Director Ang Lee named Best Director by Los Angeles Film Critics Association and his "Brokeback Mountain" is their Best Picture of the Year choice. LAFCA's 31st annual achievement awards ceremony will be held Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Los Angeles. www.lafca.net

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) has kicked off awards season by voting "Brokeback Mountain" as Best Picture of the Year for 2005, and honoring Ang Lee, director of the gay cowboy drama starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal with the Best Director Award. William Chang Suk-Pick won in the production design category for Wong Kar Wai's "2046," and Joe Hisaishi won in the music score category the Japanese anime spectacular "Howl's Moving Castle." The Los Angeles Film Critics Association is made up of print, radio and online critics in the Southern California area. LAFCA's 31st annual achievement awards ceremony will be held Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Los Angeles. www.lafca.net

Other award winners include:

DIRECTOR:
Runner-up: David Cronenberg, "A History of Violence"

ACTRESS: Vera Farmiga, "Down to the Bone"
Runner-up: Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"

ACTOR: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Runner-up: Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"

SCREENPLAY: TIE:
"Capote" by Dan Futterman

"Brokeback Mountain" named Best Picture of 2005 while director Ang Lee was named Best Director for the same film by the New York Film Critics Circle

"Brokeback Mountain" scored with the New York Film Critics Circle with nods for Best Picture, Best Director for Ang Lee and Best Actor for Heath Ledger. The 30 member group voted for its 71st annual awards for excellence in cinema today at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

Wong Kar Wai's "2046" was selected as Best Foreign-Language Film, with "2046" lensmen Christopher Doyle, Lai Yiu Fai and Kwan Pun Leung sharing honors for Best Cinematography. Hayao Miyazakis animated adventure "Howl's Moving Castle, " was named Best animated feature.

Werner Herzog will be honored for two of the Best Non-Fiction Films for his documentaries "Grizzly Man" and "White Diamond" and Best First Film was given to filmmaker Bennett Miller for "Capote." "The Squid and the Whale" written by Noah Baumbach was voted Best Screenplay.

Reese Witherspoon was named was named Best Actress for "Walk the Line." The award for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress went to William Hurt and Maria Bello for their work in "A History of Violence."

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

American Film Institute names Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" as one of the ten best movies of the year.

American Film Institute names Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" as one of ten movies receiving AFI Awards for 2005. "Capote", "Crash", "The 40-Year Old Virgin", "Good Night and Good Luck", "A History of Violence", "King Kong", "Munich", "The Squid and the Whale", and "Syriana" complete the picks for AFI movies of the year.

AFI's almanac records the year's most outstanding achievements in film and television. AFI TV programs of the year include: 24, "Battlestar Galactica","Deadwood", "Grey's Anatomy", "House", "Lost", "Rescue Me", "Sleeper Cell", "Sometimes in April", and "Veronica Mars".

AFI AWARDS celebrate the collaborative nature of film and television by recognizing film and television creative ensembles as a whole-those people in front of and behind the camera.

AFI will honor the creative ensembles for each of the honorees at a luncheon on Friday, January 13, 2006, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

About the American Film Institute