Wendy and Lucy

A girl and her dog, a broken-down gladiator and a fractured American family were the big winners at the 2008 awards of the Toronto Film Critics Association, it was announced today. Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams as a young woman whose life is turned upside-down when her car dies in Oregon, was named the year’s Best Picture.

Williams was named Best Actress for her performance in the film.Jonathan Demme’s ensemble drama Rachel Getting Married took three of the Association’s twelve awards. Demme was named Best Director; Jenny Lumet was honored with the Best Screenplay award; and Rosemarie DeWitt was named Best Supporting Actress.

Mickey Rourke won the Best Actor award for his role as an aging professional wrestler facing the end of his career in The Wrestler. The late Heath Ledger was named Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Andrew Stanton’s WALL*E took the Best Animated Feature prize; Man on Wire, James Marsh’s recounting of Philip Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, was named Best Documentary Feature. Lance Hammer’s Ballast, about three people trying to overcome tragedy on the Mississippi Delta, was named Best First Feature. Tomas Alfredson’s Swedish vampire drama Let the Right One In won the Best Foreign-Language Film prize.

“Toronto is home to a remarkably diverse and astute community of film critics,” said TFCA President Brian D. Johnson. “And our members have distinguished themselves with a unique list of awards that recognize passionate, breakout performances and films of exemplary vision and audacity. “The 2008 TFCA Awards will be presented at a gala dinner in Toronto on January 6, 2009, hosted by Cameron Bailey, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival. There the TFCA will also name the winner of the new Rogers Best Canadian Film Award, which carries a $10,000 cash prize.

The three pictures nominated are: Continental: A Film Without Guns, directed by Stéphane Lafleur; My Winnipeg, directed by Guy Maddin; and Up the Yangtze, directed by Yung Chang. The prize will be presented by filmmaker Sarah Polley, whose Away From Her was voted Best Canadian Film by the TFCA in 2007. Under the TFCA’s new guidelines, contenders eligible for the awards include films released in Canada in 2008 plus films that qualify for the 2008 Oscars and have Canadian distribution scheduled by the end of February, 2009.

The complete list of winners and runners-up follows.

BEST PICTURE

“Wendy and Lucy” (Mongrel Media)

Runners-up:
“Rachel Getting Married” (Mongrel Media)
“WALL-E” (Disney/Pixar)

BEST PERFORMANCE, MALE

Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Runners-up:
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Jean-Claude Van Damme, “JCVD”

BEST PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

Michelle Williams, “Wendy and Lucy”

Runners-up:
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE

Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Runners-up:
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey, Jr, “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt, “Rachel Getting Married”

Runners-up:
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”

BEST DIRECTOR

Jonathan Demme, “Rachel Getting Married”

Runners-up:
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Andrew Stanton, “WALL-E”

BEST SCREENPLAY

Jenny Lumet, “Rachel Getting Married”

Runners-up:
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”

BEST FIRST FEATURE

“Ballast”, directed by Lance Hammer

Runners-up:
“The Band’s Visit”, directed by Eran Kolirin
“Frozen River”, directed by Courtney Hunt

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“WALL-E” (Disney/Pixar)

Runners-up:
“Kung-Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation)
“Persepolis” (Mongrel Media)
“Waltz with Bashir” (E1 Films)

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

“Let the Right One In” (Mongrel Media)

Runners-up:
“A Christmas Tale” (Seville Pictures)
“The Class” (Mongrel Media)
“I’ve Loved You So Long” (Mongrel Media)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Man on Wire” (Mongrel Media)

Runners-up:
“Standard Operating Procedure” (Mongrel Media)
“Up the Yangtze” (KinoSmith/EyeSteelFilm)

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