National Society of Film Critics

Last updated

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. [1]

Contents

History

The society was founded in 1966 in the New York City apartment of the Saturday Review critic Hollis Alpert, one of several co-founding film critics who was refused membership to the New York Film Critics Circle because it preferred critics who worked for mainstream newspapers. His co-founders included Pauline Kael, a writer for The New Yorker , Joe Morgenstern, then a movie reviewer for Newsweek and Richard Schickel, a film critic for Life magazine. The society was founded to counteract the influence of New York Times critic Bosley Crowther, who dominated the New York City film critics scene for many years. The original founding film critics, who were overwhelmingly based in New York, called their new group a "national" organization because they wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers with a national circulation. [2]

Past distinguished members include Richard Corliss, the late Roger Ebert, David Edelstein, Stanley Kauffmann and Dave Kehr. As of November 2023, the 61 current members include David Ansen, Richard Brody, Justin Chang, Steve Erickson, Emanuel Levy, Amy Nicholson, Gerald Peary, Jonathan Rosenbaum, David Sterritt, Peter Travers, Kenneth Turan and Stephanie Zacharek. [3]

The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the more prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In past years, many of its Best Picture winners have been foreign films, and the choices rarely parallel the Academy Awards. It has agreed with the Oscar in nine instances since 1977: Annie Hall (1977), Unforgiven (1992), Schindler's List (1993), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Hurt Locker (2009), Spotlight (2015), Moonlight (2016), Parasite (2019), and Nomadland (2020). [1] [4] Five other winners did receive the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: Z , The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie ( French : Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie), Day for Night (French : La Nuit américaine), Get Out Your Handkerchiefs ( French : Préparez vos mouchoirs), and Amour .

The NSFC is also the American representative of the International Federation of Film Critics, which comprises the national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world. [5]

Books

The society has published an ongoing series of anthologies of articles, including:

Annual film award categories

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Burton</span> Welsh actor (1925–1984)

Richard Burton was a Welsh actor.

<i>The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie</i> 1972 film by Luis Buñuel

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is a 1972 French-language surrealist black comedy film directed by Luis Buñuel and co-written by Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière. The narrative concerns a group of French bourgeoisie and the fictional South American country of Miranda's ambassador to France attempting—despite continual interruptions—to dine together. The film stars Fernando Rey, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier, Julien Bertheau, and Milena Vukotic.

<i>Pixote</i> 1980 film by Héctor Babenco

Pixote: a Lei do Mais Fraco is a 1980 Brazilian crime drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. The screenplay was written by Babenco and Jorge Durán, based on the book A Infância dos Mortos by José Louzeiro. The film is a docudrama account of Brazil's lower classes youth exposure to organized crime and police corruption.

The 40th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 7 January 2006, honored the best in film for 2005.

The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. The organization was founded in January 1997 by Harvey S. Karten, an early online critic who discovered that membership in the New York Film Critics Circle was open only to journalists working for newspapers and magazines. Online critics have generally found it difficult to gain acceptance for their work, and one role of the OFCS is to provide professional recognition to the most prolific and successful online critics.

Hollis Alpert was an American film critic and author. Alpert was best known as the cofounder of the National Society of Film Critics, which he started in his New York City apartment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film award</span> Recognition for cinematic achievements

Film award is a cinematic award which can be awarded in several categories. Unlike the film festival, the film award is not accompanied by a public screening of competitive films. Film awards are usually awarded based on the results of a secret voting of experts and less often on the results of the jury discussion.

The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Non-Fiction Film is the award given for best feature documentary film at the annual National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) Awards. The category was introduced in 1985 and was originally named Best Documentary.

The 2nd National Society of Film Critics Awards, given by the National Society of Film Critics in January 1968, honored the best in film for 1967.

The 7th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 29 December 1972, honored the best filmmaking of 1972.

The 5th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 10 January 1971, honored the best filmmaking of 1970.

The 4th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 5 January 1970, honored the best filmmaking of 1969.

<i>Inside Llewyn Davis</i> 2013 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

Inside Llewyn Davis is a 2013 period black comedy drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1961, the film follows one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac in his breakthrough role, a folk singer struggling to achieve musical success while keeping his life in order. The supporting cast includes Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake and Adam Driver.

The 79th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2013, were announced on December 3, 2013 and presented on January 6, 2014.

The 48th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 4 January 2014, honored the best in film for 2013.

This is a list of the films directed by Luis Buñuel.

The International Cinephile Society is an online organization of professional film critics and journalists worldwide. It was founded in 2003 and, as of February 2024, has approximately 170 members—among them are Mike D'Angelo, Justin Chang, and Stephanie Zacharek (Time).

References

  1. 1 2 "'Inside Llewyn Davis' Dominates National Society of Film Critics Awards". TheWrap. January 4, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
    - "'Inside Llewyn Davis' wins National Society of Film Critics honors" . Los Angeles Times . January 4, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014. The society, which was founded in 1966 and includes principal critics from major papers and outlets, often disagrees with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over their top choices.
  2. Nelson, Valerie J. (December 7, 2007). "Hollis Alpert, at 91; author cofounded film critic society". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  3. "2013 Awards: "Inside Llewyn Davis," Oscar Isaac, Cate Blanchett". National Society of Film Critics. January 4, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
    - "Who We Are". National Society of Film Critics. 8 January 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  4. Scott Foundas (January 9, 2014). "National Society of Film Critics Offers a More Civil Awards-Season Alternative". Variety . Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  5. "About the Society". National Society of Film Critics. 8 January 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2015.