The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) named No Country for Old Men the Best Picture of 2007 in its 16th year of voting. The powerful crime thriller, based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel, earned a total of four awards, its other victories coming in the categories of Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen), Best Adapted Screenplay (also the Coens) and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem). No Country for Old Men proved to be the only multiple winner, as the rest of the association’s awards were split up among several pictures.
Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his mesmerizing turn as a ruthless oil baron in There Will Be Blood, while Julie Christie earned Best Actress for her poignant performance as an Alzheimer’s patient in Away from Her.
In the closest race of the day, Amy Ryan snagged the Best Supporting Actress award for her work in Gone Baby Gone. She beat runner-up Cate Blanchett (competing for I’m Not There) by only one point.
In other contests, Diablo Cody received Best Original Screenplay for Juno, while the French production The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was cited as Best Foreign Language Film. The Best Documentary prize went to the Iraq War analysis No End In Sight, and the summer blockbuster Ratatouille nabbed the honors as Best Animated Film.
In its third year, the Wyatt Award went to Waitress, a comedy-drama by the late writer-director-actress Adrienne Shelly. Named after the late SEFCA member Gene Wyatt, the prize seeks to honor a film that captures the spirit of the South.
In addition to naming its Best Picture, SEFCA also releases (in order) its
Top Ten for the year. The complete list follows:
1. No Country for Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Atonement
4. Juno
5. Michael Clayton
6. Zodiac
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
10. Into the Wild
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
— Runner-up: George Clooney – Michael Clayton
BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie – Away from Her
— Runner-up: Ellen Page – Juno
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
— Runner-up: Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
— Runner-up: Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
— Runner-up: Joe Wright – Atonement
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody – Juno
— Runner-up: Tamara Jenkins – The Savages
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
— Runner-up: Christopher Hampton – Atonement
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France)
— Runner-up: La vie en rose (France)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight
— Runner-up: Sicko
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille
— Runner-up: The Simpsons Movie
WYATT AWARD
Waitress
— Runner-up: Black Snake Moan
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