The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) today named “Small Axe” Steve McQueen’s anthology series, as Best Picture of the Year. Small Axe is an anthology series comprised of five original films set from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s that tell personal stories from London’s West Indian community, whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will despite rampant racism and discrimination. The title is derived from the African proverb, “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.”
“We are so thrilled to honor the unprecedented, resonant and masterful ‘Small Axe,’ Steve McQueen’s quintet of thematically linked films,” said LAFCA President Claudia Puig. “And we are also honored to award the artistry of a wonderfully diverse and massively talented group of winning filmmakers. Particularly notable in a year when the film industry took a huge blow, our winners reflect extraordinary achievement.”
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association chose director/screenwriter/producer/actor Hou Hsiao-Hsien and singer/songwriter/activist/actor Harry Belafonte as the recipients of this year’s Career Achievement Awards, and chose actor/producer/director Norman Lloyd as the recipient of the Legacy Award.
Due to COVID-19, the annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards ceremony will not be held this year.
46TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS
PICTURE: SMALL AXE
Runner-up: NOMADLAND
DIRECTOR: Chloe Zhao, NOMADLAND
Runner-up: Steve McQueen, SMALL AXE
ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL
ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Glynn Turman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI
Runner-up: Amanda Seyfried, MANK
SCREENPLAY: Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Eliza Hittman, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
ANIMATION: WOLFWALKERS
Runner-up: SOUL
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: BEANPOLE
Runner-up: MARTIN EDEN
DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: TIME
Runner-up: COLLECTIVE
NEW GENERATION: Radha Blank, THE 40-YEAR-OLD-VERSION
FILM EDITING: Yorgos Lamprinos, THE FATHER
Runner-up: Gabriel Rhodes, TIME
CINEMATOGRAPHY: SMALL AXE, Shabier Kirchner
Runner-up: NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Donald Graham Burt, MANK
Runner-up: Sergey Ivanov, BEANPOLE
MUSIC/SCORE: SOUL
Runner-up: LOVERS ROCK
DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: John Gianvito’s HER SOCIALIST SMILE
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Harry Belafonte
LEGACY AWARD: Norman Lloyd