Slumdog Millionaire was voted Best Film of 2008 by the San Diego Film Critics Society on December 15th. The drama concerning a young man’s epic upbringing in bustling Mumbai earned the nod over runner-up The Dark Knight. The critics, comprising print, television, radio and Internet critics working in San Diego County, chose Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle as Best Director.

Kate Winslet, playing a former German prison guard who engages in an affair with a younger man in the drama The Reader, was voted Best Actress. The critics chose Mickey Rourke as Best Actor for his work as a washed-up athlete making a desperate comeback attempt in The Wrestler. Marisa Tomei, playing the equally desperate stripper and single mother who befriends Rourke’s character in The Wrestler, was voted Best Supporting Actress. The late Heath Ledger was honored for his kinetic work as the Joker in The Dark Knight, earning the Best Supporting Actor award.

The critics gave the Best Original Screenplay award to Tom McCarthy for The Visitor, while honoring Simon Beaufoy for Best Adapted Screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, working from Vikas Swarup’s novel.

In what might be called the year of the vampire, the critics voted the Swedish vampire drama Let the Right One In as Best Foreign Language Film. Man on Wire was chosen as Best Documentary. Wall-E was voted Best Animated Film.

Anthony Dod Mantle was honored for Best Cinematography for his work on Slumdog Millionaire, while Donald Graham Burt won Best Production Design honors for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The critics chose Chris Dickens and his work on Slumdog Millionaire for Best Editing. A.R. Rahman won for Best Score for Slumdog Millionaire.

The cast of Frost/Nixon was honored for Best Ensemble Performance. The critics also honored Richard Jenkins for Body of Work for 2008, citing his performances in The Visitor, Burn After Reading, Step Brothers and The Tale of Desperaux.

The San Diego Film Critics Society chose the film program at the San Diego Central Library for its annual Kyle Counts Award, named for the late San Diego film critic. The film program was honored for its outstanding contribution to film education and its commitment to eclectic and excellent free public film programs.