SEFCA Critics Announce 2021 Film Choices

THE POWER OF THE DOG: BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as PHIL BURBANK in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) Names Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ as the Best Picture of 2021

Campion’s haunting and soulful western also won for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director

ATLANTA, DECEMBER 2021 – The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has announced its accolades for 2021 and chosen Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog as the Best Picture of the Year. This is the second time a Campion film has won Best Picture and Best Director as SEFCA also recognized her film The Piano back in 1993. Her latest work, based on the novel by Thomas Savage, is a captivating examination of loneliness, masculinity, and frailty set on a ranch in 1925 Montana.

THE POWER OF THE DOG (L to R): PHIL JONES (ASSOCIATE PRODUCER – 1ST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR), JANE CAMPION (DIRECTOR – PRODUCER – WRITER). Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021

“Jane Campion has been one of our finest directors for decades, and I’m thrilled that our members chose to recognize her exquisite work on The Power of the Dog,” said SEFCA President Matt Goldberg. “Campion has crafted a unique Western that gets to the core of the genre while still feeling fresh and vital. It’s an absolute triumph of mood, performances, and craft that will certainly go down as one of her finest movies in a career full of marvelous filmmaking.”

SEFCA voters also recognized The Power of the Dog in the categories of Best Actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, Best Supporting Actor for Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Best Supporting Actress for Kirsten Dunst while Kristen Stewart was awarded Best Actress for her turn as Princess Diana in Spencer.

Award winners below:

Top 10 Films

  1. The Power of the Dog
  2. Licorice Pizza
  3. Belfast
  4. The Green Knight
  5. West Side Story
  6. The French Dispatch
  7. Tick, Tick…BOOM!
  8. Drive My Car
  9. Dune
  10. Summer of Soul

Best Actor

Winner: Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Will Smith, King Richard

Best Actress

Winner: Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Runner-Up: Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Jeffrey Wright, The French Dispatch

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Best Ensemble

Winner: The French Dispatch
Runner-Up: Mass

Best Director

Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Runner-Up: Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Runner-Up: Tony Kushner, West Side Story

Best Documentary

Winner: Summer of Soul
Runner-Up: Flee

Best Foreign-Language Film

Winner: Drive My Car
Runner-Up: The Worst Person in the World

Best Animated Film

Winner: The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Runner-Up: Flee

Best Cinematography

Winner: Greig Fraser, Dune
Runner-Up: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog

Best Musical Score

Winner: Hans Zimmer, Dune
Runner-Up: Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog

Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com