.Gary Dretzka
.Leonard Klady
.David Poland
.Douglas Pratt
.Ray Pride
.Kristopher Tapley

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

New York, December 12, 2006 ­ BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was named Best Picture of 2006 while director ANG LEE was named Best Director for the same film in voting Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle. The 30 member group voted for its 71st annual awards for excellence in cinema today at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan.

"I was not surprised at all that the voting was so competitive. What did surprise me was that we came to our conclusion so quickly, " said the group's chairman Newsday Critic Gene Seymour. "I'm not sure if that means it was a good year or a so-so year but it always shakes out."

Best Picture
Brokeback Mountain

Best Director
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Best Non-Fiction Films
Werner Herzog for Grizzly Man and White Diamond

Best Foreign-Language Film
2046, directed by Wong Kar Wai

Best First Film
Bennet Miller for Capote

Best Animated Feature
Hayao Miyazaki¹s Howl’s Moving Castle

Best Actor
Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon for Walk The Line

Best Supporting Actor
William Hurt, A History of Violence

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bello, A History of Violence

Best Cinematography
Chris Doyle, Kwan Pun Leung, Yiu-Fai Lai for 2046

Best Screenplay
Noah Baumbach for The Squid & The Whale

The New York Film Critics Circle is comprised of critics from daily and weekly newspapers and magazines based in New York. The group is the oldest critical group in America and its annual awards are considered a precursor of the Oscar nominations. Newsday film critic Gene Seymour, the NYFCC¹s current chairman, will host the group¹s award dinner January 8, 2006, at Cipriani¹s 42nd Street in Manhattan. For more information please visit the NYFCC official website, www.nyfcc.com.