"The First Cow" won the New York Film Critics Association Award for Best Picture

The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun

On December 18, local time, the 2020 New York Film Critics Association Awards were released. It is worth mentioning that the works of female directors have shined in this year's selection: "First Cow", directed by Kelly Lecat, won the Best Picture Award; Eliza Hitman's "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always" won two awards for Best Actress (Sidney Flanigan) and Best Screenplay; and Chinese director Zhao Ting won the Best Director Award for "Nomadland".

Poster of The First Cow

Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" also won two awards, Delroy Lindo for Best Actor and Chadwick Bosman for Best Supporting Actor, who died this year. The director himself received a special award from the association for documenting a group portrait of New York during the pandemic with the short film "New York New York", which not only boosted the morale of New Yorkers, but also proved that film can make society a better place.

In addition to Spike Lee, Kino Marquee, an online movie-watching platform created by art video label Kino Lorber, also received a special award. The platform went live in mid-March this year, when cinemas in many parts of the world were closed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kino Marquee introduced a model for viewing movies in a virtual cinema hall. Users can purchase virtual e-tickets before opting into independent cinemas stationed on the platform to watch movies online, with the proceeds shared between the film distributor and the theater where the film is shown, including Bacurau and Martin Eden. In the eyes of the New York Film Critics Association, Kino Marquee is clearly trying to "support the cinemas, not destroy them" during this particular period.

Since the spread of covid-19 at the beginning of this year, New York was once the most vulnerable area in the United States, and then thanks to a series of strict epidemic prevention measures taken by Governor Cuomo, the number of infected people has gradually been controlled. But it is also limited by this, and New York's cinemas have been closed for a long time in 2020 and have not yet resumed business.

"In many ways, it was an intricate and painful year, but the film didn't disappoint us." Stephanie Zacharek, president of the New York Film Critics Association and time magazine, said, "In fact, it's the movies that are helping us through this. Film is one of the main ways for people to maintain a human bond, and it is also a common way of communication around the world. This year, members of the New York Film Critics Association are particularly grateful to the people and works that sustain this form of communication. ”

In response to the epidemic, this year's New York Film Critics Association Awards will not hold offline award ceremonies as is customary, but will instead be awarded online on January 24, 2021.

【2020 New York Film Critics Association Awards】

Best Picture: "The First Cow"

Best Animated Film: "Wolfwalker"

Best Foreign Language Film: "Bucklaw"

Best Debut: "Woman Forty PlayIng Rap"

Best Documentary Film: "Time"

Best Director: Zhao Ting, "The Land of No One"

Best Actor: Delroy Lindo, "The Blood Five"

Best Actress: Sidney Flanigan, "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always"

Best Supporting Actor: Chadwick Bosman, "The Blood Five"

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bakalova, "Borat 2"

Best Screenplay: Eliza Hitman, "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always"

Best Cinematography: The Little Axe Pentagram

Special Award: Spike Lee

Special Prize: Kino Marquee

Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Zhe

Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang