The Southeastern Film Critics Association chose Spotlight for the top honor in the annual SEFCA Awards. Not only did the film take the #1 spot in the critics' Top 10 list, but it would also go on to place in multiple categories including Best Ensembe (#1), Best Director (#2), and Best Original Screenplay (#1).
“Spotlight was a clear favorite with our members,” SEFCA President Philip Martin, the chief film critic at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, said. “It was an exceptionally deep year, with 99 movies — as opposed to about 80 most years — receiving at least one vote in the poll. But Spotlight appeared on 80 percent of the ballots and received 19 No. 1 votes, by far the most of any film. Rarely have we had that sort of consensus about the top film.”
Other winners include Bryan Cranston as Best Actor for his portayal as Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo and Brie Larson as Best Actress for her perforamnce in Room. Sylvester Stallone took the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Creed, while Alicia Vikander took the Best Supporting Actress for her perforamnce in Ex Machina.
The group’s Wyatt Award, named in memory of SEFCA charter member Gene Wyatt and awarded annually to the film that best captures the spirit of the South, went to the documentary Finders Keepers, Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel’s bizarre story about a dispute over a North Carolina man’s amputated foot.
The SEFCA Awards are bestowed annually by the Southeastern Film Critics Association, which is made up of professional film critics in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. This year, 55 critics cast votes. The full list of award winners and runner-ups is below.
Top 10
1. Spotlight
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Room
4. Brooklyn
5. Carol
6. The Big Short
7. The Martian
8. Inside Out
9. Bridge of Spies
10. Trumbo
Best Actor
Winner: Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Runner-up: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Best Actress
Winner: Brie Larson, Room
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Ensemble
Winner: Spotlight
Runner-up: The Big Short
Best Director
Winner: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer for Spotlight
Runner-up: Bob Petersen, Pete Docter for Inside Out
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Emma Donoghue for Room
Runner-up: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for The Big Short
Best Documentary
Winner: Amy
Runner-up: Best of Enemies
Foreign Language
Winner: Son of Saul
Runner-up: The Assassin
Best Animated Film
Winner: Inside Out
Runner-up: Anomalisa
Best Cinematography
Winner: John Seale for Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Luca Bigazzi for Youth
The Gene Wyatt Award for the Film that Best Evokes the Spirit of the South
Finders Keepers