The Los Angeles Film Critics Association chose “Anora” as the best film of 2024 Sunday, giving writer/director Sean Baker’s kinetic drama about a stripper who marries the son of a Russian oligarch a boost heading into the Academy Awards nominations, which will be announced next month.
In the acting categories, the winners for lead performance were Mikey Madison for “Anora” and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for “Hard Truths.”
Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain” and Yura Borisov for “Anora” were honored as the best supporting performances.
The best director honor went to Mohammad Rasoulof for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
Other winners were:
— Cinematography, Jomo Fray for “Nickel Boys”;
— Screenplay, Jesse Eisenberg for “A Real Pain”;
— Production Design, Judy Becker for “The Brutalist”;
— Editing, Nicholas Monsour for “Nickel Boys” and Hansjorg Weibrich for “September 5” (tie);
— Documentary/Nonfiction, “No Other Land”;
— Animation, “Flow”;
— Music/Score, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “Challengers.”
The winners were announced on X, and will be honored during a ceremony on Jan. 11, 2025 at the Biltmore Hotel, when director John Carpenter will receive a career achievement award.
Founded in 1975, the LAFCA comprises Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in print and electronic media. Last year, the group named “The Zone of Interest” the best film of 2023.
On Dec. 3, the New York Film Critics Circle chose director Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” as the year’s best film. The LAFCA selected “The Brutalist” as its best picture runner-up on Sunday.