"Boyhood" was announced to have won Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress at the New York Film Critics Awards, BBC reported.
"Boyhood" has been 12 years in the making and follows the life of Ellar Coltrane from the age of five to 18. The efforts of its cast and crew bore fruition after many years in the making as they won the award for Best Film of the night and also won awards for Director Richard Linklater and actress Patricia Arquette.
"Boyhood" will be formally presented with its awards during a ceremony that will be held on Jan. 5 in New York City. This first series of awards spell good news for the film as the New York Film Critics Awards are considered a precursor to the much anticipated Academy Awards, according to BBC.
"Boyhood" stars Coltrane, Arquette, Linklater's daughter Lorelei, and Ethan Hawke, who met up every year in Austin to shoot parts of the film, according to Deadline.
Jonathan Sehring, the president of IFC Films who are responsible for the film's distribution, sent checks to Linklater for more than a decade to support the film, despite misgivings from other people. His dedication to "Boyhood" ended up being worthwhile as the film became IFC's highest grossing film with $43 million garnered worldwide from their $4 million budget.
The film is even expected to earn more as it continues to play in theaters for the next few months.
"We poured ourselves into the film," Hawke said, according to Deadline. He also said he and cast were saddened when the film ended but enjoyed the experience of filming it together.
Other awardees of the New York Film Critics Awards include Timothy Spall as Best Actor for his role in "Mr. Turner" and Marion Cotillard as Best Actress for "Two Days, One Night" and "The Immigrant," according to BBC. JK Simmons nabbed the Best Supporting Actor for "Whiplash," while "The Lego Movie" won the award for Best Animated Film.