The 6th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best filmmaking of 1980, were announced on 20 December 1980 and given on 9 January 1981.^[1][2]

• Best Picture:
  • Raging Bull
• Best Director:
  • Roman Polanski – Tess
  • Runner-up: Richard Rush – The Stunt Man
• Best Actor:
  • Robert De Niro – Raging Bull
  • Runner-up: John Hurt – The Elephant Man
• Best Actress:
  • Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner's Daughter
  • Runner-up: Mary Tyler Moore – Ordinary People
• Best Supporting Actor:
  • Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People
  • Runner-up: Joe Pesci – Raging Bull
• Best Supporting Actress:
  • Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard
• Best Screenplay:
  • John Sayles – Return of the Secaucus 7
• Best Cinematography:
  • Ghislain Cloquet and Geoffrey Unsworth – Tess
• Best Music Score:
  • Ry Cooder – The Long Riders
• Best Foreign Film:
  • The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) • West Germany/France/Poland/Yugoslavia
• Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award (tie):
  • Yvonne Rainer – Journeys from Berlin/1971
  • Joel DeMott – Demon Lover Diary
• New Generation Award:
  • Carroll Ballard
• Career Achievement Award:
  • Robert Mitchum

• 6th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards