US National Board of Review announces 2014 winners

A Most Violent Year director J.C. Chandor at Steve James' Best Documentary Life Itself premiere. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The US National Board of Review announced J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year as this year's Best Film with Jessica Chastain as Best Supporting Actress and Oscar Isaac sharing Best Actor honors with Michael Keaton in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. Clint Eastwood is awarded Best Director for American Sniper. Julianne Moore was named Best Actress in Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland's Still Alice. Breakthrough Performance goes to Jack O’Connell for his roles in David Mackenzie's Starred Up and Angelina Jolie's Unbroken. Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Adapted Screenplay for Inherent Vice, the first adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. Birdman's Edward Norton gets Best Supporting Actor.

The National Board of Review Awards Gala will take place on January 6, 2015

Here are this year's US National Board of Review Award Winners:

Best Supporting Actress Jessica Chastain for J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Best Film

• A Most Violent Year

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, American Sniper

Best Actor

• Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year

Best Actor

• Michael Keaton, Birdman

Best Actress

• Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Best Supporting Actor

• Edward Norton, Birdman

Best Supporting Actress

• Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year

Best Original Screenplay

• Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, The Lego Movie

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice

Best Animated Feature

• How to Train Your Dragon 2

Best Documentary Life Itself director Steve James. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Breakthrough Performance

• Jack O’Connell, Starred Up and Unbroken

Best Directorial Debut

• Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child

Best Foreign Language Film

• Wild Tales

Best Documentary

• Life Itself

William K. Everson Film History Award

• Scott Eyman

Best Ensemble

• Fury

Spotlight Award

• Chris Rock for writing, directing, and starring in Top Five

NBR Freedom of Expression Award

• Rosewater

Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award

• Selma

You can read about last year's awards here and here and read what Alessandro Nivola had to say about A Most Violent Year.