Vancouver Film Critics Circle

02/23/2026

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards go LIVE via YouTube. Tonight, 7 PM. Bring popcorn.

The 26th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards will be presented on February 23, 2026, to honour the films selected by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle as th...

01/28/2026

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER RECEIVES A COMMANDING SEVEN NOMINATIONS TO THE VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS AWARDS

Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest will compete in nearly every category, with Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn facing off in the Best Supporting Male Actor race.

One Battle after Another will face Hamnet and Marty Supreme for the Best Picture award.

One Battle after Another, a sprawling drama that pits revolutionaries against darkest forces hiding within the Establishment received seven nominations to the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s 2026 International Awards.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s tenth film will compete in nearly every category, including Best Picture, Director (Anderson), Screenplay, Male Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Supporting Male Actor (Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro), and Supporting Female Actor (Teyana Taylor).

Facing this formidable contender are two quietly powerful family dramas: Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, nominated for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Female Actor (Jessie Buckley); and Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, competing in the Best Male Actor (Stellan Skarsgård), Female Actor (Renate Reinsve), and Supporting Female Actor (Elle Fanning) categories.

Sentimental Value will also face Cannes rival It Was Just an Accident and Brazil’s breakout hit The Secret Agent for the Best International Film in Non-English Language award.

In the Documentary category, Netflix-backed titles The Perfect Neighbor —an indictment of America’s “stand your ground” laws— and Cover-Up, a portrait of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, will compete against Apple TV+’s bittersweet Come See Me in the Good Light.

The international accolades will be announced at the 26th VFCC Awards ceremony to take place on Monday, February 23 at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver.

Nominees by category:

Best Picture
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle after Another

Best Director
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle after Another
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Best Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle after Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Chloé Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet

Best Male Actor
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle after Another
Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams

Best Female Actor
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Male Actor
Benicio Del Toro, One Battle after Another
Sean Penn, One Battle after Another
Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Female Actor
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Teyana Taylor, One Battle after Another

Best Documentary
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cover-Up
The Perfect Neighbor

Best International Film in Non-English Language
It Was Just an Accident (Iran)
The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Sentimental Value (Norway)

01/28/2026

Mile End Kicks, a coming-into-your-own dramedy set against the Montreal music scene, collected the most nominations for the 2026 Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards. The film received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Female Actor (Barbie Ferreira), Supporting Female Actor (Juliette Gariépy), and two noms for Supporting Male Actor (Devon Bostick and Stanley Simons).

Chandler Levack’s sophomore effort will face Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll’s Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. The follow-up to the popular television series will compete in five categories, Best Picture, Director (Johnson), Screenplay (Johnson and McCarroll), Actor (Johnson) and Supporting Male Actor (McCarroll).

Rounding out the top category is the foremost Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk’s latest film, Uiksaringitara / Wrong Husband. The Arctic-set fairy tale is in the running for Best Picture and Best Director (Kunuk).

Two of the nominees in the Best BC Film category explore the immigrant experience from different angles: Sophy Romvari’s Blue Heron tackles the subject from the perspective of a Hungarian family relocating to Vancouver Island while dealing with the eldest son’s mental health issues. In turn, Ava Maria Safai’s Foreigner revolves around a teenager of Turkish descent whose decision to dye her hair blond has deadly consequences.

Romvari will also compete in the One to Watch category, alongside the director of the documentary Modern W***e, Nicole Bazuin, and the team behind the horror film Dream Eater, Alex Lee Williams, Mallory Drumm and Jay Drakulic.

The winner of the One to Watch award will receive a prize of $1,000, courtesy of TELEFILM Canada. The winner of Best BC Film will receive $500, courtesy of the Canadian Media Producers Association, BC Producers Branch.

Winners will be announced on Monday, February 23 at a ceremony at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver.

