Oscar 2014 Precursor: "12 Year a Slave" Wins the Iowa Film Critics

The Iowa Film Critics have selected "12 Years a Slave" as the Best Film of the Year.

The Steve McQueen film swept the critics circle winning the Best Director award for McQueen and the Best Actor award for Chiwetel Ejiofor. Meanwhile, Michael Fassbender defeated Barkhad Abdi and Jared Leto for the Best Supporting Actor Award. Lupita Nyong'o won the best Supporting Actress prize for her role as Patsy in "12 Years a Slave."

Cate Blanchett continued her winning streak for the Best Actress award. Blanchett won the award for her role in "Blue Jasmine" and beat out heavy weights Amy Adams for "American Hustle" and Sandra Bullock for "Gravity."

The society also gave the Best Animated film award to "Frozen," which is currently the front-runner to win the Golden Globe this upcoming weekend.

Continuing to surprise, "20 Feet From Stardom" won the Best Documentary award beating out front-runners "Stories we Tell" and "The Act of Killing."

The Iowa Film Critics are not the best predictors of the Academy Awards and have not picked a Best Picture winner since 2008. Previous winners include "Lincoln," "The Descendants," "The Social Network," "Up in the Air," and "Slumdog Millionaire." Other winners have included "Little Children," "No Country for Old Men," "Sidways," "Lost in Translation," and "Brokeback Mountain."

The Iowa Film Critics were formed in 2003 and is an organization of film reviewers from publications based in Iowa. The organization meets once a year to vote on the awards.