An Insider’s Report of This Year’s LAFCA Awards Banquet

As vice president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, one of my responsibilities (with my fellow officers) is to put together our annual awards banquet, which is normally held the night before the Golden Globes. The planning can be a rather stressful endeavor, partly because we're a nonprofit and partly because (since we don't televise the event) it doesn't have the visibility that guarantees our winners will all come. But, as was proved again this past Saturday night, those two potential liabilities are actually what make the event so special.

First, some background. Every December, the membership of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (or LAFCA) gather together to vote for the year's best films and performances. Each member has a ballot: The top two vote-getters in any category make it to the final round, where each member votes for one of the two finalists to choose a winner. This year, we went with "The Social Network" for Best Picture, hardly a shock, but other prizes went to names that haven't been mentioned much during this awards season: "Last Train Home" for Best Documentary; Kim Hye-Ja of "Mother" for Best Actress; Niels Arestrup of "A Prophet" for Best Supporting Actor; Olivier Assayas tying for Best Director (with David "Social Network" Fincher) for "Carlos."

Getting all of the winners to our event can be a tricky process -- after all, we're just a critics group that, unlike the Golden Globes or Oscars, doesn't have the vast resources to put together a state-of-the-art awards show. Well, I know I'm biased, but I think we do a pretty great job regardless.

LAFCA takes a lot of pride in the fact that we don't televise our event. And while some media individuals are invited to the banquet, the atmosphere (as it was on January 15 for this year's event) is decidedly relaxed and informal. For one thing, you're all sitting together in a posh hotel ballroom that's nice and intimate. You've got Mel Brooks, Colin Firth, Kevin Spacey, David Fincher, and LAFCA members all grouped at tables: It's star-studded and no-big-deal all at once. Plus, winners swear during their acceptance speeches at LAFCA banquets. They tell fun, rambling stories that aren't all that illuminating but are wonderfully off-the-cuff. Nobody's performing for the camera. Nobody's worrying about how tonight's event will affect his or her Oscar chances. They're just hanging out. As much as the Golden Globes like to advertise their awards show as the time Hollywood lets its hair down, I would say that the winners at a LAFCA banquet are far less rehearsed and much more at ease.

Then there's the sincere joy that comes with honoring films and individuals that don't have a chance at an Academy Award. There's been enough talk that critics groups, especially LAFCA, like to vote for obscure picks to be "snobby" or to "send a message." I can say for a fact since I've been in the room when the vote happens that, honestly, there's nothing orchestrated or deliberate about our votes. (If anything, we're a lovable ragtag group of folks who can barely agree on anything.) But this year's awards banquet was a real validation for the folks we championed. The shockingly young Lixin Fan, the director of the Chinese migrant worker documentary "Last Train Home," joked that he always had to check in with his mom so that she knew he was alright -- so he whipped out his iPhone and filmed the entire crowd, ending on himself waving sweetly into the camera lens. Then there was Best Supporting Actress winner Jacki Weaver of "Animal Kingdom," who noted, "I would like to thank everyone I ever married. But I don't have time." She then flirtatiously told Mel Brooks what hotel she was staying at that night. And on and on: Even Best Cinematography winner Matthew Libatique (for "Black Swan") was permitted all the time he wanted at the podium, whereas categories like his are usually played off quickly when you're doing a big televised show.

Of course, the downside can be that, well, we've got no set end time. As LAFCA member and the night's host Leonard Maltin joked near the conclusion, "OK, we've reached the halfway point of the evening." ("Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich, accepting the award for Best Animated Film, quipped that he would be quick so that we'd all be out of there before the hotel started serving breakfast.) But, really, what would anyone have wanted to cut from the evening? The lengthy and warm honoring of writer-director Paul Mazursky, who received the Career Achievement award? (Even at 84, presenter Mel Brooks is still profanely hilarious.) The impromptu acceptance of LAFCA's Independent/Experimental prize for Jean-Luc Godard's "Film Socialisme" by Molly Ringwald? Kris Kristofferson's and Jackie DeShannon's surprise musical performances for Mazursky? Jeff Garlin's opening remarks where he turned to Andrew Garfield seated nearby and and said, "Hey, look, it's Spider-Man!"?

Sure, it's a long night, but it's a chance to remember just how much good comes out of any film year. People say critics are a grumpy, miserable bunch. Maybe that's true. But I have to say that most LAFCA members feel pretty damn great when they're surrounded by all the people that made their film year so rewarding.