#EndofYear2018: Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards 2018 announced

The nation’s movie critics have spoken. The members of the Dublin Film Critics Circle have, for the 12th year, selected their favourite works of the year. Scannain has four voting members on the DFCC. In common with several other awarding bodies, A Star is Born was a clear favourite, but it was Alfonso Cuarón who was named Best Director for Roma.  Second placed Cold War also polled strongly in the Best Film category.

The DFCC once again demonstrated its eclecticism by longlisting some 45 films for Best Film: American Animals, First Reformed, Widows, Zama, and Sorry to Bother You were hugely popular but were pipped at the post.

This year’s biggest landslide victory was scored by Linus Sandgren for his cinematography on First Man. Damien Chazelle, that film’s director, was also shortlisted.

Rosie was named Best Irish Feature Film, nudging just past Michael Inside in the awards’ closest-fought contest. Dafhyd Flynn was named Breakthrough Artist for his work on Michael Inside. Other nominees shortlisted for that award included Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), Cynthia Erivo (Widows), Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete), and Millicent Simmons (A Quiet Place).

The DFCC would like to acknowledge the death this year of our friend and colleague Stephen Coffey. Also an author and comics creator, Stephen was a true enthusiast who is missed every time members gather to chatter outside the morning’s press screening. We extend sympathy to his wife Tina and to all his friends and family.

This year’s DFCC panel included: Aedín Gormley, Áine O’Connor, Aoife Barry, Ben O’Reilly, Brian Lloyd, Brogen Hayes, Cara O’Doherty, Chris Wasser, Ciaran Carty, Daniel Anderson, Darren Mooney, David Turpin, Declan Burke, Deirdre Molumby, Donald Clarke, Esther McCarthy, Gavin Burke, Graham Day, Hilary White, Jason Coyle, Joe Griffin, John Maguire, Kevin Fennell, Michael Doherty, Niall Murphy, Nicola Timmins, Paul Whitington, Roe McDermott, Sarina Bellissimo, and DFCC president Tara Brady.

BEST FILM

1. A Star is Born
2. Cold War
3. Lady Bird
4. You Were Never Really Here
5. Loveless/ A Quiet Place
6. BlacKKKlansman
7. Leave No Trace
8. Shoplifters
9. First Man
10. The Rider/Mandy

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
2. Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
3. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
4. Paweł Pawlikowski, Cold War
5. Damien Chazelle, First Man
6. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
7. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Shoplifters
8. Spike Lee, BlacKKKlansman
9. Debra Granik, Leave No Trace
10. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread

BEST ACTRESS

1. Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
2. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
3. Toni Collette, Hereditary
4. Sarah Greene, Rosie
5. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
6. Viola Davis, Widows
7. Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace
8. Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread
9. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water/ Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians
10. Charlize Theron, Tully

BEST SCREENPLAY

1. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
2. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
3. Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
4. Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
5. Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You
6. Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee, BlacKKKlansman
7. Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Leave No Trace
8. Xavier Legrand, Custody
9. Dan Kokotajlo, Apostasy
10. Paweł Pawlikowski, Janusz Głowacki, Cold War

BEST ACTOR

1. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
2. Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
3. Daniel Day Lewis, Phantom Thread
4. Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
5. John David Washington, BlacKKKlansman
6. Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
7. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
8. Marcello Fonte, Dogman
9. Brady Jandreau, The Rider
10. Nakhane Touré, The Wound

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Linus Sandgren, First Man
2. Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
3. Łukasz Żal, Cold War
4. Dan Laustsen, The Shape of Water
5. Benjamin Loeb, Mandy
6. Joe Anderson, The Old Man and the Gun
7. Benoît Debie, Climax
8. Ashley Connor, The Miseducation of Cameron Post
9. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria
10. Norm Li, Never Steady, Never Still

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Three Identical Strangers
2. Katie
3. The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
4. Whitney
5. Filmworker
6. Studio 54
7. Free Solo
8. McQueen
9. A Cambodian Spring
10. I, Dolours

BEST IRISH

1. Rosie
2. Michael Inside
3. Black 47
4. The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid
5. The Little Stranger
6. The Breadwinner
7. Making the Grade
8. Kissing Candice
9. Katie
10. The Image You Missed

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

Dafhyd Flynn, Michael Inside