Southeastern Film Critics Association names PARASITE the year’s best film

One more awards body to report on, this time it’s the results of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) vote, where once again Parasite has taken Best Picture honors. The South Korean favorite is quickly racking up the critics prizes, having just won AFCC’s last week, as well both the New York Film Critics Online and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association top prizes. It wasn’t eligible for Best Picture at the Golden Globes, but will the Academy pay attention? Here’s hoping!

The rest of SEFCA’s vote aligns quite a bit with AFCC’s, with the acting prizes (Driver, Zellweger, Dern, and Pitt) taking the same shape, but there are a few twists, such as Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out taking Best Ensemble and Martin Scorsese winning Best Director. You can see the full results below, but it’s a fine list if I say so myself, and perhaps a nice indicator for where Oscar may just be headed. In full disclosure, I am very proud to say that I’m the Vice-President of SEFCA.

The Southeastern Film Critics Association Selects Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ as the Best Picture of 2019

Bong’s scathing satire was also selected for Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Original Screenplay

ATLANTA, DECEMBER 9, 2019 – The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) have announced their accolades for 2019 and chosen Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite as the Best Picture of the Year. The newest film from the acclaimed South Korean director of Memories of MurderThe Host, and Snowpiercer follows a street-smart family that ingratiates themselves into the lives of a far wealthier family. In addition to winning Best Picture, SEFCA also recognized Parasite as the Best Foreign-Language Film as well as Bong and co-writer Jin Won Han for Best Original Screenplay.

“I’m incredibly proud of SEFCA’s decision to select Parasite as the year’s best film,” said SEFCA President Matt Goldberg. “Bong Joon-ho is one of our finest filmmakers and he has crafted a damning rebuke of capitalism with style and passion. I firmly believe that Parasite is not only the best film of 2019, but that it will also be recognized as one of the best and most essential films of the 2010s.”

SEFCA voters also recognized Adam Driver as Best Actor for his heartbreaking turn in Marriage Story, Renee Zellweger as Best Actress for disappearing into the iconic Judy Garland in Judy, Brad Pitt as Best Supporting Actor for giving one of the best performances of his long career in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, and Laura Dern as Best Supporting Actress for her acerbic and unforgettable work in Marriage Story.

Award winners below:

TOP 10 FILMS

  1. Parasite 
  2. The Irishman 
  3. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood 
  4. Marriage Story 
  5. 1917 
  6. Jojo Rabbit 
  7. Little Women 
  8. The Farewell 
  9. Uncut Gems 
  10. Ford v Ferrari 

BEST ACTOR

Adam Driver, Marriage Story 

Runner-Up: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker 

BEST ACTRESS

Renee Zellweger, Judy 

Runner-Up: Lupita Nyong’o, Us 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Runner-Up: Joe Pesci, The Irishman 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Runner-Up: Florence Pugh, Little Women 

BEST ENSEMBLE

Knives Out 

Runner-Up: The Irishman 

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese, The Irishman

Runner-Up: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bong Joon-ho and Jin Won Han, Parasite 

Runner-Up: Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Steven Zaillian, The Irishman 

Runner-Up: Greta Gerwig, Little Women

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Apollo 11 

Runner-Up: American Factory 

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

Parasite

Runner-Up: Pain and Glory 

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Toy Story 4 

Runner-Up: I Lost My Body 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Roger Deakins, 1917 

Runner-Up: Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

THE GENE WYATT AWARD FOR FILM THAT BEST EVOKES THE SPIRIT OF THE SOUTH

The Peanut Butter Falcon 

Runner-Up: Just Mercy 

Founded over a quarter century ago, the Southeastern Film Critics Association is comprised of over 60 film critics spread across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Our mission is to represent–as an impartial, organized working unit–the profession of film criticism, and to recognize the highest creative achievements in the field of motion pictures, and thereby to uphold the integrity and significance of film criticism.

You can find past winners and a list of our members at sefca.net.

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