The wonderful group of fine professional film critics and journalists known as the Austin Film Critics Association — a group that includes the membership of yours truly and FSR Managing Editor Dr. Cole Abaius — has announced its award winners for the year 2009.

Within said winners are plenty of unsurprising results, including the unanimous support for Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, which took home Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography. We also delivered the Best Actor award to Colin Firth, whose performance in A Single Man seems to have him right in the Oscar hunt with George Clooney (Up in the Air) and Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart).

Among the surprises, Mélanie Laurent came out of nowhere to take Best Actress for her role in Inglourious Basterds, with co-star Christoph Waltz winning yet another Best Supporting Actor award (I wonder if he’ll win the Oscar…) Two fantastic choices (my votes, for sure) in the Best Foreign Film and Best Documentary categories, with Sin Nombre and Anvil! The Story of Anvil winning respectively.

And finally, there are the categories unique to AFCA. Best Austin Film went to Me and Orson Welles, which was directed by Austin native son Richard Linklater, and Best First Film went to Neill Blomkamp for District 9. As well, we at AFCA delivered our Best of the Decade list, with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind taking best film of the aughts.

The complete listing of winners is below.

Best Film:
The Hurt Locker

Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Actor:
Colin Firth, A Single Man

Best Actress:
Mélanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress:
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay:
Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Up in the Air, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Cinematography:
The Hurt Locker, Barry Ackroyd

Best Original Score:
Up, Michael Giacchino

Best Foreign Language Film:
Sin Nombre, Cary Fukunaga

Best Documentary:
Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Best Animated Feature:
Up

Best First Film:
District 9, Neill Blomkamp

Breakthrough Artist Award:
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles

Austin Film Award:
Me and Orson Welles

Top 10 Films:
1. The Hurt Locker (Summit)
2. Star Trek (Paramount)
3. Up (Pixar)
4. A Serious Man (Focus)
5. Up in the Air (Paramount)
6. Avatar (20th Century Fox)
7. Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Co.)
8. District 9 (TriStar)
9. Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros.)
10. (tie) Moon (Sony Pictures Classic), The Messenger (Oscilloscope)

Top 10 Films of the Decade:
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
2. There Will Be Blood (2007)
3. The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
6. Kill Bill (2003/4)
7. No Country for Old Men (2007)
8. The Incredibles (2004)
9. Children of Men (2006)
10. (tie) Memento (2000), The Departed (2006)