Nominees by category:

Best Picture
Mile End Kicks
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Uiksaringitara / Wrong Husband

Best Director
Matt Johnson, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Zacharias Kunuk, Uiksaringitara / Wrong Husband
Chandler Levack, Mile End Kicks

Best Screenplay
Matt Johnson & Jay McCarroll, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Chandler Levack, Mile End Kicks
Daniel Roher & Robert Ramsey, Tuner

Best Male Actor
Michael Greyeyes, Meadowlarks
Matt Johnson, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Leo Woodall, Tuner

Best Female Actor
Barbie Ferreira, Mile End Kicks
Tatiana Maslany, Keeper
Iringó Réti, Blue Heron

Best Supporting Male Actor
Devon Bostick, Mile End Kicks
Jay McCarroll, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Stanley Simons, Mile End Kicks

Best Supporting Female Actor
Juliette Gariépy, Mile End Kicks
Alex Rice, Meadowlarks
Michelle Thrush, Meadowlarks

Best Canadian Documentary
Forward
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story
Modern W***e

One to Watch ($1,000 prize donated by TELEFILM Canada)
Nicole Bazuin, Modern W***e
Sophy Romvari, Blue Heron
Alex Lee Williams, Mallory Drumm & Jay Drakulic, Dream Eater

Best BC Film ($500 prize donated by CMPA-BC)
Blue Heron
Foreigner
Forward

Best BC Director
Sophy Romvari, Blue Heron
Ava Marie Safai, Foreigner
Nic Collar, Forward
Tasha Hubbard, Meadowlarks

Total nominations by film:

Mile End Kicks — 7
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie — 5
Meadowlarks — 4
Blue Heron — 4
Forward — 3
Uiksaringitara / Wrong Husband — 2
Modern W***e — 2
Foreigner — 2
Tuner — 2
Keeper — 1
Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story — 1
Dream Eater — 1

02/22/2025

MY OLD ASS WINS BIG AT THE VFCC’S CANADIAN AWARDS; CAN I GET A WITNESS? DOMINATES BRITISH COLUMBIA CATEGORIES

The lead of Can I Get a Witness? Keira Jang received the TELEFILM-Canada One to Watch award.

My Old Ass, a new take on the coming-of-age in cottage country movie, collected three wins at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards. The film won Best Picture, Screenplay (Megan Park), and Female Actor (Maisy Stella).

The post-apocalyptic drama Can I Get a Witness? won two of the Canadian categories (Best Director for Ann Marie Fleming, Supporting Female Actor for Sandra Oh), but was dominant in the Best of British Columbia section, taking two additional awards (Best BC Director, BC Film). In addition, the lead of Can I Get a Witness?, Keira Jang, was rewarded with the TELEFILM-Canada One to Watch award, with a prize of $1,000.

The winner of Best BC Director, Ann Marie Fleming, received $500, award funded by the Directors Guild of Canada, BC District. As the winner of Best BC Film, the producers of Can I Get a Witness? received $500, courtesy of the Canadian Media Producers Association, BC Producers Branch.

Other victors this evening at the VFCC Awards were Matt Johnson (Best Male Actor, Matt and Mara), Patrick J. Adams (Best Supporting Male Actor, Young Werther), and the Oscar nominated film Sugarcane (Best Director).

These are the winners per category:

BEST PICTURE: My Old Ass
BEST DIRECTOR: Ann Marie Fleming, Can I Get a Witness?
BEST SCREENPLAY: Megan Park, My Old Ass
BEST MALE ACTOR: Matt Johnson, Matt and Mara
BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Maisy Stella, My Old Ass
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR: Patrick J. Adams, Young Werther
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR: Sandra Oh, Can I Get a Witness?
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Sugarcane
TELEFILM-CANADA ONE TO WATCH AWARD: Keira Jang, Can I Get a Witness?
CMPA-BC BEST BC FILM AWARD: Can I Get a Witness?
DGC-BC BEST BC DIRECTOR AWARD: Ann Marie Fleming, Can I Get a Witness?

