Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008
20th CFCA Awards
December 18, 2008
Best Film:
WALL-E
The 21st Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 18, 2008, honored the best in film for 2008. Disney/Pixar's WALL-E became the most successful film in this year's ceremony, won four awards, including Best Film, out of five nominations. Slumdog Millionaire won three awards, while The Dark Knight and Let the Right One In won two awards.
Winners and nominees
Best Actor
- Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino
- Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
- Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
- Sean Penn – Milk
Best Actress
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
- Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
- Angelina Jolie – Changeling
- Melissa Leo – Frozen River
- Meryl Streep – Doubt
Best Animated Film
Best Cinematography
The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
- Australia – Mandy Walker
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
- The Fall – Colin Watkinson
- Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle
Best Director
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
- David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight
- Andrew Stanton – WALL-E
- Gus Van Sant – Milk
Best Documentary Film
Best Film
Best Foreign Language Film
Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in), Sweden
- The Band's Visit (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret), Israel
- Che, France, Spain, & USA
- A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), France
- I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime), France
Best Original Score
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
- The Dark Knight – Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
- Milk – Danny Elfman
- Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman
Best Screenplay - Adapted
Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth
- The Dark Knight – Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
- Doubt – John Patrick Shanley
- Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan
Best Screenplay - Original
WALL•E – Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon
- In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
- Milk – Dustin Lance Black
- Rachel Getting Married – Jenny Lumet
- Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumously)
- Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
- Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
- Bill Irwin – Rachel Getting Married
- Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress
- Amy Adams – Doubt
- Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- Viola Davis – Doubt
- Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married
Most Promising Filmmaker
Tomas Alfredson – Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
- Lance Hammer – Ballast
- Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
- Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
- Steve McQueen – Hunger
Most Promising Performer
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
- Russell Brand – Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- David Kross – The Reader
- Lina Leandersson – Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
- Brandon Walters – Australia