bfd 2010

Christ. The Independent Spirit Awards proved to be just as useless as the Oscars usually are. So, as tonight's going to suck, why not just pour yourself too many cocktails (or have someone do it for you) and find people that can make fun of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman's face with you? I'll hopefully be doing the same.

Because I was asked... some Oscar predictions

I was asked to participate in an Oscar Competition, hosted by VoucherCodes.co.uk, and while the Academy Awards have been a sore subject with me this year, I've made some predictions, all of which are mostly speculative. For past two years, I've actually managed to see every nominated film in the major categories (excluding foreign and documentary, as they weren't as easy to come by). This year, I've seen maybe half of the nominees, most of which have underwhelmed me (to say the least). As the competition doesn't require me to predict all of the nominees, I've only selected predictions in the categories where I thought I had a clear enough idea of who might be taking home the gold (and I'm purposefully staying away from that scary Best Actress category). These are not the people or films I think should win, mind you. For those in the UK, be sure to check out VoucherCodes.co.uk's deals on amazon.co.uk and lovefilm.com (like Netflix, only in the UK). So here goes...

Picture: Avatar
Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Cinematography: Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Animated Feature: Up
Song: "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart
Documentary: The Cove
Sound Editing: Avatar
Sound Mixing: Avatar
Visual Effects: Avatar

I might fill in the blanks by Sunday. We'll see.

Fearing the Worst, An Idea for Sandra Bullock

Though I’m generally apathetic to the Academy Awards, there have certainly been moments over the years that have stirred some shred of emotion out of me. On occasion, I’ve actually found myself excited (particularly when Tilda Swinton, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard’s names were announced, or Adrien Brody’s win which may be one of the few legitimately surprises in recent history), but more often than those uncommon occurrences, the Oscars make me angry. A few years back, my blood nearly reached its boiling point. That particular instance, when Jack Nicholson read off the Best Picture winner in 2006, made the idea of driving onto the sidewalk on the way home and plowing down whatever pedestrian might be on it sound like the appropriate response. I guess I recreated the scene from Happiness when Louise Lasser almost swerves her car into Elizabeth Ashley, but that action had a specific victim in mind… I was willing to take out innocent civilians. I’m recalling that sensation because I fear the Academy might pull another load of bullshit on us next month. Though it’s possible Sandra Bullock might be more deserving of an Oscar for her acting than Paul Haggis is for his screenwriting, having to see and hear “Academy Award winner” before Bullock’s name for the rest of time is alarming. However—and this is a big “however”—if Sandy decides to pull a Marlon Brando and send Karin Dreijer Andersson (of Fever Ray and The Knife) as her own Sacheen Littlefeather to accept the award, all will be right with the world (and no pedestrians will be harmed). Karin’s acceptance speech at the P3 Gold Awards (the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy's) was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen (weird, defiant, unsettling and highly amusing), as well as the best acceptance speech anyone has ever given (just above Brando and Fiona Apple). If Sandra Bullock knows what’s best for all of us, she’ll be phoning Karin… just in case.

Oscar Nominations 2010.... zzzzzzzz

With the Academy introducing an additional five nominees to the Best Picture category, they predictably failed to meet any of the optimistic possibilities that could have arisen from the decision. Instead, the extra slots opened the door for populist bullshit like The Blind Side, instead of perhaps the first Best Picture nomination for a foreign-language film, like The White Ribbon or even Broken Embraces; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the last foreign-language film to have received a Best Picture nomination in 2001, if you don't count Babel. Pixar's Up did make the cut, becoming just the second animated feature to be nominated in the category; Beauty and the Beast was the first in 1992. The Best Animated Feature category also upped its nominees to five for the second time since the category was introduced in 2001 as a result of the eligible titles surpassing 16.

But, of course, the nominees yielded no great surprises. Tilda Swinton (for Julia) and Mélanie Laurent (for Inglourious Basterds) would have been worthy (er... worthier) inclusions, but In the Loop's nod in the Adapted Screenplay category was the only (kinda) surprise that was worth getting excited over. In the acting categories, Morgan Freeman, Penélope Cruz, Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren are the only former acting winners (though George Clooney and Matt Damon have both won in the Screenplay category). The first-time nominees: Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock (ugh), Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe, Christopher Plummer (surprisingly never nominated before), Stanley Tucci, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick and Mo'Nique.

