The Artist & Hugo Streak Continues with DC Critics

It’s barely December and the earlier awards season continues with this year’s picks by the Washington Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), which essentially mirrored what’s come before from the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle, as they gave their top award of Best Film to Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist, while Martin Scorsese was honored for his direction on Hugo.

George Clooney and Michelle Williams were awarded for Best Actor and Actress for The Descendants and My Week with Marilyn, respectively. Albert Brooks was honored for his supporting role in Nicolas Refn’s Drive and Octavia Spencer received the supporting actress award for her performance in The Help. This is the first mention of Williams and Spencer by an awards group and the second each for Clooney and Brooks, but all of whom should be well on their way to Oscar Nominations.

The full list of winners is below.

THE 2011 WAFCA AWARD WINNERS:

Best Film:
The Artist

Best Director:
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor:
George Clooney (The Descendants)

Best Actress:
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks (Drive)

Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Bridesmaids

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne and Nate Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants)

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Animated Feature:
Rango

Best Documentary:
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Skin I Live In

Best Art Direction:
Dante Ferretti, Production Designer, and Francesca Lo Schiavo, Set Decorator (Hugo)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)

Best Score:
Ludovic Bource (The Artist)