“Parasite” and “Little Women” Tied—Each with Four Awards
The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) annual awards dinner held Dec. 14, 2019 gave bragging rights to “Parasite,” and “Little Women.” Director Bong Joon Ho of “Paradise” won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Foreign Language Film. Writer and director Greta Gerwig of “Little Women” took home Best Costume Design, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Supporting Actress. “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” had two wins; Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actor. Single Awards went to “1917,” “Ad Astra,” “Apollo 11,” “The Farewell,” “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “The Nightingale,” “Toy Story 4,” and “Us.” The Breakthrough Filmmaker Award honors the late Milos Stehlik, Facets Multimedia founder, and a central advocate of the art of film in which he brought worldwide notice of Chicago’s film culture. Fittingly, the award is now named, the Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker Award, which Filmmaker Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”) was named the recipient. Throughout the evening, CFCA members recalled memories of Stehlik as he touched so many. Myself, having worked with him as a Narrative Feature Jury member (2013) of the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, he taught me so much about viewing a film through the eyes of a child.
The complete list of 2019 Chicago Film Critics Award winners is as follows:
BEST PICTURE: Parasite
BEST DIRECTOR: Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
BEST ACTOR: Adam Driver, Marriage Story
BEST ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong’ o, Us
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Florence Pugh, Little Women
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Parasite by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Little Women by Greta Gerwig
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Parasite
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Apollo 11
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Toy Story 4
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins, 1917
BEST EDITING: Thelma Schoonmaker, The Irishman
BEST ART DIRECTION: Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Little Women
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Alexandre Desplat, Little Women
BEST USE OF VISUAL EFFECTS: Ad Astra
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Aisling Franciosi, The Nightingale
MILOS STEHLIK BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER: Lulu Wang, The Farewell
About the Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association supports and celebrates quality filmmaking that has something to say about our world, our lives, and our society. In the past, while the CFCA’s priority was to support and fight for the continued role of film critics in the media, the CFCA’s public interaction was limited to the announcement of its annual film awards. In recent years, the CFCA has expanded its presence on the Chicago arts scene, promoting critical thinking about cinema to a wider base through several initiatives, including the re-launch of a late-winter film awards ceremony; CFCA-hosted film screenings throughout Chicagoland; and a Young People’s Film Criticism Workshop at Facets Multimedia. The annual Chicago Critics Film Festival further builds on the organization’s goal to be an active part of the Chicago film landscape. Learn more at www.chicagofilmcritics.org.