The Director's Guild of America unveiled their winners Saturday night. Kathryn Bigelow is now the first woman to have taken home the prize in the Feature Film Category for The Hurt Locker. Louie Psihoyos won in the Documentary category for The Cove, which is the front-runner for the Oscar docs. A list of the major Oscar nominees are below; the ceremony will take place on 7 March.

Best Motion Picture

Avatar, d. James Cameron
The Blind Side, d. John Lee Hancock
District 9, d. Neill Blomkamp
An Education, d. Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds, d. Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, d. Lee Daniels
A Serious Man, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker - Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger - Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
A Serious Man - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up - Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9 - Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education - Nick Hornby
In the Loop - Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami, d. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, Israel
A Prophet [Un prophète], d. Jacques Audiard, France
The Milk of Sorrow [La teta asustada], d. Claudia Llosa, Peru
The Secret in Their Eyes [El secreto de sus ojos], d. Juan José Campanella, Argentina
The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], d. Michael Haneke, Germany

Best Documentary Feature

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country [Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land], d. Anders Østergaard
The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos
Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, d. Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home, d. Rebecca Cammisa

Best Animated Feature

Coraline, d. Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox, d. Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog, d. Ron Clements, John Musker
The Secret of Kells [Brendan et le secret de Kells], d. Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

Best Cinematography

Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band]
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds

Foreign Oscar Short-List, BAFTAs, IFC Deals for Noé and Solondz, Berlinale Competition

The Academy announced the nine finalists in the Foreign Language Oscar category yesterday, which will be narrowed down to five once the Oscar nominations are announced on 2 February; 65 films were submitted for the category, which I listed a couple of months ago. Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], from Germany, and Jacques Audiard's A Prophet [Un prophète], from France, made the final cut, as expected. Sony Pictures Classics has The White Ribbon in a limited release now, and A Prophet will expand on 26 February. Another SPC title, Juan José Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes [El secreto de sus ojos] from Argentina, was also among the nine; Campanella was previously nominated for Son of the Bride. Rounding out the rest of the pack are Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani's Ajami from Israel (to be released by Kino this spring), Claudia Llosa's The Milk of Sorrow [La teta asustada] from Peru (which won the Golden Bear at the 2009 Berlinale), Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah from Australia, Martin Koolhoven's Winter in Wartime [Oorlogswinter] from The Netherlands, Stephan Komandarev's The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner from Bulgaria and Ermek Tursunov's Kelin from Kazakhstan. Campanella is the only previous nominee in this category (Haneke's Caché was disqualified from the running when Austria submitted it in 2005). Among the upsets, the omissions of Corneliu Porumboiu's Police, Adjective [Poliţist, adj.], from Romania, and Bong Joon-ho's Mother, from South Korea, were the biggest surprises. Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother [J'ai tué ma mère], from Canada, and Giuseppe Tornatore's Baarìa were also expected to make the list from the former's festival credentials and the latter director's previous Oscar win (thank God for no Tornatore is all I have to say).

In distribution news, IFC announced their acquisitions of both Gaspar Noé's Enter the Void and Todd Solondz's Life During Wartime. Both played at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, though Enter the Void made its official premiere, in an unfinished version, at Cannes in May. Life During Wartime will make its way onto screens in the U.S. over the summer, as well as on IFC's On Demand program. Enter the Void will bow sometime later this year.

The official line-up for the 2010 Berlinale Competition titles was unveiled yesterday, including films from Kôji Wakamatsu, Noah Baumbach, Nicole Holofcener, Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern, Zhang Yimou, Thomas Vinterberg, Lisa Cholodenko, Wang Quan’an and Michael Winterbottom. As usual David Hudson at The Auteurs Notebook has a fabulous round-up of the titles.

And finally, the BAFTA nominations were announced yesterday, with both Clint Eastwood's Invictus and Jane Campion's Bright Star left out of the race. Though even without Campion, two female directors made the cut this year, and three of the five nominees for British Film of the Year were also directed by women. Each year, the BAFTAs come closer and closer to mirroring the Oscars, so fingers crossed that the Academy follows suit with snubbing Lee Daniels, Nine and Sandra Bullock. Nominees below, full list at IndieWire:

Best Film

Avatar, d. James Cameron
An Education, d. Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, d. Lee Daniels
Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman

Outstanding British Film

An Education, d. Lone Scherfig
Fish Tank, d. Andrea Arnold
In the Loop, d. Armando Iannucci
Moon, d. Duncan Jones
Nowhere Boy, d. Sam Taylor-Wood

