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 October 10, 2008 AWARDS WATCH '08 | Foreign Language Oscar Race May Offer Fewer Surprises and Acquisitions
From Bangladesh to Vietnam, nearly 100 countries were invited to submit films for this year's foreign-language Oscar race. (The official list of titles will come out early next week.) Notoriously, the category is one of the most unpredictable - last year, leading contenders "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" and "Persepolis" were shafted, while entries from Poland, Israel and Russia surprisingly made the final cut. If this year's race may be one of the widest open in years, it may also turn out to be one of the most predictable due to a radical change in Academy regulations as a result of last year's "embarrassment," as one industry insider called it. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story, Trends ] October 8, 2008 iW NEWS | Academy Announces Doc Short Shortlist
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that the field of Documentary Short Subject entries for the 81st Academy Awards has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar nominations. The eight films are: "The Conscience of Nhem En," "David McCullough: Painting with Words," "Downstream," "The Final Inch," "Smile Pinki," "Tongzhi in Love," "Viva La Causa," and "The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306." [Peter Knegt]  [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Documentary, Honors ] October 6, 2008iW NEWS | Stiller, Tomei, "Bees" Cast Among Hollywood Fest Honorees
The 12th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards have announced additional honorees who will be recognized at the Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony, which will take place on October 27, 2008, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Ben Stiller will be honored with the "Hollywood Comedy of the Year Award," Marisa Tomei with the "Hollywood Supporting Actress of the Year Award," the cast of Fox Searchlight's "The Secret Life of Bees" with the "Hollywood Ensemble Acting of the Year Award" and newcomer Robert Pattinson with the "New Hollywood Award." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] October 2, 2008iW NEWS | Danish Anchorman Bertelsen To Host European Film Awards
When the guests at the European Film Awards ceremony take their seats at Copenhagen's Forum on December 6, 2008, the host of the evening will be popular Danish journalist, anchorman and TV-host Mikael Bertelsen. On stage with him will be the Danish Radio Big Band, Denmark's most popular jazz orchestra. Among the evening's announced guests are Dame Judi Dench, this year's recipient of the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Danish Dogma brothers Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, Kristian Levring, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg who will receive the award European Achievement in World Cinema 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Events ] September 30, 2008iW NEWS | European Film Awards Announce Discovery Nods
The European Film Awards have announced the nominees of this year's European Discovery Award, given to "young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film." This year's nominees are Steve McQueen's "Hunger," Aida Begic's "Snijeg," Seyfi Teoman's "Tatil Kitabi," and Sergey Dvortsevoy's "Tulpan." The winner will be announced at the 21st annual ceremony, December 6, 2008 in Copenhagen. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 25, 2008iW NEWS | Mark and Condon To Guide 81st Oscars
Producer Laurence Mark has been announced as the producer of the 81st Annual Academy Awards telecast, while writer/director Bill Condon has been tapped to executive produce. It will be their first involvement in the production of an Oscar show. "Larry and Bill are fresh thinkers who will bring a unique perspective to the Oscar show," said Academy President Sid Ganis in a statement. "That fact, joined with their enormous collective talent and enthusiasm, will serve the 81st awards proceedings perfectly." The 81st Academy Awards presentation will be take place Sunday, February 22, 2009. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Industry Moves ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Back and Forth: Are the Fall Fests Telling Us Anything?
