The 51st National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 7 January 2017, honored the best in film for 2016.^[1][2]

Winners

Winners are listed in boldface along with the runner-up positions and counts from the final round:

Best Picture

1. Moonlight (54)
2. Manchester by the Sea (39)
3. La La Land (31)

Best Director

1. Barry Jenkins – Moonlight (53)
2. Damien Chazelle – La La Land (37)
3. Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea (23)

Best Actor

1. Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea (65)
2. Denzel Washington – Fences (21)
3. Adam Driver – Paterson (20)

Best Actress

1. Isabelle Huppert – Elle and Things to Come (55)
2. Annette Bening – 20th Century Women (26)
3. Sandra Hüller – Toni Erdmann (26)

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali – Moonlight (72)
2. Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water (18)
3. Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals (14)

Best Supporting Actress

1. Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea (58)
2. Lily Gladstone – Certain Women (45)
3. Naomie Harris – Moonlight (25)

Best Screenplay

1. Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea (61)
2. Barry Jenkins – Moonlight (39)
3. Taylor Sheridan – Hell or High Water (16)

Best Cinematography

1. James Laxton – Moonlight (52)
2. Linus Sandgren – La La Land (27)
3. Rodrigo Prieto – Silence (23)

Best Foreign Language Film

1. Toni Erdmann – Maren Ade (52)
2. The Handmaiden – Park Chan-wook (26)
3. Elle – Paul Verhoeven (19)
4. Things to Come – Mia Hansen-Løve (19)

Best Non-Fiction Film

1. O.J.: Made in America – Ezra Edelman (64)
2. I Am Not Your Negro – Raoul Peck (36)
3. 13th – Ava DuVernay (20)

Film Heritage Award

• Kino Lorber's 5-disc collection of Pioneers of African-American Cinema

Special Citation

• Cristi Puiu's Sieranevada, a film awaiting American distribution