Film Not in the English Language

Broken Embraces [Los abrazos rotos], d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Coco Before Chanel [Coco avant Chanel], d. Anne Fontaine, France
Let the Right One In [Låt den rätte komma in], d. Tomas Alfredson, Sweden
A Prophet [Un prophète], d. Jacques Audiard, France
The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], d. Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany/France/Italy

Animated Film

Coraline, d. Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox, d. Wes Anderson
Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

Director

James Cameron, Avatar
Neill Blomkamp, District 9
Lone Schefig, An Education
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Leading Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Andy Serkis, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Leading Actress

Carey Mulligan, An Education
Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Audrey Tautou, Coco avant Chanel

Supporting Actor

Alec Baldwin, It’s Complicated
Christian Mckay, Me and Orson Welles
Alfred Molina, An Education
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress

Anne-Marie Duff, Nowhere Boy
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson - Mugabe and the White African
Eran Creevy - Shifty Stuart
Hazeldine - Exam
Duncan Jones - Moon
Sam Taylor-Wood - Nowhere Boy

Original Screenplay

The Hangover - Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
The Hurt Locker - Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
A Serious Man - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up - Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

Adapted Screenplay

District 9 - Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education - Nick Hornby
In the Loop - Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Cinematography

Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Javier Aguirresarobe, The Road
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Trent Opaloch, District 9
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds

Nicholas Ray's Final Film to Be Restored; Plus More Awards, UPDATED with Gotham Winners

Via Variety, Nicholas Ray's final (solo-directed, feature) film We Can't Go Home Again, a little-seen "experimental" film he made with his wife Susan and a group of his film students at the time, will undergo a $500,000 restoration funded by the Nicholas Ray Foundation with the Venice Film Festival. The restoration will be supervised by Susan and will bow at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, "to mark the centennial of Ray's birth." Variety also says: "The Ray celebration will include a series of DVDs, an installation, an educational film titled "Nicholas Ray Master Class" and an interactive website." What that means, I have no clue, especially as it relates to the number of Ray films still MIA on DVD in the US: 55 Days at Peking, Johnny Guitar, Bigger Than Life (which is coming from Criterion, reportedly), Born to Be Bad, Hot Blood, Knock on Any Door, The Lusty Men, Run for Cover, The Savage Innocents, Wind Across the Everglades, A Woman's Secret, et al. For those curious, there are a number of clips from We Can't Go Home Again in Wim Wenders' Lightning Over Water, aka Nick's Movie.

Now for some awards from around the world, both national and festival related. Warwick Thornton's Samson and Delilah, which was awarded the Caméra d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, took the top prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, held on 26 November. It's also Australia's official submission in the Foreign Oscar competition. Sergei Dvortsevoy's Tulpan from Kazakhstan was the Best Picture winner last year. The rest of the awards are below:

Best Feature Film: Samson and Delilah, d. Warwick Thornton, Australia
Jury Grand Prize (tie): The Time That Remains, d. Elia Suleiman, Palestine/France/Italy/Belgium/UK; About Elly, d. Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Best Actor: Masahiro Motoki - Departures
Best Actress: Kim Hye-ja - Mother
Best Director: Lu Chuan - City of Life and Death
Best Cinematography: Cao Yu - City of Life and Death
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi - About Elly
Best Documentary: Defamation, d. Yoav Shamir, Israel/Denmark/USA/Austria
Best Animated Feature: Mary and Max, d. Adam Elliot, Australia
Best Children's Feature: A Brand New Life, d. Ounie Lecomte, South Korea/France

Taiwan's Oscar submission, Leon Dai's No puedo vivir sin ti [Not Without You], was the big winner at the Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan's biggest annual award ceremony. Any film, whether from Taiwan, Hong Kong or China, primarily in Chinese is eligible. As the Film Experience Blog reported, Maggie Cheung made a rare appearance to deliver the ceremony's top award. Last year's Best Picture was awarded to Peter Chan's The Warlords (which Magnolia should be releasing soon in the US). The Awards are below:

