The Decade List: Awards (2005)

For the sake of not going on a tirade about you-kn0w-what, I'll just leave the awards section without any commentary. So here it is.

Cannes, held 11-22 May 2005

Palme d'Or: L'enfant [d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne]
Grand Prix: Broken Flowers [d. Jim Jarmusch]
Prix du jury: Shanghai Dreams [d. Wang Xiaoshuai]
Best Director: Michael Haneke - Caché
Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
Best Actress: Hana Laszlo - Free Zone
Best Screenplay: Guillaume Arriaga - The Three Burials of Mesquiades Estrada
Technical Grand Prize: (tie) Leslie Shatz - Last Days (for the sound design); Robert Rodriguez - Sin City (for the visual shaping)
Camera d'Or: (tie) Me and You and Everyone We Know [d. Miranda July], The Forsaken Land [d. Vimukthi Jayasundara]


Venice, held 31 August-10 September 2005

Golden Lion: Brokeback Mountain [d. Ang Lee]
Grand Special Jury Prize: Mary [d. Abel Ferrara]
Best Director: Philippe Garrel - Les amants réguliers (Regular Lovers)
Best Actor: David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck.
Best Actress: Giovanna Mezzogiorno - La bestia nel cuore (Don't Tell)
Best Screenplay: George Clooney, Grant Heslov - Good Night, and Good Luck.
Career Golden Lion: Manoel de Oliveira, Stanley Donen


Toronto, held 8-17 September 2005

People's Choice Award: Tsotsi [d. Gavin Hood]
Discovery Award: Look Both Ways [d. Sarah Watt]
Best Canadian Feature: C.R.A.Z.Y. [d. Jean-Marc Vallée]


Berlin, held 10-20 February 2005

Golden Bear: U-Carmen [d. Mark Dornford-May]
Best Director: Marc Rothermund - Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl: The Last Days)
Best Actor: Lou Taylor Pucci - Thumbsucker
Best Actress: Julie Jentsch - Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage
Jury Grand Prix: Peacock [d. Gu Changwei]
Outstanding Artistic Achievment: The Wayward Cloud [d. Tsai Ming-liang]
Honorary Golden Bear: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Im Kwon-taek
Teddy (Feature): Un año sin amor (A Year Without Love) [d. Anahí Berneri]
Teddy (Documentary): Katzenball [d. Veronika Minder]


Sundance, held 20-30 January 2005

Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic): Forty Shades of Blue [d. Ira Sachs]
Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema): O Herói (The Hero) [d. Zézé Gamboa]
Grand Jury Prize (Documentary): Why We Fight [d. Eugene Jarecki]
Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema Documentary): Shape of the Moon [d. Leonard Retel Helmrich]
Director (Dramatic): Noah Baumbach - The Squid and the Whale
Director (Documentary): Jeff Feuerzeig - The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Special Jury Prize (Dramatic): (tie) Rian Johnson - Brick; Miranda July - Me and You and Everyone We Know (for originality of vision); Amy Adams - Junebug; Lou Taylor Pucci - Thumbsucker (for their performances)
Special Jury Prize (World Cinema): (tie) Jorge Gaggero - Cama adentro (Live-In Maid); Maren Ade - Der Wald vor Iauter Bäumen (The Forest for the Trees)
Special Jury Prize (Documentary): (tie) Jessica Sanders - After Innocence; Geoffrey Richman, Conor O'Neill - Murderball (for the editing)
Special Jury Prize (World Cinema Documentary): (tie) Simone Bitton - Mur (Wall); Sean McAllister - The Liberace of Baghdad
Cinematography (Dramatic): Amy Vincent - Hustle & Flow
Cinematography (Documentary): Gary Griffin - The Education of Shelby Knox
Audience Award (Dramatic): Hustle & Flow [d. Craig Brewer]
Audience Award (Documentary): Murderball [d. Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro]
Audience Award (World Cinema): Brødre (Brothers) [d. Susanne Bier]
Audience Award (World Cinema Documentary): Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire [d. Peter Raymont]


Academy Awards, held 5 March 2006

Best Picture: Crash [d. Paul Haggis]
Best Director: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney - Syriana
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco - Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Best Cinematography: Dion Beebe - Memoirs of a Geisha
Best Documentary: La marche de l'empereur (March of the Penguins) [d. Luc Jacquet]
Best Foreign Film: Tsotsi [d. Gavin Hood]
Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [d. Steve Box, Nick Park]
Honorary Award: Robert Altman


BAFTAs, held 19 February 2006

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain [d. Ang Lee]
Best Director: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Best British Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [d. Steve Box, Nick Park]
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Best Supporting Actress: Thandie Newton - Crash
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis, Robert Moresco - Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Best Cinematography: Dion Beebe - Memoirs of a Geisha
Film Not in the English Language: De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) [d. Jacques Audiard]


