PFCA Announces First-Ever Film Awards Winners

First Annual Pittsburgh Film Critics Association Awards Honor The Substance, Challengers, Sing Sing and More 2024 Gems

PITTSBURGH (Jan. 9, 2024) – The Pittsburgh Film Critics Association on Thursday revealed which 2024 films received top honors in the first annual PFCA Awards.

The PFCA officially launched last year and arose from a shared vision among this region’s critics to carve out a distinct space within the industry.

“Western Pennsylvania is a thriving hotbed for both film production and film criticism,” says the PFCA Board. “It’s our immense honor to be celebrating 2024’s finest films as a united collective of Pittsburgh-based film critics. Congratulations to all our 2024 PFCA Awards winners!

The Substance, director Coralie Fargeat’s bold twist on the body-horror genre, was named Best Picture by the PFCA’s 15-member voting bloc. Challengers, director Luca Guadagnino’s steamy romantic drama set in the tennis world, finished in second place.

Colman Domingo, the star of A24’s poignant and inspiring Sing Sing, was named 2024’s Best Lead Actor, while Wicked star Ariana Grande earned the title of Best Supporting Actor for her hilarious turn as Glinda the Good Witch in director Jon M. Chu’s Broadway adaptation. (The PFCA chose to not give out gender-specific acting awards.)

The first-ever Mr. Rogers Kindness Award—which will be given annually to films that exemplify the ideals espoused by Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers—went to the entire cast and crew of German-French political thriller The Seed of the Sacred Fig. This powerful and necessary film was reportedly shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran, at great (and in some cases, ongoing) risk to everyone involved in its production.

Social media graphics for all winners and runners-up can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HGGXz7yaL6RQTz4UVa78km0P_EPDv1ab


2024 Pittsburgh Film Critics Association Awards Winners — Full List:

BEST PICTURE

Winner: The Substance
Runner-Up: Challengers

BEST LEAD ACTOR

Winner: Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
Runner-Up: Cynthia Erivo — Wicked

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Winner: Ariana Grande — Wicked
Runner-Up: Clarence Maclin — Sing Sing

BEST FEATURED ACTOR

Winner: Jesse Plemons — Civil War
Runners-Up (Tie): Lamorne Morris — Saturday Night; Isabella Rossellini — Conclave

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Winner: Clarence Maclin — Sing Sing
Runner-Up: Katy O’Brian — Love Lies Bleeding

BEST ANIMATED VOICE PERFORMANCE

Winner: Lupita Nyong’o — The Wild Robot
Runner-Up: Maya Hawke — Inside Out 2

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Robert Eggers — Nosferatu
Runner-Up: Coralie Fargeat — The Substance

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Winner: Justin Kuritzkes — Challengers
Runner-Up: Sean Baker — Anora

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Winner: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield — Sing Sing
Runner-Up: Robert Eggers — Nosferatu

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: Jomo Fray — Nickel Boys
Runner-Up: Jarin Blaschke — Nosferatu

BEST EDITING

Winner: Marco Costa — Challengers
Runner-Up: Jerome Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat, Valentin Feron — The Substance

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Winner: Craig Lathrop — Nosferatu
Runner-Up: Stanislas Reydellet, Cécilia Blom — The Substance

BEST SCORE

Winner: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross — Challengers
Runner-Up: Cristobal Tapia de Veer — Babygirl

BEST SONG

Winner: “Compress/Repress” — Challengers
Runners-Up (Tie): "Starburned and Unkissed" — I Saw the TV Glow;
"Harper and Will Go West" — Will & Harper

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Winner: Emmanuelle Villard, Valerie Deloof, Victor Fleurant,
Stéphane Thiébaut, Victor Praud — The Substance
Runner-Up: Lisa Pinero, Craig Berkey, Paul Carter — Challengers

BEST HAIR, MAKEUP, & COSTUMES

Winner: Emmanuelle Youchnovski (Costume);
Pierre-Olivier Persin (Makeup/Hairstyle) — The Substance
Runner-Up: Linda Muir (Costume); Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton, David White (Makeup/Hairstyle) — Nosferatu

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Winner: The Wild Robot
Runner-Up: Inside Out 2

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Winners (Tie): The Seed of the Sacred Fig; Flow

BEST STUNT PERFORMANCE & CHOREOGRAPHY

Winner: Keir Beck, Chris O'Hara — The Fall Guy
Runner-Up: Udeh Nans, Brahim Chab — Monkey Man

MISTER ROGERS KINDNESS AWARD
(Given to films that exemplify the ideals espoused by Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers)

Winner: The entire cast and crew of The Seed of the Sacred Fig

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Contact: pittsburghfilmcritics@gmail.com

Steph Cozza

Steph Cozza is the founder of Cinema Vixens and a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic. She talks about movies on her YouTube channel Steph Cozza vs The Movies and when she isn’t posting hot takes, she’s probably watching Buffy on the couch with her Husky puppy, Laszlo.