Best Film: No puedo vivir sin ti, d. Leon Dai, Taiwan
Best Director: Leon Dai - No puedo vivir sin ti
Best Actor: (tie) Nick Cheung - The Beast Stalker; Huang Bo - Cow
Best Actress: Li Bingbing - The Message
Best Supporting Actor: Wang Xueqi - Forever Enthralled
Best Supporting Actress: Kara Hui - At the End of Daybreak
Best Documentary: KJ: Music and Life, d. Cheung King-wai, Hong Kong
Best Cinematography: Cao Yu - City of Life and Death
Best Action Choreography: Sammo Hung - Ip Man
Best Art Direction: Lee Tian-jue, Patrick Dechesne, Alain-Pascal Housiaux - Visage [Face]
Best Original Screenplay: Chen Wen-pin, Leon Dai - No puedo vivir sin ti
Best Adapted Screenplay: Guan Hu - Cow
Best Original Score: Dou Wei, Bi Xiaodi - The Equation of Love and Death

The 20th Annual Stockholm Film Festival finished up today, awarding Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth its top prize; Courteney Hunt's Frozen River claimed that title last year. On a side note, I originally reported that Dogtooth would be representing Greece for the Foreign Oscar category, but that apparently was (not surprising considering its subject matter) false. Instead, Adonis Lykouresis' Slaves in their Bonds was named Greece's official selection. About the prizes below, the Telia Film Award is a newly created award for films without local distribution. Read more about it here. Awards below:

Best Film: Dogtooth, d. Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece
Best First Film: Sin Nombre, d. Cary Fukunaga, Mexico/USA
Best Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Actor: Edgar Flores - Sin Nombre
Best Screenplay: Eran Creevy - Shifty
Best Cinematography: Christophe Beaucarne - Mr. Nobody
Jameson Film Music Award: Krister Linder - Metropia
Telia Film Award: Miss Kicki, d. Håkon Liu, Sweden/Taiwan
FIPRESCI Prize: Sin Nombre
FIPRESCI Honorable Mention: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, d. Lee Daniels, USA

I was so busy with the film festival, I didn't even get around to posting the Documentary Short-list for the 2010 Academy Awards. It's now down to 15, with a number of glaring snubs from Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story (though I've heard its omission is justified), James Toback's Tyson, Ondi Timoner's We Live in Public, R.J. Cutler's The September Issue and Kimberly Reed's Prodigal Sons. Someone on another site mentioned Terence Davies' Of Time and the City, but I'm never really sure which films are eligible in terms of year with the Documentary category. The 15 are below:

- The Beaches of Agnès [Les plages d'Agnès], d. Agnès Varda, France
- Burma VJ, d. Anders Ostergaard, Denmark
- The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos, USA
- Every Little Step, d. Adam del Deo, James D. Stern, USA
- Facing Ali, d. Pete McCormack, USA/Canada
- Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner, USA
- Garbage Dreams, d. Mai Iskander, USA
- Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, d. Mark N. Hopkins, USA
- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, d. Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith, USA
- Mugabe and the White African, d. Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, UK
- Sergio, d. Greg Barker, USA
- Soundtrack for a Revolution, d. Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman, USA/France/UK
- Under Our Skin, d. Andy Abrahams Wilson, USA
- Valentino: The Last Emperor, d. Matt Tyrnauer, USA
- Which Way Home, d. Rebecca Cammisa, USA

Cinema Eye also announced their nominees for achievements in non-fiction cinema. The complete list of nominees can be found on their website (last year, Man on Wire took the top honors), but here are the 5 listed for Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction Feature Filmmaking:

- Burma VJ, d. Anders Ostergaard, Denmark
- The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos, USA
- Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner, USA
- Loot, d. Darius Marder, USA
- October Country, d. Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA

And, finally, the Gotham Awards will have their ceremony tomorrow in New York City. The Gotham Awards, an extension of the Independent Film Project, recognize the achievements in "independent cinema." I remember a lot of confused reactions to some of their omissions and inclusions when the nominees were announced in October. Courteney Hunt's Frozen River won the Best Picture last year. So, since I didn't post it previously, here are the nominees in the big categories: [UPDATED: The winners are in red; I didn't think a separate blog post was necessary to name them]

Best Feature Film

Amreeka, d. Cherein Dabis, USA/Canada
Big Fan, d. Robert Siegel, USA
The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow, USA
The Maid [La nana], d. Sebastián Silva, Chile/Mexico
A Serious Man, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA

Best Documentary

Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner, USA
Good Hair, d. Jeff Stilson, USA
My Neighbor My Killer [Mon voisin, mon tueur], d. Anne Aghion, France/USA
Paradise, d. Michael Almereyda, USA
Tyson, d. James Toback, USA

