The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), of which this writer is a voting member, announced their annual award winners on Dec. 7, 2009. That’s earlier than any other group of critics in the United States, positioning the WAFCA Awards as early markers in the annual awards race leading up to the Oscars. “Up in the Air” won a leading three awards, including Best Film, Best Actor (George Clooney) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner). “Inglourious Basterds” won two categories, including Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz from Austria) and Original Best Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino). And the Spanish film “Sin Nombre” (Mexico/U.S.) won Best Foreign Film. Here are all the category winners followed by the nominees:
Best Film Winner: “Up in the Air” “The Hurt Locker” “Inglourious Basterds” “Precious” “Up”
Best Director Winner: Kathryn Bigelow | “The Hurt Locker” Lee Daniels | “Precious” Clint Eastwood | “Invictus” Jason Reitman | “Up in the Air” Quentin Tarantino | “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Actor Winner: George Clooney | “Up in the Air” Colin Firth | “A Single Man” Morgan Freeman | “Invictus” Viggo Mortensen | “The Road” Jeremy Renner | “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress Winner: Carey Mulligan | “An Education” Sandra Bullock | “The Blind Side” Maya Rudolph | “Away We Go” Gabourey Sidibe | “Precious” Meryl Streep | “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor Winner: Christoph Waltz | “Inglourious Basterds” Woody Harrelson | “The Messenger” Anthony Mackie | “The Hurt Locker” Alfred Molina | “An Education” Stanley Tucci | “The Lovely Bones”
Best Supporting Actress Winner: Mo’Nique | “Precious” Vera Farmiga | “Up in the Air” Anna Kendrick | “Up in the Air” Julianne Moore | “A Single Man” Samantha Morton | “The Messenger”
Best Ensemble Winner: “The Hurt Locker” “Nine” “Precious” “Star Trek” “Up in the Air”
Best Breakthrough Performance Winner: Gabourey Sidibe | “Precious” Anna Kendrick | “Up in The Air” Christian McKay | “Me and Orson Welles” Carey Mulligan | “An Education” Jeremy Renner | “The Hurt Locker”
Best Screenplay, Adapted Winner: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner | “Up in the Air” John Lee Hancock | “The Blind Side” Nick Hornby | “An Education” Geoffrey Fletcher | “Precious” Joe Penhall | “The Road”
Best Screenplay, Original Winner: Quentin Tarantino | “Inglourious Basterds” Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber | “(500) Days of Summer” Mark Boal | “The Hurt Locker” Joel and Ethan Coen | “A Serious Man” Bob Peterson and Pete Docter | “Up”
Best Animated Film Winner: “Up” “Coraline” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” “9” “Ponyo”
Best Foreign Film Winner: “Sin Nombre” “Broken Embraces” “Red Cliff” “Summer Hours” “The White Ribbon”
Best Documentary Winner: “Food, Inc.” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” “Capitalism: A Love Story” “The Cove” “Good Hair”
Best Art Direction Winner: “Nine” “The Lovely Bones” “Star Trek” “Where the Wild Things Are” “The Young Victoria”
About the Author
Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.
