PARASITE AND KNIVES OUT LEAD ALL WINNERS AND FEMALE FILMMAKERS ARE CELEBRATED AT THE 4TH ANNUAL FILM AWARDS FROM THE CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS
The 20 prolific members of Chicago Indie Critics cast their final ballots this week to declare the winners of 23 categories for their fourth annual film awards. At a special ceremony open to the public last evening at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in Chicago hosted by stand-up comedienne and former film critic Katie Baker, the CIC film critics, fans, and guests gathered to celebrate milestones, commiserate among peers and professionals, and honor the very best from 2019. The event was streamed live over the CIC YouTube channel.
Two fine films emerged with the most wins and top victories. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite from Neon and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out from Lionsgate each won four CIC Awards. Little Women and 1917 followed closely, each winning three awards respectively.
Knives Out was awarded Best Studio Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Ensemble, and Best Editing. Parasite equaled that tally winning Best Independent Film, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Supporting Actor for Song Kang-ho, and a tie of Best Director honors for Bong Joon-ho shared with Greta Gerwig for Little Women. Speaking of Mr. Joon-ho and Ms. Gerwig, the two filmmakers were the most honored individuals of the 2019 CIC Awards ceremony. Both were credited on three awards apiece. In all, 12 different films won CIC Awards for 2019.
In two special CIC Award categories of distinction, two top female filmmakers and what they stand for were celebrated. The Trailblazer Award honoring the work of an artist who pushed the boundaries of the medium was awarded to Greta Gerwig. Additionally, Lulu Wang, the writer/director of The Farewell, was voted the recipient of the Impact Award. That honor celebrates a person whose work has had a positive impact on society. It was a special night to laud and appreciate the work of female creators such as these two honorees.
The complete list of the winners of the 2019 CIC Awards:
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
(budgets under $20 million)
Parasite
Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)
BEST STUDIO FILM
(budgets over $20 million)
Knives Out
Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson (producers)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Parasite
Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Apollo 11
Evan Krauss, Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen (producers)
BEST ANIMATED FILM
I Lost My Body
Marc du Pontavice (producer)
BEST DIRECTOR
(TIE) Greta Gerwig, Little Women
(TIE) Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Knives Out– Rian Johnson
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Little Women– Greta Gerwig
BEST ACTOR
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
BEST ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kang-ho Song, Parasite
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Knives Out- Mary Vernieu (casting director)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1917– Roger Deakins
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Knives Out– David Crank
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Dolemite is My Name– Ruth E. Carter
BEST MAKEUP
Bombshell– Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, and Anne Morgan
BEST EDITING
1917– Lee Smith
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Us– Michael Abels
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I Punched Keanu Reeves” from Always Be My Maybe
(written and performed by Randall Park)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1917– Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy
SPECIAL AWARDS
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Honors the work of an artist who pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content
Greta Gerwig
IMPACT AWARD
Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society
Lulu Wang
CIC AWARD WINNERS BY THE NUMBERS
FILMS
4: Parasite, Knives Out
3: 1917, Little Women
2: Us
1: Always Be My Maybe, Apollo 11, Bombshell, Dolemite is My Name, The Farewell, I Lost My Body, Marriage Story
PEOPLE:
3: Greta Gerwig, Bong Joon-ho
2: Rian Johnson
December 29, 2019:
GRETA GERWIG’S LITTLE WOMEN LEADS ALL FILMS AS THE CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS ANNOUNCE NOMINEES FOR THEIR FOURTH ANNUAL AWARDS
The recently rebranded Chicago Indie Critics have announced their nominees for the fourth annual film awards. The voting members completed ballots to compile five nominees for 23 categories. The CIC members will commence a final round of voting ending on January 2, 2020.
The 2019 CIC Award winners will be announced on the evening of January 4, 2020. This year’s Awards Party will be emcee by stand-up comedienne and former film critic Katie Baker. The event will be held at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago starting at 5:00pm and open to the public with ticket admission. Fans and followers can watch the awards event live-streaming on the CIC’s YouTube channel.
Leading all films with an impressive eight nominations is Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women. Two of those nominations highlight Gerwig’s work as a director and screenwriter. Following next with seven nominations each is the quartet of The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite. On an individual level leading the field, Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho earned five personal nominations and Lulu Wang of The Farewell earned four across the 23 categories. In all, 43 films are represented with nominations for the 2019 CIC Awards.
