The London Film Critics’ Circle announced the nominees for their annual awards this afternoon, with two very different films leading the pack. Scoring seven nominations apiece, including citations for Film of the Year, are “Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins’ celebrated study of repressed sexuality in the African-American community, and “Love and Friendship,” Whit Stillman’s brittle, hilarious costumer adapted from Jane Austen’s “Lady Susan.” For “Moonlight,” the nominations extend a golden run through the awards circuit thus far; for Stillman’s film, they should provide some consolation after being entirely omitted from the Golden Globes’ comedy categories last week.
Close behind, with six nominations including Film, Director, Actor and Actress of the Year, is “Toni Erdmann,” German helmer Maren Ade’s bittersweet comic study of a dysfunctional father-daughter relationship — which has topped numerous best-of-2016 critics’ polls. It is one of three foreign-language titles to land in the Film of the Year category, alongside Gianfranco Rosi’s refugee-crisis doc “Fire at Sea” and Oscar-winning Holocaust drama “Son of Saul.” Ade, meanwhile, is one of four filmmakers to land a trifecta of bids for Film, Director and Screenwriter of the Year; the others are Jenkins, Damien Chazelle for “La La Land,” Kenneth Lonergan for “Manchester by the Sea.” Rounding out the Film of the Year nominees are Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake” and Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals.”
Actors scoring multiple nominations, thanks to the Circle’s additional categories for British and Irish talent, are “Love and Friendship” lead Kate Beckinsale, her scene-stealing co-star Tom Bennett, “Moonlight’s” Naomie Harris and Andrew Garfield, star of “Silence” and “Hacksaw Ridge.” Beckinsale will compete for Actress of the Year against Amy Adams, Sandra Hüller, Emma Stone and Isabelle Huppert — the latter cited not for U.S. critics’ fave “Elle” (ineligible due to its late U.K. release), but the more tender post-divorce drama “Things to Come.” Garfield, meanwhile, is up for Actor of the Year alongside Casey Affleck, Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Simonischek.
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The winners will be announced on January 22, 2017 at the Circle’s annual awards ceremony at the May Fair Hotel in central London, set to be hosted for the second time by actor-filmmakers Alice Lowe and Steve Oram.
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Film of the Year
“American Honey”
“Fire at Sea”
“I, Daniel Blake”
“La La Land”
“Love and 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 and Friendship”
“Sing Street”
Foreign Language Film of the Year
“Fire at Sea”
“Son of Saul”
“Things to Come”
“Toni Erdmann”
“Victoria”
Documentary of the Year
“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years”
“Cameraperson”
“The Eagle Huntress”
“Fire at Sea”
“Life, Animated”
Director of the Year
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
László Nemes, “Son of Saul”
Maren Ade, “Toni Erdmann”
Screenwriter of the Year
Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Whit Stillman, “Love and Friendship”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Maren Ade, “Toni Erdmann”
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 and 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 and Friendship”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell and 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”
British/Irish Actor of the Year
Tom Bennett, “Love and Friendship” and “David Brent: Life on the Road”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Silence”
Hugh Grant, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Dave Johns, “I, Daniel Blake”
David Oyelowo, “A United Kingdom” and “Queen of Katwe”
British/Irish Actress of the Year
Kate Beckinsale, “Love and Friendship”
Rebecca Hall, “Christine”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight,” “Our Kind of Traitor” and “Collateral Beauty”
Ruth Negga, “Loving” and “Iona”
Hayley Squires, “I, Daniel Blake”
Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker of the Year
Babak Anvari (writer-director), “Under the Shadow”
Mike Carey (writer), “The Girl With All the Gifts”
Guy Hibbert (writer), “Eye in the Sky” and “A United Kingdom”
Peter Middleton and James Spinney (writer-directors), “Notes on Blindness”
Rachel Tunnard (writer-director), “Adult Life Skills”
Young British/Irish Performer of the Year
Ruby Barnhill, “The BFG”
Lewis MacDougall, “A Monster Calls”
Sennia Nanua, “The Girl With All the Gifts”
Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Witch,” “Morgan” and “Split”
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, “Sing Street”
Technical Achievement of the Year
Robbie Ryan (cinematography), “American Honey”
(sound design), “Arrival”
Mark Tildesley (production design), “High-Rise”
Mica Levi (music), “Jackie”
(stunt coordination), “Jason Bourne”
Justin Hurwitz (music), “La La Land”
Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon (editing), “Moonlight”
(visual effects),”Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
Gary Clark and John Carney (music), “Sing Street”
Sturla Brandth Grøvlen (cinematography), “Victoria”
British/Irish Short Film of the Year
“Isabella,” Duncan Cowles and Ross Hogg
“Jacked,” Rene Pannevis
“Sweet Maddie Stone,” Brady Hood
“Tamara,” Sofia Safanova
“Terminal,” Natasha Waugh