Breakthrough Director

Cruz Angeles - Don't Let Me Drown
Frazer Bradshaw - Everything Strange and New
Noah Buschel - The Missing Person
Derick Martini - Lymelife
Robert Siegel - Big Fan

Breakthrough Actor

Ben Foster - The Messenger
Patton Oswalt - Big Fan
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Catalina Saavedra - The Maid
Souleymane Sy Savane - Goodbye Solo

Best Ensemble Performance

Adventureland - Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds
Cold Souls - Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, Katheryn Winnick, David Strathairn
The Hurt Locker - Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly
A Serious Man - Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Sugar - Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Michael Gaston, Andre Holland, Ann Whitney, Richard Bull, Ellary Porterfield, Jaime Tirelli

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

Everything Strange and New, d. Frazer Bradshaw, USA
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, d. Damien Chazelle, USA
October Country, d. Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA
You Wont Miss Me, d. Ry Russo-Young, USA
Zero Bridge, d. Tariq Tapa, India/USA

The Decade List: Awards (2008)

I've likely spoken at some length on the majority of these awards, seeing as how most of them were given out this year... which means this will be the last installment of the Awards section of The Decade List, as I hope to will finish this all up by the end of the year. The "national film prizes" sounded really great in theory, but it's actually been more of a hassle than anything else. I'm not absolutely sure that the awards I've associated with the particular country are considered to be their top prize or not. And, like the European Film Awards, every country seems to have different cut-off periods for eligibility. Regardless, 2008 was the year where that damn crowd pleaser Slumdog Millionaire took home all the big prizes... and I'm still not sure why. For the Oscars, who always use peculiar logic, it may have been in their minds to follow up one of Oscar's bleakest Best Picture winners, No Country for Old Men, with one to get the crowds' cheering (although Slumdog is the only film I know of that can be both a crowd-pleaser and contain a scene where a child's eye gets scooped out with a spoon... there are probably other rousers that have featured their hero falling into a pool of excrement).

But, hey, at least it ended with a dance number! I wonder if I would hate Paul Haggis' Crash as much as I do if Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton and company broke out into a choreographed dance routine, or at least locked arms and swayed to "Lean on Me." Three of the other films that made repeat appearances, Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah, Steve McQueen's Hunger and Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, made their first stop at Cannes, while James Marsh's Man on Wire, which seemed to monopolize the Documentary categories, debuted at Sundance. Enjoy the final round of the Decade List's Award round-up, as I doubt I'll go back and revamp the previous years; I have too much to catch up on.

Film Festival Awards

Cannes, held 14-25 May 2008

Palme d’Or: Entre les murs (The Class) [d. Laurent Cantet]
Grand Prix: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
Prix du jury: Il divo [d. Paolo Sorrentino]
Best Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Üç maymun (Three Monkeys)
Best Actor: Benicio del Toro – Che
Best Actress: Sandra Corveloni – Linha de Passe
Best Screenplay: Jean Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne – Le silence de Lorna (Lorna’s Silence)

Caméra d’Or: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
- Special Mention: Everybody Dies But Me [d. Valeriya Gai Germanika]
Un Certain Regard Award: Tulpan [d. Sergei Dvortsevoy]
- Special Jury Prize: Tôkyô sonata [d. Kiyoshi Kuroawa]
Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique: Snijeg (Snow) [d. Aida Begić]
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Delta [d. Kornél Mundruczó]


Venice, held 27 August-6 September 2008

Golden Lion: The Wrestler [d. Darren Aronofsky]
Silver Lion
- for Best Director: Aleksei German MI. – Paper Soldier
Grand Special Jury Prize: Teza [d. Haile Gerima]
Volpi Cup
- Best Actor: Silvio Orlando – Il papa di Giovanna (Giovanna’s Father)
- Best Actress: Dominique Blanc – L’autre (The Other One)
Marcello Mastroianni Award (for Best Young Actor): Jennifer Lawrence – The Burning Plain
Golden Osella
- for Best Screenplay: Haile Gerima – Teza
- for Best Cinematography: Alisher Khamidkhodjaev, Maksim Drozdov – Paper Soldier
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Gabbla (Inland) [d. Tariq Teguia]
- Horizons and International Critics’ Week: Goodbye Solo [d. Ramin Bahrani]
Critics’ Week Award: L’apprenti (The Apprentice) [d. Samuel Collardey]
Queer Lion: Un altro pianeta (One Day in a Life) [d. Stefano Tummolini]


