DC Film Critics Name ‘Belfast’ Best Film Of The Year

The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, of which many of us here at PDC are members, have announced the winners of this year’s WAFCA Awards. Emerging as the Best Film of the year was Kenneth Branagh’s heartwarming coming-of-age film Belfast, which also won Best Original Screenplay for Branagh’s deeply personal script.

Tying for the most awards with three was Jane Campion’s stunning Western, The Power of the Dog. Campion took the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay honors, while Kodi Smit-McPhee won Best Supporting Actor. Also winning three was Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, for Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Hans Zimmer’s score.

In what could be the start of a trend, Andrew Garfield’s performance as Jonathan Larson in tick, tick…BOOM! earned him Best Actor, while Kristen Stewart’s transformation into Princess Diana for Spencer won her Best Actress.

The full list of winners is below.

THE 2021 WAFCA AWARD WINNERS:

Best Film:
Belfast

Best Director:
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Best Actor:
Andrew Garfield (tick, tick…BOOM!)

Best Actress:
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Best Supporting Actor:
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

Best Supporting Actress:
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Mass

Best Youth Performance:
Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon)

Best Voice Performance:
Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon)

Best Original Screenplay:
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Best Animated Feature:
The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Best Documentary:
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Best International/Foreign Language Film:
Drive My Car

Best Production Design:
Patrice Vermette, Production Designer; Richard Roberts and Zsuzsanna Sipos, Set Decorators (Dune)

Best Cinematography:
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS (Dune)

Best Editing:
Myron Kerstein, ACE; Andrew Weisblum, ACE (tick, tick…BOOM!)

Best Original Score:
Hans Zimmer (Dune)