‘The power of the dog’ made clear this Sunday its favorite position for the Oscar after winning the award for best film at the awards US Critics Choicejust hours after doing the same at the British BAFTA.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA), an entity that brings together some 500 film critics from the United States and Canada, crowned this film Netflix with the awards for best film, best direction, best photography and best adapted screenplay.
its director, Jane Campion, took the award for best direction after a weekend full of triumphs to his name in which he also won the BAFTA and the great prize of the Hollywood Directors Guild (SAG Awards).
“I’m like the grandmother of the wave of female filmmakers, but I’m still here!”, exclaimed Campion, 67, on stage at the Fairmont Hotel in Los Angeles, where the gala was held.
The filmmaker is the only woman who has managed to be Oscar nominee for Best Director twice. The first for ‘The Piano’ in 1993.
And after this harvest of awards there is little doubt that on March 27 she will join the other two directors who already have an Oscar in a historically male category: Chloé Zhao for ‘Nomadland’ (2021) and ‘Kathryn Bigelow’ for ‘The Hurtl Locker’ (2010).
The Critics Choice Awards gala was initially scheduled for January, with the intention of replacing the Golden Globes, but the omicron variant forced them to be postponed to this Sunday.
Its coincidence with the BAFTAs caused many of the winners accept the award from London.
Will Smith scored even more points for the Oscar by winning the award for best leading actor for ‘King Richard’ and Jessica Chastain doubled her chances by winning best actress for ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’.
And in the supporting categories, the American of Puerto Rican origin Ariana DeBose beat Puerto Rican Rita Morenoboth nominated for the new version ‘West Side Story’.
DeBose, who has won at the BAFTAs, the SAG Awards and the Golden Globes, collected the award from London and dedicated a few words to Moreno, whom thanked ‘for opening the way’ to other Latin actresses.
For its part, Troy Kotsur won best supporting actor for ‘CODA’, a film that features a majority of deaf and dumb actors.
The British ‘Belfast’ won the award for best cast and one of its protagonists, Jude Hill, 11 years old, starred in one of the most endearing moments of the ceremony when he received the award for best young actor.
Finally, the Japanese ‘Drive My Car’ won in the international category and ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ in animation.
‘Sucession’ and ‘Ted Lasso’ dominate the television section
In the television section, ‘Succession’ returned to dominate in the dramatic genre while ‘Ted Lasso’ did it in comedy.
But also there was mention for the phenomenon ‘the squid game‘as Lee Jung-jae took the statuette for best actor in a drama series.
‘Mare of Easttown’ wins best limited series (miniseries) and its protagonist, Kate Winslet, repeated the Emmy win for best actress in this format.
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Hollywood awards season will continue with the Writers and Producers Guild galas next weekend to culminate with the Oscars on March 27.