‘The Artist’ Wins NYFCC 2011 Best Picture Award

The New York Film Critics Circle named Michel Hazanavicius‘ film, The Artist, starring French actors Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo and also John Goodman, James Cromwell and Penelope Ann Miller, the best picture of 2011 Tuesday. 

Announcing its picks via a Twitter feed Tuesday morning, the Parisian writer-director also won the best director honor. 

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Roadside Attractions’ Wall Street-set thriller.Margin Call was the first winner, revealed at 10:10 a.m. ET., taking home best first feature. The film was directed by J.C. Chandor and starred Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci and Kevin Spacey. 

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Meryl Streep was awarded the best actress prize for her portrayal of form Britain Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in The Iron Lady. 

The best actor title was given to Brad Pitt for his roles in Moneyball and Tree of LIfe.

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Jessica Chastain received the best supporting actress title for her work in Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter. 

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Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin took home the best screenplay prize co-writing baseball flick Moneyball. 

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Emmanuel Lubezki was awarded best cinematography for Tree of Life. 

Best nonfiction film went to Werner Herzog’s documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, on the Chauvet caves of Souther France, which have the oldest-known pictorial human creations on earth. 

Iranian film A Separation, which follows a couple as they argue over whether to leave Iran and go live abroad to be able to provide better opportunities for their only daughter, received the best foreign language film award. 

The 2011 special award was given posthumously to Chilean-born filmmaker Raoul Ruiz, who made over 100 films and died Aug. 19 at the age of 70. 

The NYFCC was founded in 1935, and is comprised of film reviewers from New York-based publications. At the end of each calendar year, the organization meets to vote on the best films of the previous year’s films. 

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The categories include: best picture, director, screenplay, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, cinematography, animated movie and best first film. 

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