The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) today named “Small Axe” Steve McQueen’s anthology series, as Best Picture of the Year. Small Axe is an anthology series comprised of five original films set from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s that tell personal stories from London’s West Indian community, whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will despite rampant racism and discrimination. The title is derived from the African proverb, “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.”

“We are so thrilled to honor the unprecedented, resonant and masterful ‘Small Axe,’ Steve McQueen’s quintet of thematically linked films,” said LAFCA President Claudia Puig. “And we are also honored to award the artistry of a wonderfully diverse and massively talented group of winning filmmakers. Particularly notable in a year when the film industry took a huge blow, our winners reflect extraordinary achievement.”

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association chose director/screenwriter/producer/actor Hou Hsiao-Hsien and singer/songwriter/activist/actor Harry Belafonte as the recipients of this year’s Career Achievement Awards, and chose actor/producer/director Norman Lloyd as the recipient of the Legacy Award.

Due to COVID-19, the annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards ceremony will not be held this year.

46TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

PICTURE: SMALL AXE
Runner-up: NOMADLAND

DIRECTOR: Chloe Zhao, NOMADLAND
Runner-up: Steve McQueen, SMALL AXE

ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL

ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Glynn Turman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Runner-up: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI
Runner-up: Amanda Seyfried, MANK

SCREENPLAY: Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Runner-up: Eliza Hittman, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS

ANIMATION: WOLFWALKERS
Runner-up: SOUL

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: BEANPOLE
Runner-up: MARTIN EDEN

DOCUMENTARY / NON-FICTION FILM: TIME
Runner-up: COLLECTIVE

NEW GENERATION: Radha Blank, THE 40-YEAR-OLD-VERSION

FILM EDITING: Yorgos Lamprinos, THE FATHER
Runner-up: Gabriel Rhodes, TIME

CINEMATOGRAPHY: SMALL AXE, Shabier Kirchner
Runner-up: NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Donald Graham Burt, MANK
Runner-up: Sergey Ivanov, BEANPOLE

MUSIC/SCORE: SOUL
Runner-up: LOVERS ROCK

DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: John Gianvito’s HER SOCIALIST SMILE

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Harry Belafonte

LEGACY AWARD: Norman Lloyd