NYFCC Reveal 2012 Award Winners

Now that it’s December (read: where the Hell has 2012 gone), it is time to hear about what the best films of 2012 are from critics groups around the country. First up? Since 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle has met and given the world their respective awards, and today is the day when they look back at 2012, telling us what the Big Apple has to say about cinema.

Starting off their announcement with a bang, the group went with David France’s fantastic documentary How To Survive A Plague for Best First Feature, giving it the honor of being the first documentary to win such honor. They didn’t, however, take Best Non-Fiction Film, as that award went to the superb true-crime documentary The Central Park Five. Continuing the shocks, the group went with Greig Fraser for Best Cinematography for his work in Zero Dark Thirty.

As far as acting awards go, Sally Field took Best Supporting Actress for Lincoln, while Matthew McConaughey gets a dual win for Supporting Actor for his performances in Bernie and Magic Mike. Finally, Daniel Day-Lewis won his fourth Best Actor award from the group for Lincoln, and Rachel Weisz stole the show, winning for the fantastic The Deep Blue Sea.

Then the big awards. Frankenweenie took home Best Animated Film, with Amour taking home the least shocking award of the day for its win for Best Foreign Language Film. It proved to be a big night for Zero Dark Thirty, as the film took Best Picture, and also Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow. Could this be a sign of things to come? Reviews for the film have been fantastic since it debuted, so who knows. Here is the full list of winners:

Best Picture
Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Screenplay
Lincoln, written by Tony Kushner

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Actress
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Supporting Actor
Matthew McConaughey, Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, directed by Michael Haneke

Best Animated Film
Frankenweenie, directed by Tim Burton

Best Cinematography
Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Nonfiction Film
Central Park Five, directed by Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns

Best First Feature
How To Survive a Plague, directed by David France