New York Film Critics Circle Announce 2020 Winners First Cow Named Best Film

The New York Film Critics Circle voted today for the winners of its 2020 awards. Voting was conducted via Zoom for the first time.

First Cow was awarded Best Film and Chloé Zhao was named Best Director for Nomadland. Sidney Flanigan was selected as Best Actress for Never Rarely Sometimes Always. Delroy Lindo was chosen as Best Actor for Da 5 Bloods. Special Awards were given to Spike Lee, for inspiring the New York community with his short film New York New York and for advocating for a better society through cinema, and to Kino Lorber, for their creation of Kino Marquee, a virtual cinema distribution service that was designed to help support movie theaters, not destroy them. Full list of winners below.

“This was a complicated, painful year in so many ways, but movies didn’t let us down. In fact, they were major in helping us get through. Movies are one of our chief forms of human connection, a mode of communicating across the world. This year, especially, the members of the New York Film Critics Circle are grateful to be able to honor the movies and people who helped keep that chain of communication alive.” Said NYFCC chair Stephanie Zacharek of TIME magazine.

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is the oldest and most prestigious in the country. The circle’s membership includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and the web’s most respected online publications. Every year the organization meets to vote on awards for the calendar year’s films.
 
The Circle’s awards are often seen as shaping the Oscar race. The Circle’s awards are also viewed — perhaps more accurately — as a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring aesthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, a special awards video will be released January 24 as an alternative to the traditional in person ceremony.

Best Film: 
First Cow
 
Best Director:
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
 
Best Screenplay:
Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Best Actress: 
Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
 
Best Actor:   
Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
 
Best Supporting Actress:
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
 
Best Supporting Actor:
Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
 
Best Foreign Language Film:
Bacurau
 
Best Cinematography:
Shabier Kirchner, Small Axe (all films)
 
Best Nonfiction Film:
Time
 
Best First Film: 
The 40-Year-Old Version (Radha Blank)
 
Best Animated Film:
Wolfwalkers
 
Special Awards:
Spike Lee
Kino Lorber
 
A FULL LIST OF CURRENT NYFCC MEMBERS INCLUDE:
 
A full list of voting members is below:
 
Stephanie Zacharek (CHAIR)
Time Magazine
 
Jordan Hoffman (VICE CHAIR)
Freelance

Marshall Fine (GENERAL MANAGER)
Freelance

MEMBERS:

Sam Adams
Slate
 
John Anderson
Freelance

Melissa Anderson
4Columns

Michael Atkinson
Freelance

Richard Brody
The New Yorker

Dwight Brown
NNPA Syndication

Kameron Austin Collins
Rolling Stone
 
Bilge Ebiri
New York Magazine

David Ehrlich
IndieWire
 
Kate Erbland 
IndieWire
 
David Fear
Rolling Stone
 
Graham Fuller
Freelance

Owen Gleiberman
Variety

Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

Leah Greenblatt
Entertainment Weekly
 
Steven D. Greydanus
The National Catholic Register
 
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

Caryn James
BBC

Stuart Klawans
The Nation 

Eric Kohn
IndieWire
 
Tomris Laffly 
Freelance
 
Richard Lawson
Vanity Fair

Violet Lucca
Freelance 

Joe Morgenstern
The Wall Street Journal

Sheila O’Malley
Rogerebert.com
 
Nick Pinkerton
Freelance
 
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

Rex Reed
New York Observer
 
David Rooney
The Hollywood Reporter
 
Joshua Rothkopf
Freelance

Matt Zoller Seitz
Rogerebert.com

David Sims
The Atlantic
 
Matt Singer
ScreenCrush

Kyle Smith
National Review

Dana Stevens
Slate

Sara Stewart
New York Post

Amy Taubin
Artforum

Peter Travers
ABC

Keith Uhlich
Freelance

Elizabeth Weitzman
The Wrap

Stephen Whitty
Freelance

Alissa Wilkinson
Vox

Alison Willmore
New York Magazine