The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally.
The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the awards' origins; the LFCC wished its annual Awards to be recognised on film advertising, especially in the United States, and in production notes.
The Critics' Circle, founded in 1913, is an association for working British critics. Film critics first became eligible for membership of the Circle in 1926. The Film section now has more than 180 members drawn from publications, broadcast media and the internet throughout the United Kingdom.
Film section members of the Critics' Circle will have worked as critics—writing informed analytical features or broadcasting programmes about film for British publications and media—for at least two years, earning income from reviewing and writing about film.
The Critics' Circle Film Awards were instituted in 1980 and are awarded annually by the Film Section of the Critics' Circle.
Voted for by all members of the Film Section, the awards have become a major event in London, presented at a dinner dance held in a large West End hotel. From 1995 to 2010 the awards ceremony was a charity event in aid of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
Over the years, the Award categories have gradually changed with some categories being added and others dropped. For some categories this means that winners were not necessarily declared or listed in each of the Awards year.
In 2007, it was decided that Irish filmmakers, actors and others involved in the film industry would be eligible in what had previously been called "British" award categories. To that end, the titles of several of the awards were amended as "British/Irish".
Special awards include: The Attenborough Award, which goes to the British/Irish film of the year; The Philip French Award, which goes to the breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker of the year, and The Dilys Powell Award, which is awarded for excellence in cinema.
Past and present award categories include:
William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman
Woody Allen – Hannah and Her Sisters
Sean Connery – The Untouchables
Gary Oldman – Prick Up Your Ears
Alan Bennett – Prick Up Your Ears
Stanley Kubrick – Full Metal Jacket
Stephane Audran – Babette's Feast
David Mamet – House of Games
Daniel Day-Lewis – My Left Foot
Christopher Hampton – Dangerous Liaisons
Terence Davies – Distant Voices, Still Lives
Philippe Noiret – Cinema Paradiso
Woody Allen – Crimes and Misdemeanors
Woody Allen – Crimes and Misdemeanors
Gérard Depardieu – Cyrano de Bergerac
Susan Sarandon – Thelma & Louise, White Palace
Alan Rickman – Close My Eyes, Truly, Madly, Deeply, Quigley Down Under,
Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Roddy Doyle – The Commitments
David Mamet – Homicide
Ridley Scott – Thelma & Louise
Thelma & Louise
Robert Downey Jr. – Chaplin
Judy Davis – Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, Naked Lunch
Daniel Day-Lewis – The Last of the Mohicans
Neil Jordan – The Crying Game
Neil Jordan – The Crying Game
Baz Luhrmann – Strictly Ballroom
Anthony Hopkins – The Remains of the Day
James Ivory – The Remains of the Day
Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs
Harold Ramis, Danny Rubin – Groundhog Day
Kate Maberly – The Secret Garden
John Travolta – Pulp Fiction
Linda Fiorentino – The Last Seduction
Ralph Fiennes – Schindler's List
Crissy Rock – Ladybird, Ladybird
Mike Newell – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Duncan Kenworthy – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Richard Curtis – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Steven Spielberg – Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction
Hugh Grant – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Johnny Depp – Ed Wood, Don Juan DeMarco
Nicole Kidman – To Die For
Nigel Hawthorne – The Madness of King George
Kate Winslet – Heavenly Creatures
Danny Boyle – Shallow Grave
Alan Bennett – The Madness of King George
Peter Jackson – Heavenly Creatures
Paul Attanasio – Quiz Show, Disclosure
Morgan Freeman – Seven
Ian McKellen – Richard III
Ewan McGregor – Trainspotting, Brassed Off, Emma, The Pillow Book
Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies
Mike Leigh – Secrets & Lies
Emily Watson – Breaking the Waves
Andrew Macdonald – Trainspotting
Emma Thompson – Sense and Sensibility
Secrets & Lies
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – Fargo