The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) this morning announced their 2011 winners, and the winner of Best Film went to the black-and-white, silent film homage “The Artist.” Splitting Best Film and Best Director, Martin Scorsese won top directing honors for “Hugo.”

Best Actor and Best Actress went to two former television stars, George Clooney (for his role as a grieving husband in “The Descendants”) and Michelle Williams (for channeling film icon Marilyn Monroe in “My Week with Marilyn”), respectively. Albert Brooks won Best Supporting Actor for his role as a cutthroat mobster in “Drive,” and Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for her role as an outspoken maid in “The Help.” The Best Acting Ensemble award went to the cast of the ribald comedy, “Bridesmaids.”

“The Descendants,” about a man who discovers his comatose wife had been cheating on him, also won Best Adapted Screenplay, while “50/50,” about a young man’s challenge to overcome cancer, secured Best Original Screenplay.

Best Animated Feature went to special effects juggernaut Industrial Light and Magic’s first animated film, “Rango;” Best Documentary went to Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” about the discovery of 30,000-year-old cave paintings in France; and Pedro Almod—var’s “The Skin I Live In” took home Best Foreign Language Film.

Best Art Direction went to Production Designer icon Dante Ferretti and Set Decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo for “Hugo.” Emmanuel Lubezki won Best Cinematography for his work on Terrence Malick’s contemplative “The Tree of Life.” Ludovic Bource won Best Score for his omnipresent work in “The Artist.”

The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association is comprised of 43 DC-VA-MD-based film critics from television, radio, print and the Internet. Voting was conducted from December 2-4, 2011.

THE 2011 WAFCA AWARD WINNERS: 

Best Film:
The Artist

Best Director:
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor:
George Clooney (The Descendants)

Best Actress:
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks (Drive)

Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Bridesmaids

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants)

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Animated Feature:
Rango

Best Documentary:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Skin I Live In

Best Art Direction:
Dante Ferretti, Production Designer, and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Set Decorator (Hugo)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

Best Score:
Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

The 2011 WAFCA AWARD NOMINEES Were:

Best Film:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
Win Win

Best Director:
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor:
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Michael Fassbender (Shame)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best Actress:
Viola Davis (The Help)
Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
Albert Brooks (Drive)
John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

Best Supporting Actress:
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Carey Mulligan (Shame)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Bridesmaids
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Help
Hugo
Margin Call

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants)
Tate Taylor (The Help)
John Logan (Hugo)
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball)
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)

Best Original Screenplay:
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Tom McCarthy (Win Win)
Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Animated Feature:
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Puss in Boots
Rango
Winnie the Pooh

Best Documentary:
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life
Project Nim

Best Foreign Language Film:
13 Assassins
Certified Copy
I Saw the Devil
Pina
The Skin I Live In

Best Art Direction:
Lawrence Bennett, Production Designer, and Gregory S. Hooper, Art Director (The Artist)
Stuart Craig, Production Designer, and Stephenie McMillan, Set Decorator (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)
Dante Ferretti, Production Designer, and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Set Decorator (Hugo)
Jack Fisk, Production Designer, and Jeanette Scott, Set Decorator (The Tree of Life)
Rick Carter, Production Designer, and Lee Sandales, Set Decorator (War Horse)

Best Cinematography:
Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)
Robert Richardson (Hugo)
Manuel Alberto Claro (Melancholia)
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)
Janusz Kaminski (War Horse)

Best Score:
Ludovic Bource (The Artist)
Cliff Martinez (Drive)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Howard Shore (Hugo)
John Williams (War Horse)