By number of awards:

Can I Get a Witness?: 5
My Old Ass: 3
Matt and Mara: 1
Young Werther: 1
Sugarcane: 1

02/22/2025

ANORA EMERGES AS THE BIG WINNER AT THE VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

Sean Baker’s film won the Best Picture and Best Female Actor categories. A Real Pain also received two awards: Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Male Actor.

Anora, the story of a sympathetic s*x worker fighting tooth and nail to protect her happy-ever-after, emerged as the Best Picture winner at the 25th Vancouver Film Critics Circle awards. In addition, the film’s lead Mikey Madison won the award to the Best Female Actor.

The event took place Tuesday evening at the VIFF Theatre. Sean Baker, who used to be a regular at this venue, sent a heartfelt acknowledgement video.

Anora’s fiercest competitor was A Real Pain. The dramedy about cousins reconnecting while following their grandmother’s Holocaust journey won two categories, Best Screenplay (Jesse Eisenberg) and Best Supporting Male Actor (Kieran Culkin).

A Complete Unknown emerged victorious in one of the three categories it was competing: Best Male Actor (Timothée Chalamet). Margaret Qualley was the surprising winner of the Best Supporting Female Actor award, while Flow triumphed in the competitive Best International Film in Non-English Language category.

The harrowing documentary No Other Land collected another award by besting Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper in the Best Documentary category.

Here’s the list of the VFCC awards’ winners:

BEST PICTURE: Anora
BEST DIRECTOR: Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two
BEST SCREENPLAY: Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
BEST MALE ACTOR: Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Mikey Madison, Anora
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR: Margaret Qualley, The Substance
BEST DOCUMENTARY: No Other Land
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM IN A NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Flow

By number of awards:

Anora: 2
A Real Pain: 2
A Complete Unknown: 1
Dune: Part Two: 1
Flow: 1
No Other Land: 1
The Substance: 1

02/19/2025

01/22/2025

CAN I GET A WITNESS? AND MY OLD ASS COMMANDED THE MOST NOMINATIONS FOR BEST IN CANADIAN FILM FROM VANCOUVER CRITICS

Can I Get a Witness? also dominated the Best of BC film categories.

High profile Canadian productions 40 Acres, Young Werther, and Rumours are also in the running in several categories.

Two radically dissimilar movies, a post-apocalyptic drama and a coming-of-age comedy with a metaphysical slant, accumulated the most nominations for the upcoming Vancouver Film Critic Circle awards.

Ann Marie Fleming’s Can I Get a Witness? received eight mentions, while Megan Park’s My Old Ass got seven. Both movies are writer/director vehicles that will compete for the Best Canadian Film award alongside another dystopian drama, 40 Acres.

The end of the world was a source of inspiration for several of the Canadian films vying for a VFCC award, including Guy Maddin’s absurdist Rumours. The G7 all-star comedy was nominated for Best Picture and Best Male Actor (Roy Dupuis).

Last year’s multiple VFCC award winner Matt Johnson (BlackBerry) will compete this year in the Best Male Actor category for Matt and Mara. His co-star in the movie (also a previous VFCC award winner), Deragh Campbell, will vie for the Best Female Actor prize.

The Best Supporting Female Actor is shaping to be one for the ages. Emmy winner Sandra Oh, Screen Actors Guild nominee (and VFCC award winner) Alison Pill. And SAG award winner Aubrey Plaza are all nominated in this category.

The Best BC Film award has two documentaries facing Can I Get a Witness?, both about creators involved in uphill battles to get their work to the public: Ari’s Theme and The Chef & the Daruma.

The highly competitive One to Watch category features two actors-turned-directors (Megan Park, Mongrels’ Jerome Yoo) and a performer crushing her first lead (Can I Get a Witness?’ Keira Jang). The winner will receive a prize of $1,000, courtesy of TELEFILM-Canada.

The winner of Best BC Director category will be awarded $500, courtesy of the Directors Guild of Canada, BC District. The winner of Best BC Film will receive $500, courtesy of the Canadian Media Producers Association, BC Producers Branch.

