Pedro Almodóvar is named as recipient of the London critics’ top honour, The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film, as Yorgos Lanthimos’ Queen Anne drama The Favourite picks up 10 nominations across the board. Presented by Dover Street Entertainment, the ceremony will be held at The May Fair Hotel on 20 January 2019.
The UK’s leading film critics today announced the nominations for the 39th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards presented by Dover Street Entertainment. Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy The Favourite was out front with 10 nominations, including Film, Director, Screenwriter, Actress for Olivia Colman and Supporting Actress for Rachel Weisz. In addition, the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year.
Also today, Pedro Almodóvar has been announced as the recipient of this year’s top honour, The Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film. In response, Almodóvar said, “I have had a wonderful history with the London critics, and am thrilled to receive this special honour. I look forward to visiting London in January for the ceremony.”
Among many nominations over the years, Almodóvar has won the London Critics’ Circle award for Foreign-Language Film of the Year twice: for All About My Mother (1999) and Volver (2006). He is also the winner of an Oscar as screenwriter of Talk to Her (2002), as well as Baftas for All About My Mother, Talk to Her and The Skin I Live In (2011). He is currently in post-production on his next film Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory), which reunites him with stars Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Cecilia Roth.
After The Favourite’s 10 nominations, the next most nominated films are Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, each of which earned five nominations. These five films are in contention for Film of the Year alongside BlacKkKlansman, First Man, First Reformed, Leave No Trace and this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters.
The nominations were announced by actors Molly Wright (nominated today as Young British/Irish Performer of the Year for her role in Apostasy) and Lee Shone (My Name Is Lenny, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy). Multiple nominees today include Olivia Colman, Claire Foy, Christian Bale, Rachel Weisz, Richard E Grant and Daniel Kaluuya. Rupert Everett is nominated three times for The Happy Prince: as Actor, British/Irish Actor and Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker.
“Because our critics see almost everything that’s released, they nominated more than 180 titles in the Film of the Year category alone,” says Awards Chair Rich Cline. “Our members have gone against expectations this year in their voting, so our list of nominees is very distinctive in the current awards season, including selecting two women for best director and honouring some performances that other groups are overlooking. With such a wide range of titles on the ballots, getting a nomination is a real achievement.”
The 39th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards is presented by Dover Street Entertainment, the London-based media group. In addition, the red carpet event is sponsored by The May Fair Hotel, Mionetto Prosecco Superiore, Sacred Gin, Rémy Martin and talent agencies Millbank and Cooper Searle. Audi is the official car of the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
Full List of Nominations:
FILM OF THE YEAR
BlacKkKlansman
Cold War
The Favourite
First Man
First Reformed
The Happy Prince
Leave No Trace
Roma
Shoplifters
You Were Never Really Here
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
120 Beats per Minute
Cold War
A Fantastic Woman
Roma
Shoplifters
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Faces Places
McQueen
They Shall Not Grow Old
Three Identical Strangers
Whitney
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR: The Attenborough Award
Apostasy
Beast
The Favourite
The Happy Prince
You Were Never Really Here
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
Debra Granik – Leave No Trace
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite
Pawel Pawlikowski – Cold War
Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara – The Favourite
Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk
Steve McQueen & Gillian Flynn – Widows
Paul Schrader – First Reformed
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Yalitza Aparicio – Roma
Glenn Close – The Wife
Toni Collette – Hereditary
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Joanna Kulig – Cold War
ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Christian Bale – Vice
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince
Ben Foster – Leave No Trace
Ethan Hawke – First Reformed
Joaquin Phoenix – You Were Never Really Here
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Elizabeth Debicki – Widows
Cynthia Erivo – Bad Times at the El Royale
Claire Foy – First Man
Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman
Richard E Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Michael B Jordan – Black Panther
Daniel Kaluuya – Widows
Alessandro Nivola – Disobedience
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, Sherlock Gnomes
Jessie Buckley – Beast
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Claire Foy – First Man, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Unsane
Rachel Weisz – Disobedience, The Favourite
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Christian Bale – Mowgli, Vice
Steve Coogan – Holmes & Watson, Ideal Home, Stan & Ollie
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince
Richard E Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Daniel Kaluuya – Black Panther, Widows
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Liv Hill – Jellyfish, The Little Stranger
Noah Jupe – Holmes & Watson, A Quiet Place, That Good Night, The Titan
Anya Taylor-Joy – Glass, The Secret of Marrowbone, Thoroughbreds
Fionn Whitehead – The Children Act
Molly Wright – Apostasy
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER: The Philip French Award
Deborah Davis – The Favourite
Rupert Everett – The Happy Prince
Deborah Haywood – Pin Cushion
Daniel Kokotajlo – Apostasy
Michael Pearce – Beast
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
Little Shit – Richard Gorodecky
Night Out – Amelia Hashemi
Salt & Sauce – Alia Ghafar
Three Centimetres – Lara Zeidan
Under Growth – Evin O’Neill
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
American Animals – film editing, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart
BlacKkKlansman – costume design, Marci Rodgers
Cold War – cinematography, Lukasz Zal
The Favourite – production design, Fiona Crombie
First Man – visual effects, Paul Lambert
If Beale Street Could Talk – music, Nicholas Britell
Mission: Impossible Fallout – stunts, Wade Eastwood
A Quiet Place – sound design, Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
Suspiria – music, Thom Yorke
You Were Never Really Here – film editing, Joe Bini
THE DILYS POWELL AWARD for EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Pedro Almodovar
Winners will be announced Sunday, 20th January 2019, at The May Fair Hotel.