European Film Awards, held 3 December 2005

Best Film: Caché [d. Michael Haneke]
Best Director: Michael Haneke - Caché
Best Actor: Daniel Auteuil - Caché
Best Actress: Julia Jentsch - Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl: The Last Days)
Best Cinematography: Franz Lustig - Don't Come Knocking
Best Screenplay: Hany Abu-Assad, Bero Beyer - Paradise Now
Best Documentary: Un dragon dans les eaux pures du Caucase (The Pipeline Next Door) [d. Nino Kirtadze]
Discovery: Anklaget (Accused) [d. Jacob Thuesen]
Screen International: Good Night, and Good Luck. [d. George Clooney]
Audience Award (Actor): Orlando Bloom - Kingdom of Heaven
Audience Award (Actress): Julia Jentsch - Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage
Audience Award (Director): Marc Rothemund - Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage
Life Achievement Award: Sean Connery


Independent Spirit, held 4 March 2006

Best Feature: Brokeback Mountain [d. Ang Lee]
Best First Feature: Crash [d. Paul Haggis]
Best Director: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Best Male Lead: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Best Female Lead: Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Best Supporting Male: Matt Dillon - Crash
Best Supporting Female: Amy Adams - Junebug
Best Screenplay: Dan Futterman - Capote
Best First Screenplay: Duncan Tucker - Transamerica
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit - Good Night, and Good Luck.
Best Documentary: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room [d. Alex Gibney]
Best Foreign Film: Paradise Now [d. Hany Abu-Assad]
John Cassavetes Award (for features made for under $500,000): Conventioneers [d. Mora Stephens]
Someone to Watch Award: Neill Dela Llana, Ian Gamazon - Cavite


Golden Globes, held 16 January 2006

Picture (Drama): Brokeback Mountain [d. Ang Lee]
Picture (Comedy/Musical): Walk the Line [d. James Mangold]
Director: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Actor (D): Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Actress (D): Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Actor (M/C): Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
Actress (M/C): Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Supporting Actor: George Clooney - Syriana
Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Screenplay: Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Foreign Film: Paradise Now [d. Hany Abu-Assad]
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Anthony Hopkins


Césars Awards, held 25 February 2006

Best Film (Meilleur film): De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) [d. Jacques Audiard]
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Jacques Audiard - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): Michel Bouquet - Le promeneur du champ de Mars (The Last Mitterrand)
Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Nathalie Baye - Le petit lieutenant
Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle): Niels Arestrup - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle): Cécile De France - Les poupées russes (Russian Dolls)
Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Louis Garrel - Les amants réguliers (Regular Lovers)
Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Linh Dan Pham - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Best Original Screenplay (Meilleur scénario original): Radu Mihăileanu, Alain-Michel Blanc - Va, vis et deviens (Live and Become)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Meilleur scénario adaptation): Jacques Audiard, Tonino Benacquista - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Best Cinematography (Meilleure photographie): Stéphane Fontaine - De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Million Dollar Baby [d. Clint Eastwood]
Best First Film (Meilleur premier film): Darwin's Nightmare [d. Hubert Sauper]
Honorary César: Hugh Grant, Pierre Richard


Razzies, given 4 March 2006

Worst Film: Dirty Love [d. John Mallory Asher]
Worst Director: John Mallory Asher - Dirty Love
Worst Actor: Rob Schneider - Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Worst Actress: Jenny McCarthy - Dirty Love
Worst Supporting Actor: Hayden Christensen - Star Wars: Episode III - The Revenge of the Sith
Worst Supporting Actress: Paris Hilton - House of Wax
Worst Screenplay: Jenny McCarthy - Dirty Love
Worst Remake/Sequel: Son of the Mask [d. Lawrence Guterman]

