The 15th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards were announced on December 5, 2016.
Best Film
- La La Land
- Arrival
- Hell or High Water
- Manchester by the Sea
- Moonlight
Best Director
- Damien Chazelle – La La Land
- Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
- Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
- David Mackenzie – Hell or High Water
- Denis Villeneuve – Arrival
Best Actor
- Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
- Joel Edgerton – Loving
- Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
- Ryan Gosling – La La Land
- Denzel Washington – Fences
Best Actress
- Natalie Portman – Jackie
- Amy Adams – Arrival
- Annette Bening – 20th Century Women
- Ruth Negga – Loving
- Emma Stone – La La Land
Best Supporting Actor
- Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
- Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
- Ben Foster – Hell or High Water
- Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea
- Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals
Best Supporting Actress
- Viola Davis – Fences
- Greta Gerwig – 20th Century Women
- Naomie Harris – Moonlight
- Molly Shannon – Other People
- Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
Best Adapted Screenplay
- Eric Heisserer – Arrival
- Luke Davies – Lion
- Tom Ford – Nocturnal Animals
- Patrick Ness – A Monster Calls
- August Wilson – Fences
Best Original Screenplay
- Damien Chazelle – La La Land
- Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney – Moonlight
- Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou – The Lobster
- Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea
- Taylor Sheridan – Hell or High Water
Best Ensemble
- Hell or High Water
- 20th Century Women
- Fences
- Manchester by the Sea
- Moonlight
Best Animated Film
- Kubo and the Two Strings
- Finding Dory
- Moana
- Sausage Party
- Zootopia
Best Documentary Film
- 13th
- Gleason
- I Am Not Your Negro
- O.J.: Made in America
- Weiner
Best Foreign Language Film
- Elle • France
- The Handmaiden • South Korea
- Julieta • Spain
- The Salesman • France / Iran
- Toni Erdmann • Austria / Germany
Best Art Direction
- David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco – La La Land
- Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
- Paul Hotte and Patrice Vermette – Arrival
- Craig Lathrop – The Witch
- Véronique Melery and Jean Rabasse – Jackie
Best Cinematography
- Linus Sandgren – La La Land
- Stéphane Fontaine – Jackie
- James Laxton – Moonlight
- Seamus McGarvey – Nocturnal Animals
- Bradford Young – Arrival
Best Editing
- Tom Cross – La La Land
- Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders – Moonlight
- Blu Murray – Sully
- Sebastián Sepúlveda – Jackie
- Joe Walker – Arrival
Best Original Score
- Justin Hurwitz – La La Land
- Nicholas Britell – Moonlight
- Jóhann Jóhannsson – Arrival
- Mica Levi – Jackie
- Cliff Martinez – The Neon Demon
Best Youth Performance
- Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea
- Lewis MacDougall – A Monster Calls
- Sunny Pawar – Lion
- Hailee Steinfeld – The Edge of Seventeen
- Anya Taylor-Joy – The Witch
Best Animated Voice Performance
- Liam Neeson – A Monster Calls
- Jason Bateman – Zootopia
- Auliʻi Cravalho – Moana
- Ellen DeGeneres – Finding Dory
- Ginnifer Goodwin – Zootopia
Best Motion Capture Performance
- Mark Rylance – The BFG
- Liam Neeson – A Monster Calls
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, D.C.
- Jackie
- Jason Bourne
- Loving
- Miss Sloane
- Snowden