The results will be announced on February 18th at a ceremony to take place at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver.

These are the nominees per category:

Best Picture
Can I Get a Witness?
40 Acres
My Old Ass
Rumours

Best Director
Ann Marie Fleming, Can I Get a Witness?
Megan Park, My Old Ass
R.T. Thorne, 40 Acres

Best Screenplay
Ann Marie Fleming, Can I Get a Witness?
Megan Park, My Old Ass
Matthew Rankin, Universal Language

Best Male Actor
Roy Dupuis, Rumours
Matt Johnson, Matt and Mara
Jae-Hyun Kim, Mongrels

Best Female Actor
Deragh Campbell, Matt and Mara
Amy Forsythe, Inedia
Keira Jang, Can I Get a Witness?
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass

Best Supporting Male Actor
Patrick J. Adams, Young Werther
Kataem O'Connor, 40 Acres
Percy Hynes White, My Old Ass

Best Supporting Female Actor
Sandra Oh, Can I Get a Witness?
Alison Pill, Young Werther
Aubrey Plaza, My Old Ass

Best Canadian Documentary
Ari’s Theme
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
Blue Rodeo: Lost Together
The Movie Man
Sugarcane

One to Watch
Keira Jang, Can I Get a Witness?
Megan Park, My Old Ass
Jerome Yoo, Mongrels

Best BC Film
Ari’s Theme
Can I Get a Witness?
The Chief & the Daruma

Best BC Director
Liz Cairns, Inedia
Ann Marie Fleming, Can I Get a Witness?
Jerome Yoo, Mongrels

Breakdown by total of nominations:

Can I Get a Witness?: 8
My Old Ass: 7
40 Acres: 3
Mongrels: 3
Rumours: 2
Matt and Mara: 2
Inedia: 2
Young Werther: 2
Ari’s Theme: 2
Universal Language: 1
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story: 1
Blue Rodeo: Lost Together: 1
Sugarcane: 1
The Movie Man: 1
The Chief and the Daruma: 1

01/22/2025

ANORA BREAKS THROUGH AS 2025 VANCOUVER CRITICS AWARDS’ MOST NOMINATED INTERNATIONAL FILM

Sean Baker’s dramedy received five nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.

Anora will face The Brutalist, A Real Pain, and A Complete Unknown, with three nominations apiece.

Anora, the story of a s*x worker fiercely standing for herself following an ill-advised relationship with the son of a Russian oligarch, received five nominations to the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards. The dramedy will compete in the Best Picture, Director (Sean Baker), Screenplay (by Baker), Female Actor (Mikey Madison), and Best Supporting Male Actor (Yuri Borisov).

The film will be competing mainly against three films, each of them with three nominations: The Brutalist (Picture, Screenplay, Male Actor), A Real Pain (Picture, Screenplay, Supporting Male Actor), and A Complete Unknown (Male Actor, Supporting Male Actor, Supporting Female Actor).

The Substance scored two acting nominations: Best Female Actor (Demi Moore) and Best Supporting Female Actor (Margaret Qualley). This last category also includes Zoe Saldaña from Emilia Pérez, a film that will also be competing for Best International Film in Non-English Language award.

The Best Documentary nominees include two feel-good showbiz stories —Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Will & Harper— and No Other Land, a film by an Israeli Palestinian collective about the destruction of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank.
The Best International Film in the Non-English Language category features the Latvian animation Flow, notable for its dialogue-free storytelling.

The winners will be announced at the 25th VFCC Awards ceremony to take place on February 18th at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver.

