I have the pleasure of being a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association. Yesterday the voting body presented our awards for the best of the 2021 movie year. It was an interesting year and the voting reflected it. Few of my picks actually won, but I love the group’s enthusiasm and careful consideration that lead to this announcement (Look for my personal Top 10 and a couple weeks). Here is our official press release.

HEADLINE: The Southeastern Film Critics Association Names Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ as the Best Picture of 2021. Campion’s haunting and soulful western also won for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director

ATLANTA, DECEMBER 13, 2021 – The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has announced its accolades for 2021 and chosen Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog as the Best Picture of the Year. This is the second time a Campion film has won Best Picture and Best Director as SEFCA also recognized her film The Piano back in 1993. Her latest work, based on the novel by Thomas Savage, is a captivating examination of loneliness, masculinity, and frailty set on a ranch in 1925 Montana.

“Jane Campion has been one of our finest directors for decades, and I’m thrilled that our members chose to recognize her exquisite work on The Power of the Dog,” said SEFCA President Matt Goldberg. “Campion has crafted a unique Western that gets to the core of the genre while still feeling fresh and vital. It’s an absolute triumph of mood, performances, and craft that will certainly go down as one of her finest movies in a career full of marvelous filmmaking.”

SEFCA voters also recognized The Power of the Dog in the categories of Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst while Kristen Stewart was awarded Best Actress for her turn as Princess Diana in Spencer.

Award winners below:

Top 10 Films

1. The Power of the Dog

2. Licorice Pizza

3. Belfast

4. The Green Knight

5. West Side Story

6. The French Dispatch

7. Tick, Tick…BOOM!

8. Drive My Car

9. Dune

10. Summer of Soul

Best Actor

Winner: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Runner-Up: Will Smith, King Richard

Best Actress

Winner: Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Runner-Up: Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Runner-Up: Jeffrey Wright, The French Dispatch

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Runner-Up: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Best Ensemble

Winner: The French Dispatch

Runner-Up: Mass

Best Director

Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Runner-Up: Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

Runner-Up: Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Runner-Up: Tony Kushner, West Side Story

Best Documentary

Winner: Summer of Soul

Runner-Up: Flee

Best Foreign-Language Film

Winner: Drive My Car

Runner-Up: The Worst Person in the World

Best Animated Film

Winner: The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Runner-Up: Flee

Best Cinematography

Winner: Greig Fraser, Dune

Runner-Up: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog

Best Score

Winner: Hans Zimmer, Dune

Runner-Up: Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog