Love & Friendship and Moonlight lead London Film Critics Circle nominations

    Love & Friendship is up for both Film of the Year and British/Irish Film of the Year

Whit Stillman’s bristling adaptation of a Jane Austen novella, Love & Friendship, has confounded the awards timetable; it’s rare that a release from as far back as May would feature among the nominations come awards season, let alone top the list. But nominated for seven awards, it’s level with the upcoming State-side favourite Moonlight, a low budget drama about a young gay, black man in Miami.

Both films are in the running for Film of the Year, Best Supporting Actor, Best British or Irish Actress and screenplay, among others.

Two films seen as Oscar front-runners, La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, each received five nominations, including Film of the Year, Director and Screenwriter, as well as being nominated in some of the acting categories.

Andrea Arnold’s Cannes hit American Honey, also received five nominations, while Ken Loach’s Cannes winner I, Daniel Blake is up for 4 awards, including Best British/Irish Actor for Dave Johns and Best British/Irish Actress for Hayley Squires.

Other nominees for Film of the Year include Fire At Sea, Nocturnal Animals, Son of Saul and Toni Erdmann, while some of the unsung nominees, in the joint category for technical achievement, include Gary Powell, who co-ordinated the stunts for Jason Bourne,  Sylvain Bellemare’s sound design for Arrival and Sturla Brandth Grovlen who won acclaim for shooting Victoria in a single take.

Last year’s Foreign Language Oscar winner Son of Saul is up for 3 Critics Circle awards this year

In trying to put a British inflection on the awards season we’re already seeing unfolding in the United States, the London Film Critics Circle’s calendar runs from mid-February 2016 to mid-February 2017, which means the list is full of such anomalies as films that no-one in London will have seen (Moonlight, La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, among others), films that featured in last year’s awards cycle (The Foreign Language Oscar winner Son of Saul, which wasn’t released in the UK until April)  and a number of instances of the same performer being nominated for Best Actor/Actress and Best British/Irish Actor/Actress (Kate Beckinsale, Tom Bennett and Andrew Garfield).

The winners will be announced on 22nd January, from the following full list of nominees:
FILM OF THE YEAR
American Honey
Fire At Sea
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land
Love & Friendship
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals
Son of Saul
Toni Erdmann

BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
American Honey
High-Rise
I, Daniel Blake
Love & Friendship
Sing Street

ACTOR OF THE YEAR
CASEY AFFLECK – Manchester By The Sea
ADAM DRIVER – Paterson
ANDREW GARFIELD – Hacksaw Ridge
JAKE GYLLENHAAL – Nocturnal Animals
PETER SIMONISCHEK – Toni Erdmann

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
AMY ADAMS – Arrival
KATE BECKINSALE – Love & Friendship
SANDRA HÜLLER – Toni Erdmann
ISABELLE HUPPERT – Things To Come
EMMA STONE – La La Land

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
MAHERSHALA ALI – Moonlight
TOM BENNETT – Love & Friendship
JEFF BRIDGES – Hell Or High Water
SHIA LABEOUF – American Honey
MICHAEL SHANNON – Nocturnal Animals

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
VIOLA DAVIS – Fences
GRETA GERWIG – 20th Century Women
NAOMIE HARRIS – Moonlight
RILEY KEOUGH – American Honey
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – Manchester By The Sea

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
MAREN ADE – Toni Erdmann
DAMIEN CHAZELLE – La La Land
BARRY JENKINS – Moonlight
KENNETH LONERGAN – Manchester By The Sea
LÁSZLÓ NEMES – Son Of Saul

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
MAREN ADE – Toni Erdmann
DAMIEN CHAZELLE – La La Land
BARRY JENKINS – Moonlight
KENNETH LONERGAN – Manchester By The Sea
WHIT STILLMAN – Love & Friendship

BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
TOM BENNETT – Love & Friendship
ANDREW GARFIELD – Hacksaw Ridge, Silence
HUGH GRANT – Florence Foster Jenkins
DAVE JOHNS – I, Daniel Blake
DAVID OYELOWO – A United Kingdom, Queen of Katwe

BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
KATE BECKINSALE – Love & Friendship
REBECCA HALL – Christine
NAOMIE HARRIS – Moonlight, Our Kind of Traitor, Collateral Beauty
RUTH NEGGA – Loving, Iona
HAYLEY SQUIRES – I, Daniel Blake

YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER
RUBY BARNHILL – The BFG
LEWIS MACDOUGALL – A Monster Calls
SENNIA NANUA – The Girl With All The Gifts
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY – The Witch, Morgan, Split
FERDIA WALSH-PEELO – Sing Street

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER
BABAK ANVARI – Under The Shadow
MIKE CAREY – The Girl With All The Gifts
GUY HIBBERT – Eye In The Sky, A United Kingdom
PETER MIDDLETON & JAMES SPINNEY – Notes On Blindness
RACHEL TUNNARD – Adult Life Skills

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years
Cameraperson
The Eagle Huntress
Fire At Sea
Life, Animated

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Fire At Sea
Son of Saul
Things To Come
Toni Erdmann
Victoria

BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
Isabella – DUNCAN COWLES & ROSS HOGG
Jacked – RENE PANNEVIS
Sweet Maddie Stone – BRADY HOOD
Tamara – SOFIA SAFONOVA
Terminal – NATASHA WAUGH

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
American Honey – ROBBIE RYAN, Cinematographer
Arrival – SYLVAIN BELLEMARE, Sound Design
High-Rise – MARK TILDESLEY, Production Design
Jackie – MICA LEVI, Music
Jason Bourne – GARY POWELL, Stunts
La La Land – JUSTIN HURWITZ, Music
Moonlight – NAT SANDERS & JOI MCMILLON, Editing
Sing Street – GARY CLARK & JOHN CARNEY, Music
Rogue One – NEAL SCANLAN, Visual Effects
Victoria – STURLA BRANDTH GROVLEN, Cinematography