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Casting directors have a strange distinction in the awards world: Their guild has an Academy branch, but it’s the only one without its own Oscar category. Imagine for a moment that they did. What are the best-cast films of 2016?

IndieWire asked 13 of the top casting directors to nominate films worthy of casting recognition this year. There were a few restrictions worth noting. Although casting directors often get early sneak peeks at films, many noted there are some films they still hadn’t seen. In particular, many are anxious to find out what legendary casting director Ellen Lewis has cooked up for Martin Scorsese’s “Silence.” The other restriction, which was imposed as responses came in: They couldn’t all write about “Moonlight.” (We’ll dig further into the casting of that film in another article.)

Read More: Casting Directors and the Academy: Why Lynn Stalmaster’s Honorary Oscar Matters...

Various films seemed to draw a lot of attention at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and looked to be serious competitors including Andrea Arnold's "American Honey," Jim Jarmusch's "Paterson" and Maren Ade's "Toni Erdmann".

However it was Ken Loach's "I, Daniel Blake" which walked away with the Palme d'Or despite not receiving as strong acclaim as some other projects. Now the trailer for the project has gone online.

Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann, Kate Rutter, Sharon Percy, Kema Sikazwe star in the story of a man who navigates the dehumanizing social welfare system, and strikes up a friendship with a single mother.

The film opens in the U.K. on October 21st before hitting the U.S. through Sundance Selects.

Sneak Peek posters and a new trailer, supporting the dramatic feature "Oranges & Sunshine", from the producers of "The King's Speech" , directed by Jim Loach, based on a true story. Screenplay is by Rona Munro :

"...'Margaret Humphreys', a social worker from Nottingham, England, uncovers the scandal of 'home children', a scheme of forcibly relocating poor children from the UK to Australia and Canada.

"Those deported children were promised oranges and sunshine but all they got was hard labour in institutions such as Keaney College in Bindoon, Western Australia. Margaret struggles to reunite the estranged families while bringing worldwide attention to the cause..."

Cast includes Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Emily Watson, Tara Morice, Kate Rutter, Helen Grayson, Ruth Rickman, Harvey Scrimshaw, Molly Windsor, Neil Pigot, Tammy Wakefield, Adam Morgan, Neil May, Adam Tedder and Greg Stone.

From See Saw Films and Sixteen Films, "Oranges & Sunshine" opened in the UK, April 2011.

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Rating: 5/5

Director: Clio Barnard

Cast: Kate Rutter, Christine Bottomley, George Costigan

Within the world of film, the documentary is often considered something of an outsider. Often fueled by talking heads and simple archival footage, the world of the documentary is either relatively stale, full of uninteresting slogs through uninteresting life stories or events, or wholly biased, with people like Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock turning themselves into bigger stars than their pieces of non-fiction.

Read more on Theatrical Review: The Arbor...

This is a UK competition for the DVD release of The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard and starring Kate Rutter, Christine Bottomley and George Costigan. The Arbor is out now on DVD and, to celebrate, Pure Movies is giving away three copies! The Arbor tells the powerful true story of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar (The Arbor, Rita, Sue and Bob Too) and her daughter Lorraine. A captivating and revelatory piece of cinema, The Arbor is directed by artist and director Clio Barnard and will open in cinemas nationwide from October 22 through Verve Pictures.