Sideways stamped its name over the early awardsseason race when it was named Best Picture of the Year by the Los Angeles FilmCritics Association (LAFCA) on Saturday, with Million Dollar Baby coming in as runner-up.

Sideways tookfive honours in total, including best director for Alexander Payne, bestscreenplay for Payne and Jim Taylor, and supporting actor honours for VirginiaMadsen and Thomas Haden Church.

Imelda Staunton and Liam Neeson took top actinghonours for Vera Drake and Kinsey respectively, Zhang Yimou's House Of FlyingDaggers pipped Walter Salles' TheMotorcycle Diaries to the post inthe best foreign language film stakes, and Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's BornInto Brothels claimed the documentaryprize ahead of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.

Dante Ferretti took production design for TheAviator, Michael Giacchino took bestscore for The Incredibles, DionBeebe and Paul Cameron were named best cinematographers for Collateral, and Brad Bird claimed the animation award for TheIncredibles.

The DouglasEdwards Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award went to Ken Jacobs' Star-SpangledTo Death, andwriter/director Joshua Marston and star Catalina Sandino Moreno shared the NewGeneration award for Maria Full Of Grace.

Career achievement honours went to Jerry Lewis andthere was a special citation for Brian Jamieson from Warner Brothers andRichard Schickel for the restoration of Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One.

LAFCA's 30th annual achievement awards ceremony willbe held on Jan 13 in Los Angeles.

LAFCA 2004 AWARDWINNERS

FILM: Sideways

Runner-up: MillionDollar Baby

DIRECTOR:Alexander Payne, Sideways

Runner-up:Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

ACTRESS: ImeldaStaunton, Vera Drake

Runner-up: JulieDelpy, Before Sunset

ACTOR: LiamNeeson, Kinsey

Runner-up: PaulGiamatti, Sideways

SCREENPLAY: Sidewaysby Alexander Payne andJim Taylor

Runner-up: EternalSunshine Of The Spotless Mind by Charlie Kaufman

SUPPORTINGACTRESS: Virginia Madsen, Sideways

Runner-up: CateBlanchett, The Aviator andCoffee & Cigarettes

SUPPORTINGACTOR: Thomas Haden Church, Sideways

Runner-up:Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

FOREIGN LANGUAGEFILM: House Of Flying Daggers directed by Zhang Yimou

Runner-up: TheMotorcycle Diaries directedby Walter Salles

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTIONFILM: Born Into Brothels written and directed by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski

Runner-up: Fahrenheit9/11 directed by MichaelMoore

PRODUCTIONDESIGN: Dante Ferretti, The Aviator

Runner-up: HuoTingxiao, House Of Flying Daggers

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: BradBird, The Incredibles

THE DOUGLAS EDWARDSEXPERIMENTAL/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, MariaFull Of Grace

CAREERACHIEVEMENT: Jerry Lewis

SPECIALCITATION: Brian Jamieson of Warner Brothers and

Richard Schickelfor the reconstruction of Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One