The US association National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), which includes around 60 well-known film critics, announced the selection of the winners on Twitter on Saturday (local time).
Hülser (45) was voted best actress for her roles in “Anatomy of a Case” and “The Zone of Interest”. In terms of votes, she was ahead of Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) and Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”). The film critics’ association LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics Association) had already honored Hülser in December. The German is also in the running for the Golden Globes, which will be awarded on Monday night in Beverly Hills.
The NSFC Best Film award went to the romance “Past Lives,” the feature film debut of South Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song. In this category, the drama “The Zone of Interest” followed as runner-up and “Oppenheimer” came in third place. Irish actor Andrew Scott beat the competition with his leading role in “All of US Strangers”.
The directing award went to Briton Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest”. In it, Hülser plays the wife of concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höß (Christian Friedel), who lives with his family in a luxurious house right next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
In the “non-English language film” category, the Finnish tragicomedy “Falling Leaves” by Aki Kaurismäki received the most votes, followed by “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall”.
The National Society of Film Critics has been awarding the honors since 1966. In recent years, the jurors have voted for films such as “Moonlight”, “Parasite” and “Nomadland”, which later also won the top Oscar for “Best Film”.
