indieWIRE CRITICS' POLL '08 | Liz Helfgott

This is the latest ballot in indieWIRE's 2008 Critics Poll, continuing the tradition of a national survey of critics by calling attention to the year's best -- and, in many cases, most overlooked -- films, providing a meaningful counterpoint to much of the year-end hoopla. Note that some lists are unranked at the discretion of the critic. For all categories except Best Undistributed Film, eligible feature films had first-run theatrical engagements in the U.S. during 2008. Films without a U.S. distributor, screened anywhere (festival circuit, one-off screenings, etc.), are eligible in the Best Undistributed Film category. The full list of critics poll ballots is available here at indieWIRE and tabulated results are being published by indieWIRE later this month.

Liz Helfgott
The Criterion Collection

Best Film
1 - The Flight of the Red Balloon
2 - Waltz With Bashir
3 - I Can No Longer Hear The Guitar
4 - Silent Light
5 - The Last Mistress
6 - The Exiles
7 - Alexandra
8 - The Romance of Astrea and Celadon
9 - Love Songs
10 - My Winnipeg

Best Performance
1 - Juliette Binoche, The Flight of the Red Balloon
2 - Asia Argento, The Last Mistress
3 - Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
4 - Galina Vishnevskaya, Alexandra
5 - Catherine Deneuve, A Christmas Tale

Best Supporting Performance
1 - Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
2 - Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, New York
3 - Claude Sarraute, The Last Mistress
4 - Michael Lonsdale, The Last Mistress
5 - Emmanuelle Devos, A Christmas Tale

Best Director
Hou Hsiao-hsien, The Flight of the Red Balloon

Best Screenplay
Eric Rohmer, The Romance of Astrea and Celadon

Best First Feature
Hunger

Best Documentary
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains

Best Undistributed Film
1 - Liverpool
2 - 35 Rhums
3 - Four Nights With Anna
4 - Les Plages d'Agnes
5 - The Headless Woman
6 - 24 City
7 - Night and Day
8 - Birdsong
9 - Jerichow
10 - Treeless Mountain
Note: NOT RANKED