BIRDMAN Leads 2015 Vancouver Film Critics Circle Nominations; Full List!

Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman: or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) leads all films in the Vancouver Film Critics Circle's International category with five nominations.

A dizzying account of a Hollywood actor's desperate attempts to discover authenticity on Broadway, BIRDMAN is joined in the Best Film category by Richard Linklater's coming-of-age odyssey BOYHOOD and Damien Chazelle's Whiplash, a ferocious drama about a young jazz drummer and his domineering mentor. Iñárritu and Linklater also square off in the Best Director category, where they're joined by Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Birdman's Michael Keaton is up for Best Actor, where he's pitted against Benedict Cumberbatch for THE IMITATION GAME and Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler. Meanwhile, the Best Actress nominees are Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant, Tilda Swinton for ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE and Reese Witherspoon for Wild.

The nominees for Best Documentary are Citizenfour, THE OVERNIGHTERS and Virunga, while Force Majeure, Ida and WE ARE THE BEST! are up for Best Foreign Language Film.

Winners will be announced at the VFCC's 15th annual awards ceremony, to be held at Blackbird Public House & Oyster Bar in Vancouver on Monday, January 5. A full list of nominees in the International category follows.

2015 NOMINEES:

BEST FILM
Birdman
Boyhood
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Laura Dern, Wild

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris & Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
We Are the Best!

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour
The Overnighters
Virunga

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Xavier Dolan's alternately intimate and operatic family drama Mommy has earned six VFCC nominations in the Canadian category, including Best Canadian Film. Dolan is nominated for both Best Director of a Canadian Film and Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film. Meanwhile, cast members Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Anne Dorval and Suzanne Clément are vying for Best Actor in a Canadian Film, Best Actress in a Canadian Film and Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film.

Mommy will face off against Denis Villeneuve's Enemy and Stéphane Lafleur's Tu dors Nicole for Best Canadian Film. Likewise, Dolan, Lafleur and Villeneuve are in the running for Best Director of a Canadian Film.

Jake Gyllenhaal is nominated for Best Actor in a Canadian Film for his work in Enemy, facing competition from Maxwell McCabe-Lokos for The Husband and Pilon for Mommy. Meanwhile, Mommy's Dorval will vie with Julianne Côté of Tu dors Nicole and Dagny Backer Johnsen of Violent for the HONOUR of Best Actress in a Canadian Film. The Best Supporting Actor in a Canadian Film nominees include Bruce Greenwood for Elephant Song, Marc-André Grondin for Tu dors Nicole and Callum Keith Rennie for Sitting on the Edge of Marlene. In addition to Clément for Mommy, The Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film category features Sarah Allen for The Husband and Sarah Gadon for Enemy. A cash prize for the acting categories is sponsored by The Union of BC Performers.

Johnsen's nomination is one of four nods for Andrew Huculiak's debut feature. Having won two awards at the recent Vancouver International Film Festival, Violent is on the VFCC ballot for Best First Film by a Canadian Director, Best British Columbia Film and Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film.

In addition to Violent, Ana Valine's Sitting on the Edge of Marlene and Kyle Thomas' The Valley Below are up for Best First Film by a Canadian Director. This award includes a cash prize sponsored by Telefilm Canada.

Julia Kwan's Everything Will Be and Jacob Tierney's Preggoland join Violent as nominees for Best British Columbia Film. A cash prize sponsored by the Canadian Media Production Association-BC Producers' Branch will be presented to the producer of the winning film, while a second cash prize sponsored by the Director's Guild of Canada-BC Council will go to the film's director.

Everything Will Be will also compete with Grant Baldwin's Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story and Harold Crooks' The Price We Pay for Best Canadian Documentary. Meanwhile, Vancouver native Elan Mastai is in the running for Best Screenplay for a Canadian Film for The F Word.

Winners will be announced at the VFCC's awards ceremony on Monday, January 5. A full list of nominees in the Canadian category follows.

2015 CANADIAN NOMINEES:

BEST CANADIAN FILM
Enemy
Mommy
Tu dors Nicole

BEST ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Jake Gyllenhaal, Enemy
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, The Husband
Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Mommy

BEST ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Julianne Côté, Tu dors Nicole
Anne Dorval, Mommy
Dagny Backer Johnsen, Violent

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM
Bruce Greenwood, Elephant Song
Marc-André Grondin, Tu dors Nicole
Callum Keith Rennie, Sitting on the Edge of Marlene

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM
Sarah Allen, The Husband
Suzanne Clément, Mommy
Sarah Gadon, Enemy

(A cash prize for the acting categories is sponsored by the Union of BC Performers.)

BEST SCREENPLAY FOR A CANADIAN FILM
Xavier Dolan, Mommy
Andrew Huculiak, Josh Huculiak, Cayne McKenzie & Joseph Schweers, Violent
Elan Mastai, The F Word

BEST DIRECTOR OF A CANADIAN FILM
Xavier Dolan, Mommy
Stéphane Lafleur, Tu dors Nicole
Denis Villeneuve, Enemy

BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY
Everything Will Be
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
The Price We Pay

BEST FIRST FILM BY A CANADIAN DIRECTOR
Sitting on the Edge of Marlene
The Valley Below
Violent
(Cash prize sponsored by Telefilm Canada.)

BEST BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM
Everything Will Be
Preggoland
Violent
(Cash prizes sponsored by the Canadian Media Production Association-BC Producers' Branch and the Director's Guild of Canada-BC Council.)

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The Vancouver Film Critics Circle have announced that veteran production manager Warren Carr is the winner of the 2015 Ian Caddell Award for Achievement. Presented to a British Columbian who has made a significant contribution to the province's film industry, this award is named in HONOUR of the VFCC's cofounder who passed away in 2012.

As one of the first Vancouver-based line producers enlisted by Hollywood productions shooting north of the border, Carr is a true pioneer in the British Columbia film and television industry whose career highlights include Oscar-nominated features and Emmy-nominated television movies.

Carr will be presented with his award at the VFCC's ceremony on Monday, January 5.

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle includes critics from print, radio, online and television.

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