Vancouver Film Critics Circle — the winners!

Who needs the Golden Globes? The Vancouver Film Critics Circle announced the winners of its own awards tonight, at a reception and ceremony held at the Vancouver International Film Centre.

I was a member of the Circle for its first few years, when there was nothing more to it than a bunch of critics sitting around a few tables at a pub or restaurant and passing around notes of paper; but tonight, for the second year in a row, the winners were “announced” at a ceremony that included tributes to high-profile members of the B.C. film community, and I was but a bystander. Ah well, it was nice to be invited, and to be able to take the wife out; many thanks to my sister for looking after the twins.

Here are the nominees, as per the press release I received a week ago, with the winners in bold, as per my memory of tonight:

CANADIAN FILMS

BEST CANADIAN FILM
Away From Her
Manufactured Landscapes
Monkey Warfare
The Rocket

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Paulo Costanzo, Everything’s Gone Green
Roy Dupuis, The Rocket
Don McKellar, Monkey Warfare

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEAD ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Carrie-Anne Moss, Fido
Tracy Wright, Monkey Warfare

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
JR Bourne, Everything’s Gone Green
Henry Czerny, Fido
Tim Blake Nelson, Fido
Ben Ratner, Mount Pleasant

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Erin Karpluk, Love and Other Dilemmas + Almost Heaven
Nadia Litz, Monkey Warfare
Kelly Rowan, Mount Pleasant

BEST DIRECTOR OF A CANADIAN FILM
Andrew Currie, Fido
Reg Harkema, Monkey Warfare
Sarah Polley, Away From Her

BEST BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM
Everything’s Gone Green
Fido
Mount Pleasant
Unnatural and Accidental

INTERNATIONAL FILMS

BEST FILM
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Kate Winslet, Little Children

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Steve Carell, Little Miss Sunshine
Brad Pitt, Babel

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriano Barazza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on A Scandal
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
L’Enfant
Letters from Iwo Jima
Volver

For comparison, check out the Genie Award nominations and the “Canada’s top ten” list compiled by the TIFF organizers.