This is only the third year that the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) has announced nominees, prior they only revealed winners. So, the history of the group is not actively known, but we’ll recount the last 2 years anyway just to give a limited frame of reference.

From the nominations below, The Artist and Hugo did quite well while War Horse‘s relegation to the tech categories spells trouble for the film. Although the WAFCA won’t tell us if War Horse is not nominated, it could tell us what is. In the previous two years where the Best Picture category has contained 10 nominations, all five of the Best Pictures picked up nominations. This year, I think it may be anywhere from three to four as Win Win is almost certainly not a nomination contender and Drive, even though it’s doing quite well with critics, it was always expected to.

In addition to the nominees and/or winners listed below, this year, we’re giving you a quick background on each individual precursor including founding year, first awards year and a glimpse at how many predictions the group has gotten right in the last five years. This data can be found below.

Nomination Tallies

(8) The Artist
(7) Hugo
(5) The Descendants
(4) Drive / The Help
(3) Bridesmaids / War Horse

The Nominations

Best Film

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
Win Win

Best Animated Feature

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Puss in Boots
Rango
Winnie the Pooh

Best Director

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter

Best Actress

Viola Davis – The Help
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks – Drive
John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Andy Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Supporting Actress

Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan – Shame
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay

50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
Win Win

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Score

The Artist
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
War Horse

Best Cinematography

The Artist
Hugo
Melancholia
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Art Direction

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Foreign Language Film

13 Assassins
Certified Copy
I Saw the Devil
Pina
The Skin I Live In

Best Documentary

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale of Life
Project Nim

Best Ensemble

Bridesmaids
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Help
Hugo
Margin Call

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Data

Year Founded: 2002
First Awards: 2002 (10)

Precursor Accuracy

KEY:

• Nominee was nominated for the corresponding Oscar
• Nominee was not nominated for a corresponding Oscar
• Total (2010-2009)

Picture: 10 (5-5) N / 0 (0-0) I
Animated Feature: 5 (2-3) N / 5 (3-2) I
Director: 7 (3-4) N / 3 (2-1) I
Actor: 8 (4-4) N / 2 (1-1) I
Actress: 8 (4-4) N / 2 (1-1) I
Supporting Actor: 6 (3-3) N / 4 (2-2) I
Supporting Actress: 8 (5-3) N / 2 (0-2) I
Original Screenplay: 8 (4-4) N / 2 (1-1) I
Adapted Screenplay: 8 (5-3) N / 2 (0-2) I
Original Score: 3 (3-X) N / 2 (2-X) I
Cinematography: 4 (4-X) N / 1 (1-X) I
Art Direction: 6 (4-2) N / 4 (1-3) I
Foreign Language Film: 2 (1-1) N / 8 (4-4) I
Documentary: 5 (3-2) N / 5 (2-3) I