SFBAFCC 2021 Awards

SFBAFCC Awards for Achievement in Film Categories

The San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle met on Sunday January 9th to decide their annual awards for achievement in film. This year may be about to be the Year of the Tiger… but there’s no arguing The Power of the Dog which received 8 awards. 

For categories where the vote was particularly close we’ve noted honorable mention for the runners up. 

We are also pleased to honor long time Berkeley resident Rita Moreno. She had a phenomenal year with her documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It and returning to West Side Story in a new capacity. 

Best Picture

  • Drive My Car
  • The Green Knight
  • Licorice Pizza
  • The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
  • West Side Story

Best Director

  • Denis Villeneuve, Dune
  • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
  • Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
  • Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay

  • Being the Ricardos, Aaron Sorkin
  • Belfast, Kenneth Branagh
  • C’mon Cmon, Mike Mills (WINNER)
  • Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay, David Sirota
  • Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
  • Dune, Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
  • The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal
  • Passing, Rebecca Hall
  • The Power of the Dog, Jane Campion (WINNER)

Best Actor

  • Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick … Boom!
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
  • Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
  • Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car
  • Nicolas Cage, Pig
  • Will Smith, King Richard

Best Actress

  • Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
  • Kristen Stewart, Spencer
  • Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter (WINNER)
  • Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
  • Tessa Thomson, Passing

Best Supporting Actor

  • Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
  • Cirián Hinds, Belfast
  • J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
  • Troy Kotsur, CODA

Best Supporting Actress

  • Arianna DeBose, West Side Story
  • Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
  • Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog (WINNER)
  • Marlee Matlin, CODA
  • Ruth Negga, Passing

Best Animated Feature

  • Belle
  • Encanto (WINNER)
  • Flee (Honorable Mention)
  • Luca
  • The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Best International Feature Film

  • A Hero
  • Drive My Car (WINNER)
  • Flee
  • Parallel Mothers
  • The Worst Person in the World

Best Documentary Feature

  • Flee
  • Procession
  • The Rescue
  • Summer of Soul (WINNER)
  • The Velvet Underground

Best Cinematography

  • Dune, Greig Fraser
  • The French Dispatch, Robert Yeoman
  • The Green Knight, Andrew Droz Palermo
  • Nightmare Alley, Dan Laustsen
  • The Power of the Dog, Ari Wegner
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth, Bruno Delbonnel (WINNER)
  • West Side Story, Janusz Kaminski

Best Production Design

  • Dune, Patrice Vermette
  • The French Dispatch, Adam Stockhausen
  • The Green Knight, Jade Healy
  • Nightmare Alley, Tamara Deverell (WINNER)
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth, Stefan Dechant

Best Film Editing

  • Belfast, Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
  • Dune, Joe Walker
  • Licorice Pizza, Andy Jurgensen
  • The Power of the Dog, Peter Sciberras (WINNER)
  • West Side Story, Sarah Broshar, Michael Kahn

Best Original Score

  • Dune, Hans Zimmer
  • The French Dispatch, Alexandre Desplat
  • The Green Knight, Daniel Hart
  • The Power of the Dog, Jonny Greenwood (WINNER)
  • Spencer, Jonny Greenwood

Special Citation for Independent Cinema

  • Kuessipan (WINNER – Tie)
  • Test Pattern (WINNER – Tie)

Marlon Riggs Award

(We award the Marlon Riggs to Bay Area filmmaker(s) or individual(s) who represents courage and innovation in the world of cinema.)

  • Rita Moreno
    • We honor the longtime Berkeley resident’s remarkable 2021, in which her Sundance documentary, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, not only summarized an amazing career, but addressed issues of mental health and aging; for her moving turn in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, a work with which she has a long history; and in celebration of her 90th birthday.