THE CHICAGO INDEPENDENT FILM CRITICS CIRCLE ANNOUNCES ITS WINNERS FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL CIFCC AWARDS

The 28 film critics and voting members, including yours truly, of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle completed their final ballots in 25 categories for their first annual CIFCC Awards.  The CIFCC hosted an invitation-only awards reception at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.

Leading all films with six awards is "La La Land" from Summit Entertainment, including Best Studio Film and Best Director for Damien Chazelle.  A24’s "Moonlight" from director Barry Jenkins follows with four wins.  Sixteen different films were award winners.

The voting for two special awards, the Trailblazer and Impact Awards, ended in ties.  The Trailblazer Award honoring the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content will be shared by directors Yorgos Lanthimos of "The Lobster" and Anna Biller of "The Love Witch."  The Impact Award celebrating a person whose work has had a positive impact on society will be shared by documentary director Ava DuVernay for "13th" and "Pioneers of African-American Cinema" curators Jacqueline Stewart and Charles Musser.

The complete list of the winners of the 2016 CIFCC Awards:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

"Moonlight" (Producers: Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner)

BEST STUDIO FILM

"La La Land" (Producers: Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, and Marc Platt)

BEST FOREIGN FILM

"The Handmaiden" (Producers: Park Chan-wook and Syd Lum)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

"O.J.: Made in America" (Producers: Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Libby Geist, Erin Leyden, and Connor Schell)

BEST MICROBUDGET FILM

"The Fits" (Producers: Anna Rose Holmer and Lisa Kjerulff)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

"Kubo and the Two Strings" (Producers: Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner)

BEST CHICAGO FILM

"Southside with You" (Producers: Tika Sumpter, Richard Tanne, Robert Teitel)

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle ("La La Land")

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Kenneth Lonergan ("Manchester by the Sea")

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Barry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney ("Moonlight")

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea")

BEST ACTRESS

Natalie Portman ("Jackie")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis ("Fences")

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

"Moonlight" (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Andre Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Jaden Piner, Patrick Decile

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Linus Sandgren ("La La Land")

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

David Wasco ("La La Land")

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

TIE: Madeline Fontaine ("Jackie")

TIE: Anna Biller ("The Love Witch")

BEST EDITING

Tom Cross ("La La Land")

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Justin Hurwitz ("La La Land")

BEST MAKEUP

Jason Hamer ("Swiss Army Man")

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Richard Bluff, and Vince Cirelli ("Doctor Strange")

BEST SHORT FILM

"Piper" (Producer: Marc Sondheimer)

BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILM

"Atmo Horrox" (Producer: Pat Tremblay)

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

TIE: Anna Biller ("The Love Witch")

TIE: Yorgos Lanthimos ("The Lobster")

IMPACT AWARD

TIE: Ava DuVernay ("13th")

TIE: Jacqueline Stewart and Charles Musser ("Pioneers of African-American Cinema")

EVENT INFORMATION:

An invitation-only event is scheduled for January 8 at 7 pm at Transistor Chicago (5224 N. Clark St.) to announce the winners at 8 pm.  Winners present will have a chance to speak and others will be available via Skype or pre-written speeches.

ABOUT THE CIFCC:

Unlike other film critics organization across the country, the CIFCC embraces and highlights diversity within the film industry. Its members represent the LGBQT community, females, and various ethnicities as well as critiquing films using unique platforms such as video essays and podcasts along with traditional print form.