Sunday, January 22nd, Stars from the big screen descended on The May Fair Hotel in central London for the 37th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
Hosted by actor-filmmakers Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, the star-studded black-tie ceremony saw Damien Chazelle & musical La La Land crowned Film of the Year, with top prizes going to films from Ireland, France, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Australia and the USA.
For the fifth year running, The May Fair Hotel hosted the event, with winners Beckinsale, Harris, Loach, Bennett, MacDougall and Anvari among an array of stars on the red carpet. Guests at the ceremony included George MacKay, Emma Greenwell, Morfydd Clark, Mica Levi, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Ruby Barnhill, Sennia Nanua, Ben Cohen, Kristina Rihanoff and filmmakers Andrea Arnold, John Carney, Otto Bell and Mia Hansen-Love.
In a surprise move, Director of the Year was won by Hungarian filmmaker Laszlo Nemes for his Oscar-winning drama Son of Saul. Screenwriter went to Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, which also won Actor of the Year for Casey Affleck. Moonlight was presented with both supporting acting categories, for Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali, who tied with Love & Friendship and Tom Bennett. Bennett and co-star Kate Beckinsale were on hand to claim the British/Irish Actress prize, while Andrew Garfield won British/Irish Actor for his performances in both Hacksaw Ridge and Silence.
Full list of winners from the 37th London Critics Circle are;
FILM OF THE YEAR
La La Land
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Toni Erdmann
DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Fire at Sea
BRITISH/IRISH FILM OF THE YEAR
I, Daniel Blake
ACTOR OF THE YEAR presented by Millbank and Cooper Searle
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
ACTRESS OF THE YEAR presented by Suqqu
Isabelle Huppert – Things to Come
SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR (tie)
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Tom Bennett – Love & Friendship
SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR presented by Cameo
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
László Nemes – Son of Saul
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
BRITISH/IRISH ACTOR
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge, Silence
BRITISH/IRISH ACTRESS
Kate Beckinsale – Love & Friendship
YOUNG BRITISH/IRISH PERFORMER presented by The May Fair Hotel
Lewis MacDougall – A Monster Calls
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH/IRISH FILMMAKER
Babak Anvari – Under the Shadow
BRITISH/IRISH SHORT FILM
Sweet Maddie Stone – Brady Hood
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Victoria – Sturla Brandth Grovlen, cinematography
DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Isabelle Huppert
