The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally.
The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the awards' origins; the LFCC wished its annual Awards to be recognised on film advertising, especially in the United States, and in production notes.
The Critics' Circle, founded in 1913, is an association for working British critics. Film critics first became eligible for membership of the Circle in 1926. The Film section now has more than 120 members drawn from publications and the broadcasting media throughout the United Kingdom.
Film section members of the Critics' Circle will have worked as a critic or have written or broadcast informed analytical features or programmes about film for British publications and media for at least a year, their income mostly derived from reviewing and writing about film.
The Critics' Circle Film Awards, instituted in 1980 and known for several years as they are awarded annually by the Film section of the Critics' Circle.
Voted for by all members of the Film section, the Awards have become a major event in London, presented at a dinner dance held in a large West End hotel. Since 1995 they have been a charity event in aid of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
Over time the Award categories have gradually changed, some added, some dropped. For some categories this means that winners were not necessarily declared or listed in each of the Awards year.
In 2007, following widespread objections from Irish actors and filmmakers at being nominated for "Best British" awards, it was decided that Irish filmmakers, actors and others involved in the film industry would be eligible for awards which do not have the word "British" in the title. To that end the titles of several of the awards were amended to exclude the word "British". The Attenborough Award now goes to the best "British" and/or "Irish" film of the year, while the two British Supporting Actor awards lost the word "British" so that actors who regard themselves as either British and Irish (or both) are eligible for the supporting acting awards. The policy of including Irish candidates in certain "British" categories continues to generate controversy and ridicule.
Since 2007, the Newcomer Award was divided into two Breakthrough Awards, one for Acting, the other for Filmmaking. Previously filmmakers and actors had competed against each other for the Newcomer award.
Past and present award categories include:
Film of the Year (1980–present)
Foreign Language Film of the Year (1980–present)
Director of the Year (1980–present)
Screenwriter of the Year (1980–present)
Actor of the Year
Actress of the Year
Supporting Actor of the Year
Supporting Actress of the Year
International Newcomer of the Year
The Attenborough Award for the Best British or Irish Film of the Year
British or Irish Film of the Year (1991–present)
British or Irish Director of the Year
British or Irish Screenwriter of the Year
British of Irish Producer of the Year
British Technical Achievement of the Year
British or Irish Actor of the Year
British of Irish Actress of the Year
The Dilys Powell Award
British Newcomer of the Year (now divided into two Breakthrough awards for Acting and Filmmaking)
Actor of the Year (TIE)
William Hurt –
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Bob Hoskins –
Mona Lisa
Screenwriter of the Year
Woody Allen –
Hannah and Her Sisters
Director of the Year
Akira Kurosawa –
Ran
Film of the Year
A Room with a View
Actor of the Year (TIE)
Sean Connery –
The Untouchables
Gary Oldman –
Prick Up Your Ears
Screenwriter of the Year
Alan Bennett –
Prick Up Your Ears
Director of the Year
Stanley Kubrick –
Full Metal Jacket
Film of the Year
Hope and Glory
Actor of the Year (TIE)
Stephane Audran –
Babette's Feast
Leo McKern –
Traveling North
Screenwriter of the Year
David Mamet –
House of Games
Director of the Year
John Huston –
The Dead
Film of the Year
House of Games
Actor of the Year
Daniel Day-Lewis –
My Left Foot
Screenwriter of the Year
Christopher Hampton –
Dangerous Liaisons
Film of the Year
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Actor of the Year
Philippe Noiret –
Cinema Paradiso
Screenwriter of the Year