Two awards of special recognition and interest are the annual Trailblazer and Impact Awards. The CIC’s Trailblazer Award honors the work of an artist who truly pushed the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content. Nominated this year are filmmakers Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Sam Mendes (1917), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Lena Waithe (Queen & Slim), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit). Secondly, the Impact Award celebrates a person whose work during the past year or beyond made a positive impact on society. The nominees include Pedro Almodovar (Pain and Glory), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), and late Chicago film critic Milos Stehlik.
Founded in 2016, the Chicago Indie Critics (formerly known as the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle) is a creative and engaging non-for-profit organization composed of unique, dedicated, and diversified film critics. Its members are wide-ranging in experiences, backgrounds, tastes, and target audiences across both print and online platforms and publications. The CIC organized to share their personal assessments, commentaries, passions, and creativity in the vigilant effort to highlight the greatness and diversity found in both independent and mainstream films. While they originate in the Chicagoland area, the efforts of Chicago Indie Critics are to share, celebrate, and promote the rich artistic medium of film to audiences, fans, and eager minds across the nation and the world as an exemplary and upstanding pillar of intelligent print and broadcast journalism.
The complete list of nominees for the 2019 CIC Awards:
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM (budgets under $20 million)
Booksmart
Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfield, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison, and Katie Silberman (producers)
The Farewell
Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng, and Lulu Wang (producers)
Jojo Rabbit
Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi, and Chelsea Winstanley (producers)
Marriage Story
Noah Baumbach and David Heyman (producers)
Parasite
Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)
BEST STUDIO FILM (budgets over $20 million)
The Irishman
Gerald Chamales, Robert De Niro, Randall Emmett, Israilovici Gabriele, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Jane Rosenthal, Gastón Pavlovich, Martin Scorsese, and Irwin Winkler (producers)
Knives Out
Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson (producers)
Little Women
Denise Di Novi, Amy Pascal, and Robin Swicord (producers)
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, and Quentin Tarantino (producers)
1917
Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Brian Oliver, and Jayne-Ann Tenggren (producers)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Birds of Passage
Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (producers)
Monos
Fernando Epstein, Alejandro Landes, Cristina Landes, and Santiago Zapata (producers)
Pain and Glory
Agustin Almodovar (producer)
Parasite
Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae, Moon Yang-kwon, and Jang Young-hwan (producers)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Véronique Cayla and Bénédicte Couvreur (producers)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Apollo 11
Evan Krauss, Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen (producers)
Hail, Satan?
Gabriel Sedgwick (producer)
Honeyland
Atanis Georgiev (producer)
The Kingmaker
Frank Evers and Laura Greenfield (producers)
One Child Nation
Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Christoph Jorg, Nanfu Wang, and Jialing Zhang (producers
BEST ANIMATED FILM
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Bonnie Arnold and Brad Lewis (producers)
I Lost My Body
Marc du Pontavice (producer)
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
Jinko Gotoh, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller (producers)
Missing Link
Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner (producers)
Toy Story 4
Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera (producers)
BEST DIRECTOR
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Céline Sciamma, Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Lulu Wang, The Farewell
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Farewell- Lulu Wang
Knives Out– Rian Johnson
Marriage Story– Noah Baumbach
Parasite– Bong Joon-Ho and Jin Won-Han
Portrait of a Lady on Fire– Céline Sciamma
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Irishman– Steve Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit– Taika Waititi
Little Women– Greta Gerwig
Luce– J.C. Lee and Julius Onah
The Two Popes– Anthony McCarten
BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Eddie Murphy, Dolemite is My Name
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
BEST ACTRESS
Awkwafina, The Farewell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
Lupita Nyong’o, Us
Florence Pugh, Midsommar
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Kang-ho Song, Parasite
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
Octavia Spencer, Luce