These are the nominees per category:

Best Picture
Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain

Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys
Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two

Best Screenplay
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain

Best Male Actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing

Best Female Actor
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

Best Supporting Male Actor
Yuri Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown

Best Supporting Female Actor
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Best Documentary
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper

Best International Film in Non-English Language
All We Imagine as Light
Emilia Pérez
Flow

Breakdown by total of nominations:

Anora: 5
The Brutalist: 3
A Complete Unknown: 3
A Real Pain: 3
Emilia Pérez: 2
The Substance: 2
Nickel Boys: 1
Dune: Part Two: 1
Sing Sing: 1
The Outrun: 1
No Other Land: 1
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story: 1
Will & Harper: 1
All We Imagine as Light: 1
Flow: 1

02/16/2024

And now, for the records:

BLACKBERRY SWEEPS VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE’S CANADIAN AWARDS; SEAGRASS DOMINATES BC CATEGORIES

Director Ariana Louis-Seize (Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person) received the TELEFILM-Canada One to Watch award.

BlackBerry, the fictionalized retelling of the rise and fall of the trailblazing Canadian start-up, collected five wins at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Male Actor, and Supporting Male Actor. Matt Johnson’s film won every category it was nominated for.

In turn, both the British Columbia awards went to the family drama Seagrass: Best BC Director (Meredith Hama-Brown) and BC Film. Another film made in the province, Satan Wants You (about the satanic panic hysteria during the 80’s) won Best Documentary.

The co-writer/director of Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Ariana Louis-Seize was rewarded with the TELEFILM-Canada One to Watch award, with a prize worth $1,000. The protagonist of Humanist Vampire, Sara Montpetit, won Best Female Actor.

The winner of Best BC Director, Meredith Hama-Brown, was awarded $500, provided by the Directors Guild of Canada, BC District. As the winner of Best BC Film, the producers of Seagrass are to receive $500, courtesy of the Canadian Media Producers Association, BC Producers Branch.

These are the winners per category:

BEST PICTURE: BlackBerry
BEST DIRECTOR: Matt Johnson, BlackBerry
BEST SCREENPLAY: Matt Johnson & Matthew Miller, BlackBerry
BEST MALE ACTOR: Jay Baruchel, BlackBerry
BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Sara Montpetit, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR: Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR: Nyha Huang Breitkreuz, Seagrass
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Satan Wants You
TELEFILM-CANADA ONE TO WATCH AWARD: Ariana Louis-Seize, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
CMPA-BC BEST BC FILM AWARD: Seagrass
DGC-BC BEST BC DIRECTOR AWARD: Meredith Hama-Brown, Seagrass

By number of awards:

BlackBerry: 5
Seagrass: 3
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person: 2
Satan Wants You: 1

02/16/2024

Let's make it official, shall we?

ANATOMY OF A FALL SURPRISES WITH A BEST PICTURE WIN AT THE VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

Oppenheimer and The Holdovers received two recognitions each.

The morally-charged French court drama Anatomy of a Fall took the Best Picture recognition at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, at a ceremony that took place this evening at the VIFF Theatre. The star of the film, Sandra Hüller, won the Best Female Actor category.

Oppenheimer, which arrived with the most nominations to the event (6), won two awards: Best Director (Christopher Nolan) and Best Supporting Male Actor (Robert Downey Jr.). The Holdovers also emerged victorious in two categories: Best Male Actor (Paul Giamatti) and Best Supporting Female Actor (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Barbie won the only category it was nominated for, Best Screenplay (Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach). To Kill a Tiger displayed the same success rate by winning Best Documentary.

In spite of winning Best Picture, Anatomy of a Fall was bested in the Best International Film in a Non-English Language category by the historical drama The Zone of Interest.

These are the winners per category:

BEST PICTURE: Anatomy of a Fall
BEST DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
BEST SCREENPLAY: Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach, Barbie
BEST MALE ACTOR: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
BEST SUPPORTING MALE ACTOR: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE ACTOR: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
BEST DOCUMENTARY: To Kill a Tiger
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM IN A NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Zone of Interest

By number of awards:

Anatomy of a Fall: 2
Oppenheimer: 2
The Holdovers: 2
Barbie: 1
To Kill a Tiger: 1
The Zone of Interest: 1