Woody Allen –
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Director of the Year
Woody Allen –
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Film of the Year
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Actor of the Year
Gérard Depardieu –
Cyrano de Bergerac
Actress of the Year
Susan Sarandon –
Thelma & Louise,
White Palace
British Actor of the Year
Alan Rickman –
Close My Eyes,
Truly, Madly, Deeply,
Quigley Down Under,
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
British Director of the Year
Alan Parker –
The Commitments
British Screenwriter of the Year
Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Roddy Doyle –
The Commitments
British Film of the Year
Life Is Sweet
Screenwriter of the Year
David Mamet –
Homicide
Director of the Year
Ridley Scott –
Thelma & Louise
Film of the Year
Thelma & Louise
Actor of the Year
Robert Downey Jr. –
Chaplin
Actress of the Year
Judy Davis –
Husbands and Wives,
Barton Fink,
Naked Lunch
British Actor of the Year
Daniel Day-Lewis –
The Last of the Mohicans
British Director of the Year
Neil Jordan –
The Crying Game
British Film of the Year
Howards End
British Screenwriter of the Year
Neil Jordan –
The Crying Game
Director of the Year
Robert Altman –
The Player
Film of the Year
Unforgiven
Newcomer of the Year
Baz Luhrmann –
Strictly Ballroom
Screenwriter of the Year
Michael Tolkin –
The Player
Actor of the Year
Anthony Hopkins –
The Remains of the Day
Actress of the Year
Holly Hunter –
The Piano
British Actor of the Year
David Thewlis –
Naked
British Actress of the Year
Miranda Richardson –
Fatale
British Director of the Year
Ken Loach –
Raining Stones
British Film of the Year
The Remains of the Day
British Screenwriter of the Year
Roddy Doyle –
The Snapper
Director of the Year
James Ivory –
The Remains of the Day
Film of the Year
The Piano
Newcomer of the Year
Quentin Tarantino –
Reservoir Dogs
Screenwriter of the Year
Harold Ramis, Danny Rubin –
Groundhog Day
Special Award
Kate Maberly –
The Secret Garden
Actor of the Year
John Travolta –
Pulp Fiction
Actress of the Year
Linda Fiorentino –
The Last Seduction
British Actor of the Year
Ralph Fiennes –
Schindler's List
British Actress of the Year
Crissy Rock –
Ladybird, Ladybird
British Director of the Year
Mike Newell –
Four Weddings and a Funeral
British Film of the Year
Four Weddings and a Funeral
British Producer of the Year
Duncan Kenworthy –
Four Weddings and a Funeral
British Screenwriter of the Year
Richard Curtis –
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Director of the Year
Steven Spielberg –
Schindler's List
Film of the Year
Schindler's List
Newcomer of the Year
Jim Carrey –
The Mask,
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Screenwriter of the Year
Quentin Tarantino –
Pulp Fiction
Special Award
Hugh Grant –
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Actor of the Year
Johnny Depp –
Ed Wood, Don Juan DeMarco
Actress of the Year
Nicole Kidman –
To Die For
British Actor of the Year
Nigel Hawthorne –
The Madness of King George
British Actress of the Year
Kate Winslet –
Heavenly Creatures
British Director of the Year
Michael Radford –
Il Postino: The Postman
British Film of the Year
The Madness of King George
British Newcomer of the Year
Danny Boyle –
Shallow Grave
British Screenwriter of the Year
Alan Bennett –
The Madness of King George
Director of the Year
Peter Jackson –
Heavenly Creatures
Film of the Year
Babe
Screenwriter of the Year
Paul Attanasio –
Quiz Show,
Disclosure
Actor of the Year
Morgan Freeman –
Seven
Actress of the Year
Frances McDormand –
Fargo
British Actor of the Year
Ian McKellen –
Richard III
Ewan McGregor –
Trainspotting, Brassed Off, Emma, The Pillow Book
British Actress of the Year
Brenda Blethyn –
Secrets & Lies
British Director of the Year
Mike Leigh –
Secrets & Lies
British Newcomer of the Year
Emily Watson –
Breaking the Waves
British Producer of the Year
Andrew Macdonald –
Trainspotting
British Screenwriter of the Year
Emma Thompson –
Sense and Sensibility
Director of the Year
Joel Coen –
Fargo
Film of the Year
Secrets & Lies
Screenwriter of the Year
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen –
Fargo