Toronto, held 4-13 September 2008

People’s Choice Award: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Discovery Award: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
Best Canadian Feature: Lost Song [d. Rodrigue Jean]
- Special Jury Citation: Adoration [d. Ang Lee]
Best Canadian First Feature: Le jour avant le lendemain (Before Tomorrow) [d. Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu]
- Special Jury Citation: Borderline [d. Lyne Charlebois]
FIPRESCI Award
- Special Presentations: Disgrace [d. Steve Jacobs]
- Discovery: Lymelife [d. Derick Martini]


Berlin, held 7-17 February 2008

Golden Bear: Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) [d. José Padilha]
Silver Bear
- for Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
- for Best Actor: Mohammad Amir Naji – The Song of Sparrows
- for Best Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
- for Best Screenplay: Wang Xiaoshuai – In Love We Trust
- Jury Grand Prix: Standard Operating Procedure [d. Errol Morris]
- Outstanding Artistic Achievement: Jonny Greenwood, composer – There Will Be Blood
Panorama Audience Award: Lemon Tree [d. Eran Riklis]
Teddy
- Feature: The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela [d. Olaf de Fleur Jóhannesson]
- Documentary: Football Under Cover [d. David Assmann, Ayat Najafi]
- Jury Award: Be Like Others [d. Tanaz Eshaghian]
- Audience Award: Football Under Cover
- Special Teddy: Kevin Collins, Simon Fisher-Turner, Isaac Julien, James Mackay, Tilda Swinton (To those who as a ‘family,’ as combatants and allies of British filmmaker Derek Jarman have looked after his heritage); Hans Stempel, Martin Ripkens (for their activities and achievements as film critics, film scouts and filmmakers)
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Lake Tahoe [d. Fernando Eimbcke]
- Forum of New Cinema: Shahida [d. Natalie Assouline]
- Panorama: Mermaid [d. Anna Melikyan]


Sundance, held 17-27 January 2008

Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Frozen River [d. Courtney Hunt]
- Director: Lance Hammer – Ballast
- Special Jury Prize: (tie) Chusy Haney-Jardine – Anywhere, USA; Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, Brad William Henke, ensemble cast – Choke
- Cinematography: Lol Crawley – Ballast
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Alex Rivera, David Riker – Sleep Dealer
- Audience Award: The Wackness [d. Jonathan Levine]

Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Trouble the Water [d. Tia Lessin, Carl Deal]
- Director: Nanette Burstein – American Teen
- Special Jury Prize: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo [d. Lisa F. Jackson]
- Cinematography: Phillip Hunt, Steven Sebring – Patti Smith: Dream of Life
- Documentary Film Editing Award: Joe Bini – Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
- Audience Award: Fields of Fuel [d. Joshua Tickell]

World Cinema, Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Ping-pongkingen (King of Ping Pong) [d. Jens Jonsson]
- Director: Ana Melikyan – Mermaid
- Special Jury Prize: Párpados azules (Blue Eyelids) [d. Ernesto Contreras]
- Cinematography: Askild Edvardsen – Ping-pongkingen
- Screenwriting Award: Samuel Benchetrit – J’ai toujours rêvé d’être un gangster (I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster)
- Audience Award: Captain Abu Raed [d. Amin Matalqa]

World Cinema, Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
- Director: Nino Kirtadze – Durakovo: Le village des fous (Durakovo: Village of Fools)
- Cinematography: Mahmoud al Massad – Recycle
- Documentary Film Editing Award: Irena Dol – The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins
- Audience Award: Man on Wire

Other Festivals of Note

Locarno International Film Festival, held 6-16 August 2008
- Golden Leopard: Parque vía [d. Enrique Rivero]

San Sebastián International Film Festival, held 18-27 September 2008
- Golden Seashell: Pandora’nin kutusu (Pandra’s Box) [d. Yeşim Ustaoğlu]

Tokyo International Film Festival, held 18-26 October 2008
- Tokyo Grand Prix: Tulpan [d. Sergei Dvortsevoy]

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, held 4-12 July 2008
- Crystal Globe: Frygtelig lykkelig (Terribly Happy) [d. Henrik Ruben Genz]

