8th NSFC Awards
January 4, 1974
Best Film:
Day for Night
The 8th National Society of Film Critics Awards honored the best filmmaking of 1973. Voting by nineteen members of the society took place on 2 January 1974 and winners announced that day. Citations were presented to the winners in a ceremony on 20 January 1974. Both the voting and the ceremony occurred at the Algonquin Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. [1] [2]
François Roland Truffaut was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. With a career of more than 25 years, he is an icon of the French film industry.
The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the Nuit des César ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Ministry of Culture. The nationally televised award ceremony is held in Paris each year in February. The exact location has changed over the years. It is an initiative of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, which was founded in 1975.
The 400 Blows is a 1959 French coming-of-age drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut, who also co-wrote the film. Shot in the anamorphic format DyaliScope, the film stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his rebellious behavior. Filmed on location in Paris and Honfleur, it is the first in a series of five films in which Léaud plays the semi-autobiographical character.
Jean-Pierre Léaud, ComM is a French actor best known for being an important figure of the French New Wave and his portrayal of Antoine Doinel in a series of films by François Truffaut, beginning with The 400 Blows (1959). He has worked with Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, and Jacques Rivette, as well as other notable directors such as Jean Cocteau, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, Jerzy Skolimowski, and Aki Kaurismäki.
Marie-France Pisier was a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Day for Night is a 1973 romantic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by François Truffaut. The metafictional and self-reflexive film chronicles the troubled production of a melodrama, and the various personal and professional challenges of the cast and crew. It stars Jacqueline Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Dani, Alexandra Stewart, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Truffaut himself.
Valentina Cortese, sometimes credited as Valentina Cortesa, was an Italian film and theatre actress. In her 50 years spanning career, she appeared in films of Italian and international directors like Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Franco Zeffirelli, François Truffaut, Terry Gilliam, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and others.
Danièle Graule, known as Dani, was a French actress and singer.
The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2024, the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers along with major publications and media outlets.
That Most Important Thing: Love is a French film directed by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski. It tells the story of a passionate love relationship between Nadine Chevalier, a B-List actress, and Servais Mont, a photographer, in the violent and unforgiving French show business.
The Last Metro is a 1980 historical drama film, written and directed by François Truffaut, that stars Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu.
Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye is a French film, television, and stage actress. She began her career in 1970 and has appeared in more than 80 films. A ten-time César Award nominee, her four wins were for Every Man for Himself (1980), Strange Affair (1981), La Balance (1982), and The Young Lieutenant (2005). Her other films include Day for Night (1973), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Tell No One (2006), and The Assistant (2015). In 2009, she was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Zénaïde Rossi was a singer, actress, and entertainer, also known under the stage name Irene Reni.
The 39th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 27 January 1974, honored the best filmmaking of 1973.
The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director is an annual award given by National Society of Film Critics to honor the best film director of the year.
Suzanne Schiffman was a French screenwriter and director for numerous motion pictures. She often worked with François Truffaut. The 'script girl' Joelle, played by Nathalie Baye in Truffaut's Day for Night was based on Schiffman. It accurately portrayed her close collaboration with Truffaut and other directors.
The French Syndicate of Cinema Critics has, each year since 1946, awarded a prize, the Prix Méliès, to the best French film of the preceding year. More awards have been added over time: the Prix Léon Moussinac for the best foreign film, added in 1967; the Prix Novaïs-Texeira for the best short film, added in 1999; prizes for the best first French and best first foreign films, added in 2001 and 2014, respectively; etc.
The 27th British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, took place on 6 March 1974 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 1973. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 1973.
The 5th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 10 January 1971, honored the best filmmaking of 1970.
Two Days, One Night is a 2014 drama film written and directed by the Dardenne brothers, starring Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione, with Christelle Cornil, Olivier Gourmet and Catherine Salée in supporting roles. The film is an international co-production between Belgium, France, and Italy, and had its world premiere at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. It was released theatrically in Belgium and France on 21 May 2014, through Cinéart and Diaphana, respectively, and in Italy through BIM Distribuzione on 13 November 2014.