Any preference between a somewhat intentionally murky "Best Surprise" category and something like a "Best Underseen Film" category, which would be limited to films with less than 5,000 votes on IMDb, thus only excluding the following:
Children of Paradise
Brief Encounter
Rome, Open City
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Lost Weekend
Mildred Pierce
Scarlet Street
Dead of Night
Leave Her to Heaven
'I Know Where I'm Going!'
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Spellbound
And Then There Were None
Ivan the Terrible, Part I
Christmas in Connecticut
The Bells of St. Mary's
Detour
The Body Snatcher
They Were Expendable
Anchors Aweigh
It might amount to the same thing. Either way, I'd restrict nominees to films that wouldn't nominated in other 'film' categories.
pixote