Best Animated Film
The Mitchells vs. the Machines, directed by Michael Rianda

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary)
Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Best Foreign Language Film
The Worst Person in the World, directed by Joachim Trier

Best First Film
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Special Awards

— Maya S. Cade, for creating the Black Film Archive

— Diane Weyermann, a posthumous award for her work at Sundance

— Marshall Fine, for 30 years of service as NYFCC’s general manager