National Society of Film Critics - History

History

National Society of Film Critics was founded in 1966 in the New York City apartment of Saturday Review critic Hollis Alpert, one of several co-founding film critics who was refused membership to the New York Film Critics Circle, as it preferred critics who worked for mainstream newspapers. His co-founders included Pauline Kael, a writer for The New Yorker; Joe Morgenstern, then a movie reviewer for Newsweek; and Richard Schickel, a film critic for Life Magazine. The Society was also founded in order to counteract the influence of New York Times critic Bosley Crowther, who dominated the New York City film critic scene for many years. The original founding film critics, who were overwhelmingly based in New York, called their new group a "national" organization because they wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers with a national circulation.

The organization is known for their highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In past years, many of their Best Picture winners have been foreign films and their choices rarely parallel the Academy Awards. They have agreed with the Oscar in five instances over the past forty years: 1977's Annie Hall, 1992's Unforgiven, 1993's Schindler's List, 2004's Million Dollar Baby and 2009's The Hurt Locker. Four other winners did receive the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: Z, Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), La nuit américaine (Day for Night), and Préparez vos mouchoirs (Get Out Your Handkerchiefs).

The NSFC is also the American representative of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), which comprises the national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world. The FIPRESCI has members in more than 50 countries worldwide.