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 at the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles. www.lafca.net.

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 Yimou Zhang

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 Dagggers

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