The New York Film Critics Circle gathered Tuesday at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center awarding David O. Russell's American Hustle its top pick for 2013. The film, which will begin its U.S. theatrical roll out beginning December 18 was chosen after a number of ballots. American Hustle also received NYFCC's Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress selections Tuesday, while NYFF 51 filmmaker Steve McQueen was named Best Director for 12 Years A Slave. The first announcements began rolling out in late morning with the final Best Picture choice announced via Twitter by mid afternoon EST.
“It was an extremely strong year for American cinema,” NYFCC Chair Josh Rothkopf of Time Out New York told FilmLinc at the Elinor Bunin Munroe following the vote. “Just in the last month or two alone, we've seen an astounding amount of great movies. So the last vote went to a fifth round and it was a real squeaker. We don't reveal number twos or threes or point totals, but it was a very close vote. That only speaks strongly to the entire year, but we picked a great winner.”
This year's NYFF selections fared strongly in the organization's Best of 2013 with Robert Redford taking Best Actor for his role in J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost, while Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is The Warmest Color was slected for Best Foreign Film. Inside Llewyn Davis' Bruno Delbonnel was named Best Cinematographer, while veteran filmmaker Frederick Wiseman received a Special Award this year. His latest At Berkeley also screened at NYFF in October.
“We've been astounded by the longevity of his career and his profundity as an artist and we're almost embarrassed that we've never honored him before in the history of our group,” added Rothkopf. “We felt it was time to salute not only his longevity as an artist, but also the quality of his work.”
Today's NYFCC announcements came after last night's Gotham Independent Film Awards, which selected NYFF51 feature Inside Llewyn Davis as Best Feature, while New Directors/New Films' The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer took Best Documentary.
Tomorrow, the National Board of Review will make its selections for the Best of 2013. NYFCC winners will be honored at an event hosted by the organization in January.
The entire list of winners follow:
Best Picture: American Hustle
Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Best Screenplay: American Hustle
Best Actor: Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Foreign Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color / La Vie d'Adèle
Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer's Club
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Best Non-Fiction (Documentary) Film: Stories We Tell
Best First Film: Fruitvale Station
Best Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Special Award: Frederick Wiseman (At Berkeley)