Montréal World Film Festival, held 21 August-1 September 2008
- Grand Prix des Amériques: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita]

SXSW Film Festival, held 7-15 March 2008
- Best Film: Wellness [d. Jake Mahaffy]
- Best Documentary: They Killed Sister Dorothy [d. Daniel Junge]

Industry Awards

Academy Awards, held 22 February 2009

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Best Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Film: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita], Japan
Best Documentary: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
Best Animated Feature: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]


BAFTAS, held 8 February 2009

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Film Not in the English Language: Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long) [d. Philippe Claudel], France
Best Animated Feature: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]

Outstanding British Film: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
David Lean Award for Direction: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer: Steve McQueen, writer/director – Hunger
Rising Star Award: Noel Clarke


European Film Awards, held 6 December 2008

Best Film: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
Best Director: Matteo Garrone - Gomorra
Best Actor: Toni Servillo – Il divo; Gomorra
Best Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas – Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Best Cinematography: Marco Onorato – Gomorra
Best Screenplay: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano – Gomorra
Prix d’excellence: Magdalena Biedrzycka, costume designer – Katyń
Best Documentary: René [d. Helena Trestikova]
Discovery: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
FIPRESCI Prize: La graine et le mulet (The Secret of the Grain) [d. Abdel Kechiche]
Audience Award (Film): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [d. David Yates]


Independent Spirit Awards, held 21 February 2009

Best Feature: The Wrestler [d. Darren Aronofsky]
Best First Feature: Synecdoche, New York [d. Charlie Kaufman]
Best Director: Thomas McCarthy – The Visitor
Best Male Lead: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Female Lead: Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Best Supporting Male: James Franco – Milk
Best Supporting Female: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best First Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti – The Wrestler
Best Documentary: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
Best Foreign Film: Entre les murs (The Class) [d. Laurent Cantet]

John Cassavetes Award (for features made for under $500,000): In Search of a Midnight Kiss [d. Alex Holdridge]
Truer Than Fiction Award: The Order of Myths [d. Margaret Brown]
Someone to Watch Award: Lynne Shelton – My Effortless Brilliance
Producers Award: Heather Rae – Frozen River; Ibid


Golden Globes, held 11 January 2009

Drama
- Picture: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
- Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
- Actress: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Musical or Comedy
- Picture: Vicky Cristina Barcelona [d. Woody Allen]
- Actor: Colin Farrell – In Bruges
- Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Foreign Film: Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman], Israel
Animated Film: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]


César Awards, held 27 February 2009

Best Film (Meilleur film): Séraphine [d. Martin Provost]
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Jean-François Richet – Mesrine
Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): Vincent Cassel – Mesrine
Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Yolande Moreau – Séraphine
Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle): Jean-Paul Roussillon – Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale)
Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle): Elsa Zylberstein – Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Marc-André Grondin – Le premier jour du reste de ta vie (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life)
Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Déborah François – Le premier jour du reste de ta vie
Best Original Screenplay (Meilleur scénario original): Marc Abdelnour, Martin Provost – Séraphine
Best Adapted Screenplay (Meilleur scénario adaptation): François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet – Entre les murs (The Class)
Best Cinematography (Meilleure photographie): Laurent Brunet – Séraphine
Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman], Israel
Best Documentary (Meilleur film documentaire): Les plages d’Agnès (The Beaches of Agnès) – d. Agnès Varda
Best First Film (Meilleur premier film): Il y a longtemps que je t’aime [d. Philippe Claudel]


Directors Guild of America, given 31 January 2009

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Ari Folman – Waltz with Bashir


Screen Actors Guild of America, held 25 January 2009

Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn – Milk
Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep – Doubt
Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Outstanding Performance by the Case of a Theatrical Motion Picture: Slumdog Millionaire, awarded to Rubina Ali, Tanay Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Madhur Mittal, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto


Razzies, given 21 February 2009

Worst Film: The Love Guru [d. Marco Schnabel]
Worst Director: Uwe Boll – Tunnel Rats; In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale; Postal
Worst Actor: Mike Myers – The Love Guru
Worst Actress: Paris Hilton – The Hottie & the Nottie
Worst Supporting Actor: Pierce Brosnan – Mamma Mia!
Worst Supporting Actress: Paris Hilton – Repo! The Genetic Opera
Worst Screenplay: Mike Myers, Graham Gordy – The Love Guru
Worst Remake/Sequel: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [d. Steven Spielberg]

