Chicago Independent Film Critics announce 2016 CIFCC nominations

Courtesy of CIFCC, Lionsgate, Amazon Studios, Fox Searchlight, A24

The Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle (which TYF critics Jon Espino, Jim Alexander and I are members of) announced the nominations for the CIFCC Awards today. Leading the pack is Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight with eight nominations and nabbing seven nods each are La La Land, Jackie, and The Handmaiden.

The CIFCC’s main goal is to showcase diversity in film criticism, and these selections are quite indicative of that. Read the full press release, along with this year’s full list of nominations, below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

THE CHICAGO INDEPENDENT FILM CRITICS CIRCLE HAS NAMED ITS NOMINEES FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL CIFCC AWARDS

Capping off their inaugural year, the members of newly-formed Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle have announced their nominees for their first annual CIFCC Awards.  Their voting membership of 28 members strong completed ballots over the holidays with the goal of three final nominees in 25 categories.  They will commence a final round of voting ending on January 1, 2017 and host an invitation-only awards banquet at Transistor Chicago on January 8, 2017.

Leading all films with eight nominations is Moonlight from director Barry Jenkins.  Following closely with seven nominations each are Jackie, La La Land, and The Handmaiden.  There are 35 different films included in 25 total categories for the CIFCC Awards.

Two awards of special interest are the Trailblazer and Impact Awards.  The Trailblazer Award honors the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content.  Nominated are the directors behind The Love Witch, Swiss Army Man, The Lobster, and The Illinois Parables.  The Impact Award celebrates a person whose work has had a positive impact on society and the nominees include documentarian Ava Duvernay for 13th, filmmaker Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, and University of Chicago programmer Jacqueline Stewart.

From this first round of CIFCC voting, the film critics group has compiled a pair of “10 Best” lists for 2016, one for independent film defined as a budget under $20 million and one for studio films defined as movies with budgets over $20 million:

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THE 10 BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (in alphabetical order):

A Bigger Splash, Green Room, Hell or High Water, Jackie, Love & Friendship, The Love Witch, Loving, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, The Witch

THE 10 BEST STUDIO FILMS (in alphabetical order):

Arrival, Captain America: Civil War, The Conjuring 2, Fences, Hail, Caesar!, La La Land, The Neon Demon, The Nice Guys, Nocturnal Animals, Sully

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The complete list of nominees for the 2016 CIFCC Awards:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

Jackie

Love & Friendship

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Moonlight

BEST STUDIO FILM

Arrival

La La Land

Nocturnal Animals

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Elle

The Handmaiden

Toni Erdmann

BEST DOCUMENTARY

13th

O.J.: Made in America

Tower

BEST MICRO-BUDGET FILM

The Fits

Kate Plays Christine

Krisha

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Kubo and the Two Strings

Tower

Zootopia

BEST CHICAGO FILM

Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

Pause of the Clock

Southside with You

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Pablo Larrain (Jackie)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Hell or High Water (Taylor Sheridan)

The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos/Efthymis Filippou)

Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook/Jeong Seo-kyeong)

Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford)

BEST ACTOR

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

Denzel Washington (Fences)

BEST ACTRESS

Kate Beckinsale (Love & Friendship)

Isabelle Huppert (Elle)

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)

Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Viola Davis (Fences)

Naomie Harris (Moonlight)

Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

Everybody Wants Some!!

Fences

Moonlight

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Handmaiden

La La Land

Moonlight

The Witch

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Handmaiden

La La Land

The Love Witch

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Handmaiden

Jackie

The Love Witch

BEST EDITING

The Handmaiden

Jackie

La La Land

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Jackie (Mica Levi)

La La Land (Justin Hurwitz)

The Neon Demon (Cliff Martinez)

BEST MAKEUP

The Handmaiden

Jackie

Swiss Army Man

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

BEST SHORT FILM

Inner Workings

Piper

The Stylist

BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILM

Atmo Horrox

Viaje

TRAILBLAZER AWARD

Anna Biller (The Love Witch)

Daniel Kwan/Daniel Scheinert (Swiss Army Man)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Deborah Stratman (The Illinois Parables)

IMPACT AWARD

Ava Duvernay (13th)

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Jacqueline Stewart (Pioneers of African-American Cinema)

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