National Board of Review Awards 2009

81st NBR Awards

January 12, 2010

---

Best Film: Up in the Air

The 81st National Board of Review Awards , honoring the best in film for 2009, are given on January 12, 2010. ^[1]

Top 10 Films

Up in the Air ^[2]

• (500) Days of Summer
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Invictus
• The Messenger
• A Serious Man
• Star Trek
• Up
• Where the Wild Things Are

Winners

Best Film:

• Up in the Air

Best Director:

• Clint Eastwood – Invictus

Best Actor (tie):

• Morgan Freeman – Invictus
• George Clooney – Up in the Air

Best Actress:

• Carey Mulligan – An Education

Best Supporting Actor:

• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress:

• Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air

Best Screenplay – Original:

• Joel and Ethan Coen – A Serious Man

Best Screenplay – Adapted:

• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner – Up in the Air

Best Animated Feature:

• Up

Best Foreign Language Film:

• A Prophet , France

Best Documentary Feature:

• The Cove

Best Ensemble Cast:

• It's Complicated

Breakthrough Male Performances:

• Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Female Performances:

• Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

Best Directorial Debut (tie):

• Duncan Jones – Moon
• Oren Moverman – The Messenger
• Marc Webb – (500) Days of Summer

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award:

• Wes Anderson – Fantastic Mr. Fox

William K. Everson Award for Film History:

• Jean Picker Firstenberg

Freedom of Expression Award:

• Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
• Invictus
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Top Foreign Films

A Prophet , France

• The Maid
• Revanche
• The Song of Sparrows
• Three Monkeys
• The White Ribbon

Top Documentaries

The Cove

• Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
• Crude
• Food, Inc.
• Good Hair
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Top Independent Films

• Amreeka
• District 9
• Goodbye Solo
• Humpday
• In the Loop
• Julia
• Me and Orson Welles
• Moon
• Sugar
• Two Lovers

References

1. "2009 Archives". National Board of Review. Retrieved 2025-04-03.
2. The NBR names its Best Film and then lists the remaining ten runners-up in alphabetical order.