Austin Film Critics Association
The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) is an organization of professional film critics from Austin, Texas.
Formation
Each year, the AFCA votes on their end-of-year awards for films released in the same calendar year. A special award, the Austin Film Award, is given each year to the best film made in Austin or by an Austin-area director.
History[edit]
The Austin Film Critics Association was founded in 2005 by local film critics Cole Dabney and Robert "Bobby" McCurdy while attending Bowie High School in Austin. The organization grew in its first eight years, expanding from three members in 2005 to 25 members in 2013.[1]
On January 12, 2007, after only one year in existence, Entertainment Weekly called the AFCA "wildly contrarian" for naming Elliot Page Best Actress for his role in Hard Candy over Helen Mirren for her performance in The Queen, as Mirren had swept the category so far during the award season.[2]
The association chose to name the group's Breakthrough Artist Award to honor Robert "Bobby" McCurdy starting in 2010. McCurdy died on December 19, 2010, while training to become a Naval Aviator.[3]