'Moonlight' has won big at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (LAFCA).

Moonlight's Naomie Harris

Moonlight's Naomie Harris

The drama movie - which recently swept the board at the Gotham Independent Film Awards - won Best Picture, Best Director for filmmaker Barry Jenkins, Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali and Best Cinematography for James Laxton's camera work.

'Moonlight' tells the story of a guy growing up in a tough Miami neighbourhood at three stages in his life portrayed by a trio of actors, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders and Alex Hibbert, and also stars Naomie Harris.

Park Chan-wook's 'The Handmaiden' was also named as the winner of two prizes.

The erotic drama motion picture won Best Foreign-Language Film and Best Production Design for Ryu Seong-hee, but 'La La Land' triumphed in just one category, for Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's music.

The film narrowly missed out on a further five prizes, including Best Picture and Best Director for Damien Chazelle, ending up runner up on each occasion.

Adam Driver picked up the Best Actor gong for 'Paterson' ahead of 'Manchester By The Sea' runner-up Casey Affleck, while Isabelle Huppert won Best Actress for 'Elle and Things to Come' with Rebecca Hall in second spot for her role in 'Christine'.

Shirley MacLaine has been chosen as the winner of this year's Career Achievement Award and all the gongs will be handed out at a special dinner on January 14 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, LA.

The full list of winners and runners up:

Best Picture

Winner: 'Moonlight'

Runner-Up: 'La La Land'

Best Director

Winner: Barry Jenkins, 'Moonlight'

Runner-Up: Damien Chazelle, 'La La Land'

Best Actress

Winner: Isabelle Huppert, 'Elle and Things to Come'

Runner-Up: Rebecca Hall, 'Christine'

Best Actor

Winner: Adam Driver, 'Paterson'

Runner-Up: Casey Affleck, 'Manchester By The Sea'

New Generation

Trey Edward Shults and Krisha Fairchild, 'Krisha'

Best Foreign-Language Film

Winner: 'The Handmaiden'

Runner-Up: 'Toni Erdmann'

Best Animated Film

Winner: 'Your Name'

Runner-Up: 'The Red Turtle'

Best Screenplay

Winner: Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, 'The Lobster'

Runner-Up: Kenneth Lonergan, 'Manchester By The Sea'

The Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Prize

Winner: 'The Illinois Parables'

Documentary/Non-Fiction

Winner: 'I Am Not Your Negro'

Runner-up: 'OJ: Made In America'

Supporting Actress

Winner: Lily Gladstone, 'Certain Women'

Runner-up: Michelle Williams, 'Manchester By The Sea'

Editing

Winner: Bret Granato, Maya Mumma, Ben Sozanski, 'OJ: Made In America'

Runner-up: Tom Cross, 'La La Land'

Production Design

Winner: Ryu Seong-hee, 'The Handmaiden'

Runner-up: David Wasco, 'La La Land'

Supporting Actor

Winner: Mahershala Ali, 'Moonlight'

Runner-up: Issey Ogata, 'Silence'

Music/Score

Winner: Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, 'La La Land'

Runner-up: Mica Levi, 'Jackie'

Cinematography

Winner: James Laxton, 'Moonlight'

Runner-up: Linus Sandgren, 'La La Land'