The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named “The Hurt Locker” as the Best Picture of 2009, while the film’s guiding force, Kathryn Bigelow, took the prize for Best Director.

Here’s a link to their release listing the year’s best films.

Founded in 2002, the circle is comprised of 26 critics from Bay Area publications. Its members include film journalists from the Chronicle, Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, East Bay Express, San Jose Metro, Palo Alto Weekly, the Marin Independent Journal, the Examiner, KRON-TV, Variety, CultureVulture.net and Splicedwire.com.