Toronto film critics have taken a shine to U.S. indie films about American families with their 15^th annual TFCA awards, which named Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (pictured) the best film of the year.

Canadian films were shut out of the pre-gala prize-giving, which also saw Malick receive the best director honour.

Local filmmakers will need to wait until the Jan. 10 kudosfest at The Carlu in Toronto to see who wins the best Canadian film award, and its $15,000 cash prize.

Café de flore, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg, and Monsieur Lazhar, directed by Philippe Falardeau, are short-listed for the homegrown film competition.

Ahead of the gala, the TFCA honoured Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, another U.S. indie that explores the lives of American families by giving Michael Shannon the best actor crown and co-star Jessica Chastain the best supporting actress prize.

Chastain was also a runner-up in the supporting actress category for her turn in The Tree of Life.

Voting on the 2011 TFCA awards took place on Dec. 11 at a meeting in Toronto.

“With both Tree of Life and Take Shelter, our members chose to honour ambitious films that took bold risks,” Maclean’s film critic and TFCA president Brian Johnson said in a statement.

“These are both intimate dramas that play out on an apocalyptic canvas, and impart a sense of wonder and mystery,” he added.

The TFCA includes in its annual awards competition all films released in Canada in 2011, and films qualifying for the 2011 Oscars and those set for a Canadian theatrical release by the end of February 2012.

The lone Canadian in the pre-gala prize-giving was Christopher Plummer, who came away with the best supporting actor trophy for his role in Beginners.

Elsewhere, the best actress award goes to Michelle Williams for her turn as the late Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.

And Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin picked up the best screenplay trophy from Toronto film critics for Moneyball, the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane.

The TFCA also honoured two movies by Chilean directors: the late Raul Ruiz’ Mysteries of Lisbon, named the best foreign-language film, and Patricio Guzmán’s meditation on Chile’s Atacama Desert, Nostalgia for the Light, which won for best documentary of 2011.

And Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin won for best animation, while Attack the Block, British writer-director Joe Cornish’s thriller about a South London gang battling an alien invasion, won for best first feature.