National Industry Awards

Argentina, Clarín Awards
- Film: Aniceto [d. Leonardo Favio]
Australia, Australian Film Awards
- Film: The Black Balloon [d. Tristram Miall]
Austria, Diagnole Grand Prize
- Film: Revanche [d. Götz Spielmann]
Brazil, Cinema Brazil Awards
- Film: Estômago [d. Marcos Jorge]
- Foreign Film: Vicky Cristina Barcelona [d. Woody Allen], Spain/USA
Canada, Genie Awards
- Film: Passchendaele [d. Paul Gross]

Canada (Québec), Jutra Awards
- Film: Borderline [d. Lyne Charlebois]
China, Golden Rooster
- Film: (tie) Assembly [d. Feng Xiaogang]; Forever Enthralled [d. Chen Kaige]
Czech Republic, Czech Lions
- Film: Karamazovi (The Karamazovs) [d. Petr Zelenka]
- Foreign-Language Film: Katyń [d. Andrzej Wajda], Poland
Denmark, Robert Awards
- Film: Frygtelig lykkelig (Terribly Happy) [d. Henrik Ruben Genz]
- Best American Film: No Country for Old Men [d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen]
- Best Non-American Film: Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) [d. Jan Troell], Sweden
Finland, Jussi Awards
- Film: Niko – Lentäjän poika (Niko and the Way to the Stars) [d. Michael Henger, Kari Juusonen]

Germany, Lolas
- Film: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven) [d. Fatih Akin]
Greece, Greek Competition Awards via the Thessaloniki Film Festival
- Film: Exile Island [d. Elias Giannakakis, Evi Karabatsou]
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Film Awards
- Film: Ip Man [d. Wilson Yip]
Hungary, Hungarian Film Week Grand Prize
- Film: Delta [d. Kornél Mundruczó]
Iceland, Edda Awards
- Film: Brúðguminn (White Night Wedding) [d. Baltasar Kormákur]

Iran, Crystal Simorgh
- Film: As Simple As That [d. Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi]
Ireland, Irish Film & Television Awards
- Film: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
- Best International Film: In Bruges [d. Martin McDonagh], UK
Israel, Ophir Awards
- Film: Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman]
Italy, David di Donatello Awards
- Film: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
- Best Foreign Film: Gran Torino [d. Clint Eastwood], USA
- Best European Film: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle], UK
Japan, Japanese Academy Awards
- Film: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita]
- Foreign Language Film: The Dark Knight [d. Christopher Nolan], USA
Mexico, Ariel Awards
- Film: Lake Tahoe [d. Fernando Eimbcke]
- Best Latin-American Film: Leonera (Lion’s Den) [d. Pablo Trapero], Argentina

Netherlands, Golden Calf
- Film: Alles is liefde (Love Is All) [d. Joram Lürsen]
Norway, Amanda Awards
- Film: Mannen som elsket Yngve (The Man Who Loved Yngve) [d. Stian Kristiansen]
- Best Foreign Feature Film: There Will Be Blood [d. Paul Thomas Anderson], USA
Philippines, FAMAS
- Film: Baler [d. Mark Meily]
Portugal, Coimbra Caminhos
- Film: Deus Não Quis (It Wasn’t God’s Will) [d. António Ferreira]
Romania, Gopo Awards
- Film: Restul e tăcere (The Rest Is Silence) [d. Nae Caranfil]
- Best European Film: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (I Served the King of England) [d. Jiří Menzel], Czech Republic
Russia, Nika Awards
- Film: Hipsters [d. Valeriy Todorovskiy]

South Korea, Grand Bell Awards
- Film: The Chaser [d. Na Hong-jin]
Spain, Goya Awards
- Film: Camino [d. Javier Fesser]
- Spanish-Language Foreign Film: La buena vida (The Good Life) [d. Andrés Wood], Chile
- European Film: 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) [d. Cristian Mungiu]
Sweden, Guldbagge Awards
- Film: Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) [d. Jan Troell]
- Foreign Film: Lust, Caution [d. Ang Lee], Taiwan
Switzerland, Swiss Film Awards
- Film: Home [d. Ursula Meier]
Taiwan, Golden Horse
- Film: Warlords [d. Peter Chan, Yip Wai Man]
Turkey, Golden Orange
- Film: Pazar - Bir ticaret masali (The Market: A Tale of Trade) [d. Ben Hopkins]