Moonlight dominates Online Film Critics Society Awards

The powerful coming-of-age drama Moonlight dominated the 2016 Online Film Critics Society Awards, winning a total of four awards out of seven nominations.

The film beat out competition from La La Land, Arrival, Jackie and Manchester by the Sea amongst others to be named Best Picture. Barry Jenkins won Best Director and Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris won Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

The Online Film Critics Society’s Governing Committee said, “We’d like to congratulate all involved with Moonlight for the power and humanity of this extraordinary film. Topical and relevant, it is a timely reminder of that which unites us being greater than that which divides us.”

Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, which tied with Moonlight for seven nominations, won in the Best Editing and Best Cinematography categories.

Casey Affleck won Best Actor for his portrayal of a man consumed by grief in Manchester By the Sea, adding another accolade to the over 30 awards he has already garnered for the performance. Natalie Portman was named Best Actress for her portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the assassination of JFK in Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. Both actors are hotly tipped as Oscar favorites for their performances at the Academy Awards on 26th February.

Laika’s anime-flavored stop-motion fantasy Kubo and the Two Strings won Best Animated Feature. Kubo… won over three Disney nominees, Finding Dory, Moana and Zootopia, plus the dialogue free The Red Turtle, a Belgian-French-Japanese production with involvement from Studio Ghibli.

The Handmaiden, from South Korean director Park Chan-wook, won Best Film Not in the English Language, while O.J.: Made in America, Ezra Edelman’s epic dissection of celebrity and racial discord in latter 20th-century America, was awarded Best Documentary.

Best Original Screenplay went to Taylor Sheridan for his recession crime thriller Hell or High Water. Eric Heisserer won Best Adapted Screenplay for Arrival, adapting Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life”.

Three Special Awards were voted for by the OFCS membership, all of them Memorials reflecting the number of cherished entertainers lost in 2016. These Memorial Awards were named for Carrie Fisher, Alan Rickman & Gene Wilder.

Alongside the films in competition, 10 films not released in the US were selected by the membership for special note. These include Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After the Storm, The Dardennes Brothers’ The Unknown Girl, Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama, Hong Sang-soo’s Yourself and Yours and Colm McCarthy’s The Girl with All the Gifts.