Members of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle voted last Sunday and chose Jane Campion’s powerful and brutal “The Power of the Dog” as their best film of 2021.

Campion’s film, about two very different brothers on a cattle ranch in Montana in 1925, won the awards with eight in all, which is unusual for the 19-year-old Circle, who typically favor more varied choices.

The film also won two awards for Campion: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film is based on a 1967 novel by Thomas Savage.

Three actors from the film also won. Benedict Cumberbatch won the Best Actor award for his performance as breeder Phil Burbank, a surly and bitter man with a dark past.

Kirsten Dunst won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as alcoholic Rose Gordon, who marries Phil’s brother and sets chaos in motion. And Kodi Smit-McPhee picked out Best Supporting Actor as Rose’s effeminate son Peter, whose presence on the ranch strongly affects Phil.

In addition, the film won the award for its moving music by Jonny Greenwood (of the Radiohead group) and for its precise editing, by Peter Sciberras.

As for the other awards, Olivia Colman took home the Best Actress award for her role as Leda Caruso, a teacher who meets a young mother on vacation and finds herself rethinking her troubled past, in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Girl” .

Bay Area-born filmmaker Mike Mills took home the award for Best Original Screenplay for his touching and thoughtful “C’mon C’mon,” which starred Joaquin Phoenix as a radio reporter who finds himself to take care of his young nephew.

The Best Animated Feature went to Disney’s glorious “Encanto,” about a young woman in search of her special power while trying to save her magical family. But the animated documentary “Flee,” which tells the poignant tale of one man’s attempt to escape Afghanistan, came close enough to deserve honorable mention.

The best international feature film was the masterful “Drive My Car” by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, based on a story by Haruki Murakami, about a director who deals with the death of his wife while being driven by a young woman. stoic.

Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” won the award for best documentary. This extraordinary film rescues 50-year-old footage and tells the story of an astonishing and unjustly forgotten concert in the summer of 1969.

Bruno Delbonnel’s austere, harsh and black-and-white art in Joel Coen’s brilliant “The Tragedy of Macbeth” won the award for Best Cinematography, while Tamara Deverell’s work on Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” , including a richly textured carnival dripping with harsh colors and sinister corners, took the best production design.

The group’s Special Citation Award, which aims to distinguish little-known gems, resulted in a tie between two very different films: “Test Pattern” by Shatara Michelle Ford, about an interracial couple who spend the day looking for a rape kit. sexual assault. , and “Kuessipan” by Myriam Verreault, the story of two young Innu women whose long-standing friendship is put to the test.

Finally, the Marlon Riggs Award, which is aimed at filmmakers or people who represent courage and innovation in the film world, went to none other than EGOT winner Rita Moreno, who lives in Berkeley. In 2021, the legendary performer was the subject of her own cutting-edge documentary, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go”, in addition to having had an acclaimed performance in the remake of ” West Side Story ”by Steven Spielberg.

The SFBAFCC announced the full list of nominations on Friday, with “Drive My Car”, “The Green Knight” by David Lowery, “Licorice Pizza” by Paul Thomas Anderson, “West Side Story”, as well as “The Power of the Dog. “land in the Best Picture category.

Founded in 2002, the SFBAFCC is made up of critics and reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, East Bay Express, from the San Jose Metro, Palo Alto Weekly, the Marin Independent Journal, the San Francisco Examiner, KRON-TV, Variety, RottenTomatoes.com and more.

DISPLAY OPTIONS

“Come on, come on” – VOD

“Drive my car” – At the cinema

“Encanto” – Disney +

“Kessipan” – Amazon Prime

“The Lost Girl” – Netflix

“Nightmare Alley” – At the movies

“The Power of the Dog” – Netflix

“Rita Moreno: Just a girl who decided to go” – Netflix, Hoopla or Kanopy

“Soul Summer” – Hulu

“Test pattern” – VOD

“The Tragedy of Macbeth” – Apple TV + (from 1/14)

“West Side Story” – In the cinema