Press Release -- Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association
Washington DC Film Critics Name Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Best Film of 2003
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WASHINGTON (Dec. 19, 2003) -- The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy rings up another victory as The Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) has named Return of the King Best Film, and Peter Jackson (LOTR: Return of The King) Best Director. The 23-member group's second annual year-end selections included Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) as Best Actor and Naomi Watts (21 Grams) as Best Actress.

21 Grams, Return of the King and Lost in Translation proved to be among the favorites of DC film critics as each received 2 major awards. [an error occurred while processing this directive]WAFCA names the cast of Love Actually as Best Ensemble, while selecting Finding Nemo as Best Animated Feature and Pirates of the Caribbean Best Guilty Pleasure.

WAFCA President Tim Gordon stated, "This year's awards were a challenge due to the MPAA's screener ban. We support all efforts against piracy, but feel the studios need to address the leading sources of pirated material instead of hindering efforts to recognize the best of film, whether that comes from the largest studio or the smallest. Thankfully, the studios worked closely with us to help get all movies screened in they way they are intended to be seen -- on the big screen."

WAFCA 2003 Winners:

Best Film

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King /New Line Cinema

Best Ensemble

Love Actually/Universal

Best Director

Peter Jackson/Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

Best Actor

Bill Murray/Lost In Translation

Best Actress

Naomi Watts/21 Grams

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro/21 Grams

Best Supporting Actress

Anna Deavere Smith/The Human Stain

Best Screenplay, Original

Sofia Coppola/Lost In Translation

Best Screenplay, Adapted

Brian Helgeland/Mystic River

Best Animated Feature

Finding Nemo/Buena Vista Pictures

Best Documentary

Fog of War/Sony Pictures Classics

Best Guilty Pleasure

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl/Buena Vista

Pictures

WAFCA is comprised of DC area film critics for newspaper, television, on- line and radio outlets. Winners were chosen from among Academy Award eligible films. Voting was conducted from December 15 - 17, 2003.


Source: Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association



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