Barry Jenkins’s “Moonlight” received the most nominations for the 2016 Chicago Film Critics Association awards with eleven nods, including Best Picture, Jenkins for Director and Original Screenplay, Mahershala Ali and Trevante Rhodes for Supporting Actor, Naomie Harris for Supporting Actress, James Laxton for Cinematography, Nicholas Britell for Original Score, Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders for Editing and both Janelle Monae and Rhodes for Most Promising Performer. (Monae’s Promising Performer nomination was shared with “Hidden Figures,” for which she was also nominated for Supporting Actress.)
Two films, “Jackie” and “Manchester by the Sea” tied for second place in the nomination count with eight apiece, including Best Picture for each. “Jackie” earned nominations for Natalie Portman (her fifth to date from the group) for Best Actress, Pablo Larrain for Director, Noah Oppenheim for Original Screenplay and was also shortlisted for Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction and Editing. “Manchester by the Sea” earned Kenneth Lonergan nominations for Director and Original Screenplay, Casey Affleck for Best Actor, Michelle Williams for Supporting Actress (her fourth CFCA nomination), Lucas Hedges for Supporting Actor and Promising Performer and Jennifer Lame for Editing.
Rounding out the Best Picture nominees were the musical extravaganza “La La Land,” which earned seven nominations, including Damien Chazelle for Director, Emma Stone for Best Actress and additional citations for Cinematography, Original Score, Art Direction and Editing and “The Handmaiden” that received six, including two for controversial filmmaker Park Chan-wook for Director and Adapted Screenplay (sharing the latter with Seo-Kyung Chung) as well as nods for Cinematography, Art Direction and Foreign-Language Film.
Two additional films received three nominations each—the sci-fi drama “Arrival” earned slots for Adapted Screenplay and Original Score and also earned Amy Adams a nod (her fifth) for Best Actress. Among her competitors is Isabelle Huppert, who was nominated for her performance in the electrifying French drama “Elle,” which also received nominations for Adapted Screenplay and Foreign-Language Film.
The quirky comedy “The Lobster” was cited for Original Screenplay and Colin Farrell was shortlisted for Best Actor. As was the case with Lucas Hedges, Janelle Monae and Trevante Rhodes, newcomer Lily Gladstone received two nominations for one performance as her work in the drama “Certain Women” landed her nods for Supporting Actress and Promising Performer. Another Promising Performer candidate was Royalty Hightower, whose film, “The Fits,” also saw its director, Anna Rose Holmer, nominated for Promising Filmmaker. “Tower,” an innovative look at the killing spree of Charles Whitman, was nominated for both Best Documentary and Animated Feature.
In addition to an Animated Feature slot, “Kubo and the Two Strings” also earned a Promising Filmmaker nomination for Travis Knight. “Cameraperson” was shortlisted for both the Documentary and Editing prizes and the contemporary Western “Hell or High Water” earned nominations for Supporting Actor for Ben Foster and Original Screenplay for Taylor Sheridan. And proving that they are even willing to embrace horror, a genre too often ignored by award groups, the CFCA gave nominations to “The Neon Demon” for Original Score and Art Direction and “The Witch” for Art Direction and Robert Eggers for Promising Filmmaker.
Now in its 27th year, the CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of December 15, 2016.
2016 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Nominations
BEST PICTURE
The Handmaiden
Jackie
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle (-) La La Land
Barry Jenkins (-) Moonlight
Pablo Larraín (-) Jackie
Kenneth Lonergan (-) Manchester by the Sea
Chan-wook Park (-) The Handmaiden
BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck (-) Manchester by the Sea
Adam Driver (-) Paterson
Joel Edgerton (-) Loving
Colin Farrell (-) The Lobster
Denzel Washington (-) Fences
BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams (-) Arrival
Rebecca Hall (-) Christine
Isabelle Huppert (-) Elle
Natalie Portman (-) Jackie
Emma Stone (-) La La Land
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali (-) Moonlight
Alden Ehrenreich (-) Hail, Caesar!
Ben Foster (-) Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges (-) Manchester by the Sea
Trevante Rhodes (-) Moonlight
Michael Shannon (-) Nocturnal Animals
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis (-) Fences
Lily Gladstone (-) Certain Women
Naomie Harris (-) Moonlight
Janelle Monae (-) Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams (-) Manchester by the Sea
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Hell or High Water (-) Taylor Sheridan
Jackie (-) Noah Oppenheim
The Lobster (-) Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou
Manchester by the Sea (-) Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight (-) Barry Jenkins
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival (-) Eric Heisserer
Elle (-) David Birke
The Handmaiden (-) Seo-Kyung Chung & Chan-wook Park
Love and Friendship (-) Whit Stillman
Silence (-) Jay Cocks & Martin Scorsese
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
The Red Turtle
Tower
Zootopia
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Cameraperson
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made In America
Tower
Weiner
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Elle
The Handmaiden
Julieta
Neruda
Toni Erdmann
BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Handmaiden
Jackie
La La Land
The Neon Demon
The Witch
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Handmaiden (-) Chung-hoon Chung
Jackie (-) Stéphane Fontaine
La La Land (-) Linus Sandgren
Moonlight (-) James Laxton
Silence (-) Rodrigo Prieto
BEST EDITING
Cameraperson (-) Nels Bangerter
Jackie (-) Sebastián Sepúlveda
La La Land (-) Tom Cross
Manchester by the Sea (-) Jennifer Lame
Moonlight (-) Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Arrival (-) Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jackie (-) Mica Levi
La La Land (-) Justin Hurwitz
Moonlight (-) Nicholas Britell
The Neon Demon (-) Cliff Martinez
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Kelly Fremon Craig (-) The Edge of Seventeen
Robert Eggers (-) The Witch
Anna Rose Holmer (-) The Fits
Travis Knight (-) Kubo and the Two Strings
Trey Edward Shults (-) Krisha
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Lily Gladstone (-) Certain Women
Lucas Hedges (-) Manchester by the Sea
Royalty Hightower (-) The Fits
Janelle Monae (-) Hidden Figures & Moonlight
Trevante Rhodes (-) Moonlight