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Avengers: Endgame- Sarah Finn (casting director)
The Irishman- Ellen Lewis (casting director)
Knives Out- Mary Vernieu (casting director)
Little Women- Kathy Driscoll and Francine Maisler (casting directors)
Marriage Story- Francine Maisler and Douglas Aibel (casting directors)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ad Astra- Hoyte Van Hoytema
Ford v Ferrari– Phedon Papamichael
The Lighthouse– Jarin Blaschke
1917– Roger Deakins
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood– Robert Richardson
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Ad Astra– Kevin Thompson
Knives Out– David Crank
1917– Dennis Gassner
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood– Barbara Ling
Parasite- Ha-Jun Lee
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Dolemite is My Name– Ruth E. Carter
Knives Out– Jenny Eagan
Little Women– Jacqueline Durran
Midsommar– Andrea Flesch
Once Upon a Time.. in Hollywood– Arianne Phillips
BEST MAKEUP
Bombshell– Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, and Anne Morgan
Dolemite is My Name– Debra Denson, Carla Joi Farmer, Stacey L. Morris, Vera Steimberg
The Irishman– Sean Flanigan, Nicki Ledermann, and Carla White
Judy- Jeremy Woodhead
Us– Camille Friend and Scott Wheeler
BEST EDITING
Ford v Ferrari– Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker, and Dirk Westervelt
Knives Out– Bob Ducsay
Little Women– Nick Houy
1917– Lee Smith
Parasite– Jinmo Yang
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Avengers: Endgame– Alan Silvestri
Little Women– Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story– Randy Newman
1917– Thomas Newman
Us– Michael Abels
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Catchy Song” from The LEGO Movie Part 2: The Second Part
(performed by Dillion Francis featuring T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay and written by Jon Lajoie)
“Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from Wild Rose
(performed by Jessie Buckley and written by Mary Steenburgen, Caitlin Smith, and Kate York)
“I Punched Keanu Reeves” from Always Be My Maybe
(performed and written by Randall Park)
“Not Evil” from The LEGO Movie Part 2: The Second Part
(performed by Tiffany Haddish and written by Jon Lajoie)
“Speechless” from Aladdin
(performed by Naomi Scott and written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
“Stand Up” from Harriet
(performed by Cynthia Erivo and written by Joshua Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ad Astra– Scott R. Fisher, Allan Maris, Guillaume Rocheron, and Jedediah Smith
Avengers: Endgame– Matt Aitken, Russell Earl, Dan Leeluw, and Dan Sudick
The Irishman– Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli, Pablo Helman, and Nelson Sepulveda
1917– Greg Butler, Guillaume Rocheron, and Dominic Tuohy
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker– Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach, and Dominic Tuohy
SPECIAL AWARDS
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Honors the work of an artist who truly pushes the boundaries of the medium in terms of form and content
Greta Gerwig
Rian Johnson
Sam Mendes
Martin Scorsese
Lena Waithe
Taika Waititi
IMPACT AWARD
Given to a person whose work has had a positive impact on society
Pedro Almodovar
Bong Joon-Ho
Martin Scorsese
Milos Stehlik
Lulu Wang
CIC AWARD NOMINATIONS BY THE NUMBERS
FILMS
8: Little Women
7: The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, Parasite
6: Knives Out
5: The Farewell, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
3: Ad Astra, Avengers: Endgame, Dolemite is My Name, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Us
2: Pain and Glory, Jojo Rabbit, Luce, Ford v Ferrari, Midsommar
1: Aladdin, Always Be My Maybe, Apollo 11, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Bombshell, Booksmart, Hail, Satan?, Harriet, Her Smell, Honeyland, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Hustlers, Joker, Judy, I Lost My Body, The Kingmaker, Missing Link, Monos, One Child Nation, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, The Two Popes, Toy Story 4, Wild Rose
PEOPLE:
5: Bong Joon-Ho
4: Lulu Wang
3: Greta Gerwig, Rian Johnson, Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese, Taika Waititi
2: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman, Jon Lajoie, Francine Maisler, Florence Pugh, Céline Sciamma, Dominic Tuohy
2019 CIC Awards- Timeline and Categories
Nominations ballots go out: December 20, 2019
Round one voting due: December 27, 2019
Nominations announced: December 29, 2019
Round two voting due: January 2, 2020
Winners announced and Awards Ceremony: January 4, 2020 (Location and time TBA)
CATEGORIES
- Best Independent Film (under $20M)
- Best Studio Film (over $20M)
- Best Foreign-Language Film
- Best Documentary
- Best Animated Film
- Best Director
- Best Original Screenplay
- Best Adapted Screenplay
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Best Ensemble
- Best Production Design
- Best Cinematography
- Best Editing
- Best Musical Score
- Best Original Song
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Makeup
- Best Costume Design
- Impact Award (positive impact in cinema)
- Trailblazer Award (audacious artist/film)
Chicago Indie Critics 