Tag Archives: SEFCA

Southeastern Film Critics Association Top 10 Films of 2024 Include “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Challengers,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance”

Southeastern Film Critics Association

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Sean Baker’s Anora as best picture of the year. SEFCA’s 89 members (including this reviewer!) located across nine Southeastern states named the following to its top films of 2024.

  1. Anora
  2. The Brutalist
  3. Conclave
  4. Dune Part 2
  5. Challengers
  6. Nickel Boys
  7. Sing Sing
  8. Wicked (Part 1)
  9. The Substance
  10. A Complete Unknown

Runner-up to SEFCA’s top ten and 11th overall was the film I Saw the TV Glow.

The dark comic romcom Anora was clearly a favorite, with Sean Baker winning best original screenplay and breakout performer Mikey Madison snagging best actress for the fierce title role. The epic immigrant saga The Brutalist carried home the most awards including Brady Corbet for best director and Adrian Brody and Guy Pearce for best actor and supporting actor, respectively.

Colman Domingo was runner-up for best actor for the uplifting prison-set drama Sing Sing, and Demi Moore runner-up for best actress for the body horror film about aging in Hollywood, The Substance. Kieran Culkin was runner-up for best supporting actor for the dark comedy A Real Pain about mismatched cousins on a trauma tourism expedition.

Best supporting actress winner is Ariana Grande as the singing and dancing “good witch” of Wicked with runner-up Zoe Saldana as a singing and dancing lawyer in the unconventional musical Emilia Perez.

This critics’ body awarded the Vatican-set Conclave best ensemble with Sing Sing as runner-up. Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold were runners-up for best original screenplay. Sean Baker was runner-up for best director for Anora.

Best adapted screenplay was Peter Straughan for Conclave with runners-up RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes for the historic drama Nickel Boys.

Best documentary was Sugarcane chronicling the disappearances of Native American children with Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story as runner-up. The Wild Robot won best animated feature with Flow as runner-up. Best foreign language film was the French production Emilia Perez with runner-up The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a political thriller from Iran.

Best cinematography was Greg Fraser for the sci-fi extravaganza Dune Part 2 with runner-up Jarin Blaschke for gothic vampire film Nosferatu. Best score went to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the tennis threesome dramedy Challengers with runner-up Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist.

Learn more about the SEFCA here.

Southeastern Film Critics Name Top Ten Best Films of 2023

NOTE: This was the first year Silver Screen Capture joined this voting body.

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as the Best Picture of the Year. SEFCA’s eighty-nine members located across nine Southeastern states also recognized Christopher Nolan for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Additionally, the film earned Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey, Jr. and Best Ensemble for its star-studded cast that includes Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Aldren Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, Tom Conti, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh and others. Behind the camera Oppenheimer took the top prizes for Best Cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema) and Best Score (Ludwig Goransson).

“This fall featured three big films from three grandmasters of cinema,” said SEFCA President Scott Phillips. “Martin Scorsese released Killers of the Flower Moon. Ridley Scott brought Napoleon to the big screen and Michael Mann hits theaters next week with Ferrari. Despite this bumper crop from heavy-hitting auteurs, Christopher Nolan’s film from six months ago is walking away with eight SEFCA awards. Oppenheimer is a stunning cinematic achievement. Our members recognized that in July, and they are rewarding it in December.”

‘When asked about the film year that was 2023, SEFCA Vice President Jim Farmer said, “2023 will be remembered by many as the year that featured the commercial, critical and cultural phenomenon known as ‘Barbenheimer.’ But it was also a season that offered a stunning amount of high-quality films, with master filmmakers near the top of their games, fresher faces making strong impressions and performers showing new dimensions. It was a pleasure to take in all that 2023 had to offer.”

Those “fresher faces” include writer/director Celine Song whose debut feature, Past Lives, lands at # 4 on SEFCA’s Top 10 of 2023, and writer/director Cord Jefferson whose debut feature, American Fiction, placed seventh in the SEFCA Top 10. The diverse list also includes an animated film (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and two foreign films (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest).

Read SEFCA’s full list of winners below. Visit SEFCA on the web at SEFCA.net to learn more about its members as well as past winners. You can also follow SEFCA on X at @SEFilmCritics.

Top 10 Films of 2023

1. Oppenheimer

2. Killers of the Flower Moon

3. The Holdovers

4. Past Lives

5. Barbie

6. Poor Things

7. American Fiction

8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

9. Anatomy of a Fall

10. The Zone of Interest

Other wins from the SEFCA:

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Ensemble: Oppenheimer

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Original Screenplay: David Hemingson, The Holdovers

Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Documentary: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign-Language Film: Anatomy of a Fall

Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Score: Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer