“The Descendants” starring George Clooney as a father in Hawaii trying to take care of his daughters after his wife falls into an accident-induced coma, was named this year’s best film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The family drama, The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt was named runner-up best film, and its director Terrence Malick received the award for best director of the year.
Bill Morrison received the Doublas Edwards Independent/Experimental Award for his experimental film Spark of Being. Spark of Being is a an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s story using distressed and decaying images from old nitrate films, with the score from jazz musician Dave Douglas.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the 3-D documentary film by Werner Herzog, about the Chauvet Cave in southern France, received the prize for best documentary and Clio Barnard’s The Arbor was named runner-up.
Lu Chaun’s City of Life and Death was picked as best foreign film, and Asghar Farhadi, A Separation was named runner-up best foreign film. A Separation, Iran’s submission for the best foreign-language Oscar, did win for best screenplay.
2011 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Winners
BEST PICTURE
“The Descendants”
Runner-up: “The Tree of Life”
BEST DIRECTOR
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
RUNNER-UP Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
BEST ACTOR
Michael Fassbender, “A Dangerous Method”, “Jane Eyre”, “Shame”, “X-Men: First Class.”
Runner-up: Michael Shannon (“Take Shelter”)
BEST ACTRESS
YUn Jung-hee “Poetry”
Runner-up: Kirsten Dunst (“Melancholia”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Runner-up: Patton Oswalt (“Young Adult”)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, “Coriolanus”, “The Debt”, “The Help”, “Take Shelter”, “Texas Killing Fields”, “Tree of Life”
Runner-up: Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”
Runner-up: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (“The Descendants”)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, “The Tree of Life”
Runner-up: Cao Yu (“City of Life and Death”)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dante Ferretti, “Hugo”
Runner-up: Maria Djurkovic (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”)
BEST MUSIC SCORE
“HANNA” The Chemical Brothers
Runner-up: “Drive”, Cliff Martinez
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
“City of Life and Death” Directed by Chuan Lu
Runner-up: “A Separation” Directed by Asghar Farhadi
BEST DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM
“Cave of Forgotten Dreams” Directed by Werner Herzog
Runner-up: “The Arbor” directed by Clio Barnard
BEST ANIMATION
“Rango” Directed BY Gore Verbinski
Runner-up: “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” directed by steven Spielberg
NEW GENERATION
Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Josh Mond and Elizabeth Olsen, “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Doris Day
THE DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL/INDEPENDENT FILM/VIDEO AWARD
Bill Morrison, “Spark of Being”