Manchester by the Sea was chosen as the Best Film of 2016 by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the second oldest critics group in the country. The winners were announced today during a ceremony for the 51st Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards at the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet Theatre in Kansas City.
In addition to winning Best Picture, Manchester by the Sea’s Casey Affleck won Best Actor, and Kenneth Lonergan won the Robert Altman Award for Best Director. Hell or High Water received two wins, for Jeff Bridges in Supporting Actor and Taylor Sheridan’s original screenplay. Arrival won the adapted screenplay award, as well as the Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror Film.
It is with great affection that the KCFCC announce the inaugural Tom Poe Award for Best LGBT Film, which was awarded to Moonlight. A beloved associate professor of film and media arts in the Department of Communications Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Tom further shared his enthusiasm for film through film reviews in the Kansas City New Times and as one of the movie critics on the Walt Bodine Show and Central Standard on KCUR. His reviews were inevitably astute and well-informed yet just as naturally considered and kind, in keeping with his sympathies for both filmmaker and audience. It was Tom’s belief that “great film reviews give rise to thinking about films.” As such, he supported many members of KCFCC through encouragement and dialogue. Tom was our colleague and friend, and it is our intention that this annual award honor his legacy as an advocate for LGBT rights and promote his desire for justice by way of accurate and beneficial representation.
The full list of winners at the 51st Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards is below:
BEST PICTURE: Manchester by the Sea
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
BEST ACTOR: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
BEST ACTRESS: Natalie Portman, Jackie
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: (tie) Naomie Harris, Moonlight and Viola Davis, Fences
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Eric Heisserer, Arrival
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Zootopia
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Handmaiden (South Korea)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: OJ: Made in America
VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM: Arrival
TOM POE AWARD FOR BEST LGBT FILM: Moonlight
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle was founded by Dr. James Loutzenhiser in 1966 as the Kansas City Film Circle Awards, and is the second oldest professional film critics’ association in the United States, after the New York Film Critics Circle.
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
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