A taster before the main event. The “Critics Awards” in the film industry staged in New York are often a precursor to the glitz and glamour of the Golden Globes which will be held this Sunday. It’s official the awards season is now up and running.

Congrats to the #LALALAND family on 7 #GoldenGlobes nominations including Best Picture this weekend! Who will be tuning in? pic.twitter.com/q4KrQCukuP— La La Land (@LaLaLand) January 4, 2017

And ‘La La Land’ has started on a high, picking up eight gongs in New York including best film.The musical comedy which stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone is directed by Damien Chazelle and tells the story of an aspiring actress and jazz musician who fall for each other.

“I think I was just really lucky that the people who came together to make the movie with me were so gifted and helped kind of elevate it so much. The producers, the crew the cast, Ryan and Emma. I was the luckiest filmmaker in the world,” the director said at the awards ceremony.

“Manchester by the Sea,” a poignant and sometimes funny independent movie about a working-class American family dealing with multiple tragedies scooped several awards from the critics.

Casey Affleck was named best actor, Michelle Williams, best supporting actress and there was a best screenplay honour for Kenneth Lonergan.

“It’s really nice, there are a lot of people in there who write beautifully about movies and who I’ve been reading for many years. So it’s nice to be in this room and to know that at least a majority of them appreciated the job I did in this movie, if not all of them,” enthused actor Casey Affleck.

“I know that I got to like it about midway through the second draft of the screenplay. I felt like I was on to something good. And then when the cast came together I knew I was probably in very good shape. And then you just kind of try not to mess up,” Kenneth Lonergan explained.

There were also three awards for the biopic ‘Jackie’. Natalie Portman was nominated for best actress.

Moonlight hailed as ‘masterpiece’ at New York Film Critics Circle awards – BBC News https://t.co/3pNRc3MCxk— Jaison Oliver (@oJaison) January 4, 2017

Mahershala Ali, picked up the award for the best supporting actor for his role in the movie ‘Moonlight’ in which he plays Juan a Miami drug dealer.

It’s reckoned by some the independent film, directed by Barry Jenkins could cause a few surprises at the Oscars while Ali is the clear favourite to repeat his success at the critics awards at the Golden Globes.

“I feel very touched and blessed that I’ve been recognized, but I will always recognize and be conscious of the fact that I was in a remarkable ensemble,” said the actor.

“To have this many people, again, the circle is getting farther and farther away from the people who know me – to have total strangers see this film and see themselves in it when they are not from the world of these characters, it just moves me so much,” remarked Barry Jenkins.

The French