La La Land
La La Land

D.C.’s film critics are gaga for La La Land. The Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone-starring musical swept the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association’s annual awards, winning Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Scoreon top of Best Picture.

Members of WAFCA (which include WCP critics Tricia Olszewski, Noah Gittell, Alan Zilberman, and myself) also really liked Hell or High Water (Best Acting Ensemble), Arrival (Best Adapted Screenplay), Casey Affleck (Best Actor, Manchester By The Sea), Natalie Portman (Best Actress, Jackie), Mahershala Ali (Best Supporting Actor, Moonlight), Viola Davis (Best Supporting Actress, Fences), and Lucas Hedges (Best Youth Performance, Manchester By the Sea).

This year’s competition also included two new categories: Best Voice Performance, which went to Liam Neeson for A Monster Calls, and Best Motion Capture Performance, awarded to Mark Rylance for The BFG. You can see the full list of winners below:

Best Film:

La La Land

Best Director:

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Actor:

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actress:

Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress:

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Acting Ensemble:

Hell or High Water

Best Youth Performance:

Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Voice Performance:

Liam Neeson (A Monster Calls)

Best Motion Capture Performance:

Mark Rylance (The BFG)

Best Original Screenplay:

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Eric Heisserer, Based on the Story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang (Arrival)

Best Animated Feature:

Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Documentary:

13th

Best Foreign Language Film:

Elle

Best Production Design:

Production Designer: David Wasco;

Set Decorator: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, SDSA (La La Land)

Best Cinematography:

Linus Sandgren, SFS (La La Land)

Best Editing:

Tom Cross, ACE (La La Land)

Best Original Score:

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC:

Jackie