Knokke-Heist: one of Belgium's best-kept secrets

Belgium is a small country. But it has an even smaller coastline. This means very popular and crowded seaside resorts in the summer, when all Belgians decide they want some sand and sun. The best known resort is Ostende, from where the ferry leaves for England. I'll take you to Ostende in a few days, but today I would like to write about our favourite coastal find... Knokke-Heist, a very elegant resort with some very expensive villas and shops and restaurants to go along with them. And if you need another parking space...they start at 55,000 euros...On the beach many of the visitors have their own 'cabanas' which are generally painted white, although I would expect that in time to come, they may be decorated. I'm not sure what they cost, but in other countries we have visited they can be the same price as a small house in Winnipeg.The waterfront is a very lively place, with a parade of dense 'wall-to-wall' highrise buildings, lots of bicycles and colourful public art. There are also some very colourful people, such as this elegant dandy, dressed in pink who I saw strutting along the waterfront. Later on, I found a shop where he might buy some of his clothes....I also discovered something quite unusual here, compared to other parts of Belgium. The houses match one another! Not everywhere, but certainly in one very nice part of town where it would appear that a zoning provision mandates that all of the buildings must be painted white. The result is a very attractive neighbourhood effect.Wandering around this resort, one could feel the sophistication and economic strength of this small country which enjoys a very good quality of life and standard of living. Belgium is not a country one normally thinks of as a place for a vacation, but based on what we have seen so far, we feel it was a very wise choice for a three week European holiday. Although I'm not yet prepared to pay 185 euros for these shirts! (Gary Pooni probably would!)

Kortrijk: a prosperous place

It only gets one star in the Michelin Guide, but we had a wonderful afternoon in this very prosperous and lively town. We arrived just as the summer festival was in full flight and would like to have spent more time. However, we very much enjoyed the activity in the main town square which is lined with restaurants and cafes....we need more similar spaces in Vancouver.

Sally particularly liked the Begynhof St. Elizabeth, a residential area for women who did not subscribe to conventional religious thinking. Anyone familiar with her religious attitudes whould know that she would have had to live there!We had a wonderful guided tour of the 13th century church by a man with a very open attitude to religion...however even he felt a certain sadness as he described how each successive religious group seemed determined to wipe out the religious symbols of those who went before them. Sort of reminded me of the Taliban, amongst others...

Glorous Ghent

Ghent is a very lively city with a population of 240,000 of which 43,000 are students, and they all have bicycles. It was once the second city of northern Europe after Paris, and the signs of its wealth are evident in its architecture. This is a medieval city whose buildings have been retained and restored.

It also has a system of canals and one can take a boat trip...not as interesting as Bruges, but still a good way to see the city. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what this sign is warning me about...my on-line translation services do not seem to agree! (Ed.Note: Thomas, my neighbour in Zomergem has subsequently offered the following explanation: )

The somewhat unusual sign on the water in Ghent was referring to global warming. Nick Balthasar, a film director from Ghent has gathered 10.000 people on the Ostend beach to dance for 'The Big Ask Again'. U2 offered their tune 'Magnificent' for free for the videoclip of the event. The clip is a big urge to the decisionmakers at the climate summit of Copenhague to finally do something. It is Balthasar's second clip on this item. The previous one was called....The Big Ask.You can travel by horse and carriage, but you really can't get around by car...indeed, I am told that Ghent has the largest car-free area in Europe. We parked in one of the many underground garages with rates comparable to Vancouver. (I was interested to find both public washrooms and vending machines in the underground parkade...now why don't we do that?)

In most respects I found Ghent to be far more interesting than Bruges. I was particularly taken with the variety of architecture, both old and new. There are numerous shopping districts with many of the same stores as Vancouver. However, there are also many unique to the city. In terms of prices, we generally found things to be more expensive than in Vancouver. In many places, a Euro (worth about 1.55) is a dollar. Indeed, items that were priced in international shops and international currencies might sell for 49 euros and $45 US and $50 CDN, although occasionally the US and Canadian price was shown to be the same amount. But still less than in euros.Not surprisingly, Ghent has some wonderful restaurants. On the advice of our Michelin guide we ate in Pakhuis, an oyster bar and brasserie in an old industrial warehouse. I was particularly taken with the men's washroom with its unusual fixtures and high-tech hand dryer which uses a curtain of hot air.Towards the end of one day's touring, we got on a tram to explore a bit around the city. We came upon the Flanders Expo and this somewhat unusual sight...
As I learned about the history of the city with its periods of great wealth and subsequent periods of decline, I could not help but think of Vancouver whose economy was once built on lumber, mining and fishing but today is dependent on tourism, the service sector and some limited high tech activity. I wonder what the guide books will say about us a hundred years from now.

In Bruges

It was a wonderful film. But its an even better city with a significant architectural heritage. For those who haven't visited it before, (or for a while), the city is essentially an open air museum, with magnificent streetscapes lining a network of canals. The Michelin Guide describes it as 'a dream-like vision of the Middle Ages'. It was granted status on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.You can take a 30 minute boat trip along the waters, (a must) or a horse drawn carriage ride through the city. (not a must). But you don't really want to drive. One of the best ways to see the city is by bike, since bikes have precedence over motor vehicles throughout the city.While it is extremely beautiful, I must say I preferred Ghent and Antwerp since these feel more authentic...indeed, they are more authentic since they are working cities. But Bruges, or Brugge as it is called here, is a must see in Belgium.