LOS ANGELES, JANUARY 11, 2004 - "Sideways" was voted Best Picture of the Year, it was announced tonight by Henry Sheehan, President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA). The runner up was ""Million Dollar Baby."

LAFCA?s 30th annual achievement awards ceremony will be held Thursday, January 13, 2005 at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles.

Other award winners are:

DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne, "Sideways"
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator"

ACTRESS: Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"
Runner-up: Julie Delpy, "Before Sunset"

ACTOR: Liam Neeson, ?Kinsey?
Runner-up: Paul Giamatti, ?Sideways?

SCREENPLAY: "Sideways" by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Runner-up: "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" by Charlie Kaufman

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Virginia Madsen, "Sideways"
Runner-up: Cate Blanchett, "The Aviator" and "Coffee & Cigarettes"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways"
Runner-up: Morgan Freeman, ?Million Dollar Baby?

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "House of Flying Daggers" directed by Zhang Yimou
Runner-up: "The Motorcycle Diaries" directed by Walter Salles

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM: "Born into Brothels" written and directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
Runner-up: "Fahrenheit 9/11" directed by Michael Moore

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Dante Ferretti, ?The Aviator?
Runner-up: Huo Tingxiao, ?House of Flying Daggers?

MUSIC/SCORE: Michael Giacchino, ?The Incredibles?
Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, ?Birth?

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron, ?Collateral?
Runner-up: Xiaoding Zhao, ?House of Flying Daggers?

ANIMATION: Brad Bird, ?The Incredibles?

THE DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL/INDEPENDENT FILM/VIDEO AWARD: "Star-Spangled to Death" by Ken Jacobs

NEW GENERATION: Joshua Marston, writer/director, "Maria Full of Grace" and Catalina Sandino Moreno, actress, "Maria Full of Grace"

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Jerry Lewis

SPECIAL CITATION: Brian Jamieson of Warner Brothers and Richard Schickel for the reconstruction of Samuel Fuller's "The Big Red One"

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY LA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION