Film critics voted for Sandra Hüller as best actress

The US National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) presented its best film award to romance "Past Lives," a debut feature by South Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song, it said on X on Saturday, reported dpa.

Runners-up included "The Zone of Interest" and "Oppenheimer."

German actress Sandra Hüller was voted best actress for her roles in "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest." The runners-up were Emma Stone for "Poor Things" and Lily Gladstone for "Killers of the Flower Moon."

The latest prize for Hüller likely increases her chances for a major award this year.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association also honoured Hüller in December.

Hüller is also nominated for the Golden Globes, which are to be presented on Sunday night in California.

The NSFC's directing prize went to Brit Jonathan Glazer for "The Zone of Interest," in which Hüller plays the wife of concentration camp commander Rudolf Höss, played by Christian Friedel, who lives in a luxurious house right next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The prize for best actor went to Andrew Scott for "All of Us Strangers." Runners-up were Jeffrey Wright for "American Fiction" and Cillian Murphy, for "Oppenheimer."

The NSFC unites some 60 film critics and has been awarding the prizes since 1966. Past winners include "Moonlight," "Parasite" and "Nomadland," which later went on to win Oscars.