A new movie chronicling The Washington Post's legally-risky publishing of The Pentagon Papers has been named best film of the year by the National Board of Review.
The award for "The Post," directed by Steven Spielberg, comes as the newspaper in the wake of charges that it is out to get Republicans and has been hit by President Donald Trump as publishing "fake news."
"The Post' is a beautifully crafted film that deeply resonates at this moment in time. We are so thrilled to award it our best film," National Board of Review President Annie Schulhof said in a statement.
The movie — starring Meryl Streep as legendary Post publisher Kay Graham and Tom Hanks as her hard-charging editor Ben Bradlee — tells of the paper's efforts in 1971 to report on secret government documents detailing a massive cover-up about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.
Graham and Bradlee, weighed government threats of jail and huge penalties as well as journalism ethics and the anger of President Richard Nixon, as they raced against the clock — and The New York Times — to print portions of the documents leaked by a source.
The National Board of Review also named Streep and Hanks as best actress and actor of the year for their work on "The Post.''
Aside from Trump's criticism of The Post, the publication also has been hammered by Senatorial candidate Roy Moore of Alabama for baring his alleged dating of teenage girls while in his 30s.
"The Post," from 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks, is set to land in theaters on Jan. 12 and is rated PG-13 for language and brief war violence. The National Board of Review's awards will likely trigger "The Post" getting major nominations from next year's Oscar and Golden Globes presentations.
Films weighed by the National Board of Review, are screened by "a select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters" who then vote on them.
The honorees will be feted at the National Board of Review Awards Gala, hosted by Willie Geist, on Jan. 9 in New York City.
The Washington Post also was the subject of another award-winning movie, "All the President's Men," starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters who broke the Watergate scandal which eventually led to Nixon's resignation.
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