While the Oscars and other awards bodies have all pushed events back on their calendar and expanded eligibility for what movies can be considered, the New York Film Critics Circle will only consider movies released in the 2020 calendar year for its annual awards.
The NYFCC announced Friday it will vote for its 2020 awards on Dec. 18 and that only movies released in theaters or on digital platforms between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, will be considered.
Further, the date for the group’s annual Gala Awards dinner is still to be announced, and membership for 2020 members will be frozen this year, with all current members still eligible to vote, even as many critics’ jobs have been affected by COVID-19. No new members will be voted in this year.
“This is a year unlike any other in our lifetimes. But the world of movies hasn’t stopped, and already, even in this very strange year, we’ve seen a range of films and performances that have impressed and moved us. It’s more important than ever to celebrate the way movies can connect us, and the NYFCC is looking forward to honoring the best of 2020,” NYFCC chair Stephanie Zacharek said in a statement.
Dec. 18 is still later than usual for the New York Film Critics Circle to vote, as last year the NYFCC selected “The Irishman” as its best film of the year in the first week of December, and in past years the awards have been voted on in late November.
While the awards are one of the first handed out in the long awards season calendar, they’re less a precursor to the Oscars and have shown more diverse tastes than The Academy. The last time the NYFCC agreed with the Academy on the eventual Best Picture winner was “The Artist” from 2011.
While other awards bodies such as the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and various film festival galas have all pushed back and changed their eligibility in line with the Oscars, it’s possible that other regional film critics groups will follow New York’s lead in keeping eligibility to the 2020 calendar year.
The Oscars meanwhile will take place on April 25, the latest the ceremony has been held since 1932, and movies released up through February 28 will be eligible for the 93rd Oscars.
The New York Film Critics Circle was founded in 1935 and features Time Magazine critic Stephanie Zacharek as 2020 chairman, Jordan Hoffman as vice chair and Marshall Fine as NYFCC general manager.
A full list of current NYFCC members is below:
Stephanie Zacharek (CHAIR)
Time Magazine
Jordan Hoffman (VICE CHAIR)
Freelance
Marshall Fine (GENERAL MANAGER)
Freelance
MEMBERS:
Sam Adams
Slate
John Anderson
Freelance
Melissa Anderson
4Columns
Michael Atkinson
Freelance
Richard Brody
The New Yorker
Dwight Brown
NNPA Syndication
Kameron Austin Collins
Rolling Stone
Bilge Ebiri
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
Freelance
David Ehrlich
IndieWire
Kate Erbland
IndieWire
David Fear
Rolling Stone
Graham Fuller
Freelance
Owen Gleiberman
Variety
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
Leah Greenblatt
Entertainment Weekly
Steven D. Greydanus
The National Catholic Register
Rafer Guzman
Newsday
Caryn James
BBC
Stuart Klawans
The Nation
Eric Kohn
IndieWire
Richard Lawson
Vanity Fair
Tomris Laffly
Freelance
Violet Lucca
Freelance
Joe Morgenstern
The Wall Street Journal
Sheila O’Malley
Rogerebert.com
Nick Pinkerton
Freelance
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor
Rex Reed
Observer
David Rooney
The Hollywood Reporter
Joshua Rothkopf
Freelance
Matt Zoller Seitz
Rogerebert.com
David Sims
The Atlantic
Matt Singer
ScreenCrush
Kyle Smith
National Review
Dana Stevens
Slate
Sara Stewart
New York Post
Amy Taubin
Artforum
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Keith Uhlich
Freelance
Elizabeth Weitzman
The Wrap
Stephen Whitty
Freelance
Alissa Wilkinson
Vox
Alison Willmore
New York Magazine
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