Prizes and Awards

CRITICS' AWARDS

Around the world, many different critics' associations present film awards. One of the best known is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globe Awards at the end of January every year. Made up of international journalists who work in Hollywood, this group began awarding films in 1944, and awards for television were added in 1956. Golden Globe statuettes are awarded annually in several categories, including Best Dramatic and Comedic Motion Pictures, Best Foreign-language Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Best Dramatic and Comedic Television series. In addition, the Cecil B. DeMille Award is given for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.

Meanwhile, The Golden Satellite Awards are presented by the International Press Academy (IPA), a splinter group of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The IPA asserts that it is the largest entertainment press organization in the world, made up of more than 250 full-time professional entertainment journalists from the United States and abroad. Formed in 1996, it covers the world of entertainment through the print and broadcast media, as well as the Internet. Its annual awards, which are made each January, honor outstanding achievement in the fields of film, television, and multimedia.

The National Board of Review hands out awards that often serve as "signposts" to the winning Oscars ^® . This organization was created as a censorship group in 1909, but in 2005 its board was composed of approximately 150 members from varying professions, including educators, doctors, lawyers, historians, and a few former Hollywood insiders. The membership is said to be a mystery to most people in the film business. Although the group's selections tend to favor the specialty market, with an emphasis on breakthrough performances and emerging talent, since 1980 the board's choice has agreed with 41 percent of the Academy's best picture choices.

Other film critics' awards are also considered to be reliable precursors to the Academy Awards ^® , particularly the critics' associations in Los Angeles and New York. The National Society of Film Critics Awards are significant because of organization membership and lack of regional bias. The organization is known for its "highbrow winners," which are often foreign-language films. The group was formed in 1966 by magazine writers who had been refused admittance to the New York Film Critics Association.

Some consider the Big Four of critics' awards to be those of the National Board of Review, the New York and Los Angeles critics' awards, and The National Society of Film Critics. However, other critics' associations have become important, including the London and Boston critics awards associations, and other critics' associations in many parts of the world also present yearly accolades.