The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), of which many of us here at Punch Drunk Critics are members, has announced the winners of the 2023 WAFCA Awards! This year, DC’s film critics have chosen Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut AMERICAN FICTION as the Best Feature of the year! The literary satire also took an award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Winning six WAFCA awards including Best Director for Christopher Nolan and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy was OPPENHEIMER! The summer blockbuster about the man behind the atomic bomb also won for Best Original Score, Best Ensemble, Best Editing and Best Cinematography.
Taking the Best Actress award was Lily Gladstone for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON.
For her role in Alexander Payne’s holiday dramedy THE HOLDOVERS, Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the WAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actress! She’s joined by MAY DECEMBER actor Charles Melton, who won for Best Supporting Actor.
The full list of winners is below. For more on WAFCA, check out the group’s official page here. Or follow them on X by going here.
THE WINNERS:
Best Original Score
“Kris Bowers — The Color Purple” (Warner Bros.)
Jerskin Fendrix — “Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures)
Ludwig Göransson — “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) – WINNER
Daniel Pemberton — “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures)
Robbie Robertson— “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)
Best Editing
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — Nick Houy
“John Wick Chapter 4” (Lionsgate) — Nathan Orloff
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) — Thelma Schoonmaker
“Maestro” (Netflix) — Michelle Tesoro
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Jennifer Lame (WINNER)
Best Cinematography
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — Rodrigo Prieto
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) — Rodrigo Prieto
“Maestro” (Netflix) — Matthew Libatique
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Hoyte van Hoytema (WINNER)
“Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures) — Robbie Ryan
Best Production Design
“Asteroid City” (Focus Features) — Adam Stockhausen (production designer), Kris Moran (set decorator)
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — Sarah Greenwood (production designer), Katie Spencer (set decorator) (WINNER)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) — Jack Fisk (production designer), Adam Willis (set decorator)
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Ruth De Jong (production designer), Claire Kaufman (set decorator)
“Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures) — Shona Heath, James Price (production designer), Zsuzsa Mihalek (set decorator)
Best International/Foreign Language Film
“Anatomy of a Fall” (France) — dir. Justine Triet (WINNER)
“Fallen Leaves” (Finland) — dir. Aki Kaurismäki
“Perfect Days” (Japan) — dir. Wim Wenders
“The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany) — dir. İlker Çatak
“Society of the Snow” (Spain) — dir. J.A. Bayona
“The Taste of Things” (France) — dir. Trần Anh Hùng
“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom) — dir. Jonathan Glazer
Best Documentary
“20 Days in Mariupol” (PBS) — Mstyslav Chernov (director, producer), Derl McCrudden, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath (producers)
“American Symphony” (Netflix) — Matthew Heineman (director, producer), Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun (producers) (WINNER)
“Little Richard: I Am Everything” (Magnolia Pictures) — Lisa Cortes (director, producer), Caryn Capotosto, Robert Friedman, Liz Yale Marsh (producers)
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (Apple Original Films) — Davis Guggenheim (director, producer), Jonathan King, Annetta Marion (producers)
“They Shot the Piano Player” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba (directors), Cristina Huete (producer)
Best Animated Feature
“Elemental” (Pixar)
“Nimona” (Netflix)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures) (WINNER)
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” (Paramount Pictures)
“The Boy and the Heron” (GKids/Toho)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“American Fiction” (MGM) — Cord Jefferson (based on “Erasure” by Percival Everett) (WINNER)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) — Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese (based on the book by David Grann)
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Christopher Nolan (based on the book by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin)
“Origin” (Neon) — Ava DuVernay (based on the book by Isabel Wilkerson
“Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures) — Tony McNamara (based on the book by Alasdair Gray)
Best Original Screenplay
“Air” (Amazon) – Alex Convery
“Anatomy of a Fall” (Neon) – Justin Triet, Arthur Harari
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
“May December” (Netflix) – Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik
“Past Lives” (A24) – Celine Song (WINNER)
The Holdovers (Miramax) — David Hemingson
Best Voice Performance
Jack Black – “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (Illumination)
Daniel Kaluuya – “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures)
Shameik Moore – “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures) (WINNER)
Hailee Steinfeld – “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures)
Masaki Suda – “The Boy and the Heron”
Best Youth Performance
Joe Bird – Talk To Me
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Milo Machado Graner – “Anatomy of a Fall”
Ariana Greenblatt – “Barbie”
Dominic Sessa – “The Holdovers” (WINNER)
Iman Vellani – The Marvels
Best Acting Ensemble
“American Fiction” (MGM)
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) (WINNER)
“The Holdovers” (Focus Features)
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Viola Davis, Air
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers (WINNER)
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December (WINNER)
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
Best Actress
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Origin
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon (WINNER)
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Best Director
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Martin Scorcese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Feature
“American Fiction” (MGM) (WINNER)
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Studios)
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)
“Past Lives” (A24)
“The Holdovers” (Focus Features)