Kicking off this year's awards season coverage in indieWIRE, editor-in-chief Eugene Hernandez and assistant editor Peter Knegt chatted yesterday via instant message about the opening moments of awards race. Topics for this first installment include a look at what we've learned from the film festivals, and speculation about some of the season's frontrunners and dark horse contenders. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ] September 24, 2008iW NEWS | Nolan, Shanley Tapped For Hollywood Awards
The 12th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, have announced that producers Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven and Emma Thomas will be honored with the "Hollywood Producers of the Year Award" for their work on "The Dark Knight," and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley will receive the "Hollywood Screenwriter of the Year Award" for "Doubt." The awards will be handed out at the festival's Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony on October 27, 2008 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 22, 2008iW NEWS | European Film Award Announce Short Nominees
The 21st European Film Awards, to be held in Copenhagen on December 6, 2008, have announced the full list of nominees for their short film award. The nominees are Hanro Smitsman's "Raak," James Lees' "The Apology Line," Cyril Paris' "Un Bisou pour le monde," Johnny Kelly's "Procrastination," Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy's "Joy," Darren Thornton's "Frankie," Luis Cook's "The Pearce Sisters," Marc Reisbig's "Time is Running Out," Laila Pakalnina's "Uguns," Runar Runarsson's "Smafuglar," Sam Taylor-Wood's "Love You More," Ivan Ramadan's "Tolerantia," Koen Dejaegher's "De Onbaatzuchtigen," and Laszlo Nemes' "Tuerelem." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors, Shorts ] iW NEWS | IFP to Honor Nevins
Sheila Nevins, president of HBO Documentary Films, will be honored with a Gotham Award Tribute at the IFP's 18th Annual Gotham Awards on Tuesday, December 2nd in New York. "Sheila has unquestionably been one of the most influential forces in documentary filmmaking," said IFP's Michelle Byrd, in a statement. "She is almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing documentaries into mainstream popular culture. Her work has not only changed the documentary landscape, it's opened minds and spurred change." Over the summer, Nevins spoke about her life and career at a special "Evening with Sheila Nevins" event at the Los Angeles Film Festival. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 19, 2008BBC | Cannes winner submitted for Oscar
"The Class," winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has been named as France's official entry for the 2009 foreign language film Oscar. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Movies ] September 16, 2008iW NEWS | Franco, Hawkins Among Hollywood Fest Honorees
The 12th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards have announced honorees who will be recognized at the festival's Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony. Actor James Franco will receive the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actor of the Year Award," actress Sally Hawkins will be honored with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actress of the Year Award," director John Patrick Shanley will receive the "Hollywood Breakthrough Director of the Year Award," screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will be honored with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Screenwriter of the Year Award," "WALL-E," will get the "Hollywood Animation of the Year Award," and "Iron Man" and visual effects supervisors John Nelson and Ben Snow will receive the "Hollywood Visual Effects of the Year Award." The gala ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 27, 2008. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 13, 2008VAR | 'Silence' is golden for Romania
Nae Caranfil's "The Rest Is Silence," which debuted at last year's Locarco fest and screened this month at the Telluride Film Festival, has been tapped to represent Romania in the foreign language category at the upcoming Academy Awards, Variety reported this week. indieWIRE covered the film at the recent Telluride fest. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 5, 2008iW NEWS | Jordan Joins Oscar Race With "Raed"
For the first time, the country fo Jordan is officially joining the race for the Academy Awards with the submission of Amin Matalqa's "Captain Abu Raed." An independent submission committee, recently constituted by the Royal Film Commission - Jordan according to the rules set by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, convened on August 31, 2008 and selected the "Raed" to represent Jordan at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, due to be held on February 22, 2009. "These are exciting times. The mere fact that a Jordanian film will be submitted for the first time is an indication that the film industry in Jordan has matured," said Munir Nassar, Chairman of the Oscar Submission Committee for Jordan in a statement. "Raed" won Dramatic World Cinema Audience Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] September 4, 2008iW NEWS | European Film Awards Announce 44 Finalists
The European Film Academy and EFA Productions gGmbH have announced the titles of the 44 films on this year's selection list, the list of films recommended for a nomination for the 2008 European Film Awards. Twenty-seven countries are represented on the list. Films include Joe Wright's "Atonement," Dany Boon's "Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis," Arnaud Desplechin's "Un Conte de Noel," Paolo Sorrentino's "Il Divo," Laurent Cantet's "The Class," Matteo Garrone's "Gomorra," Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky," Steve McQueen's "Hunger," Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol," Bent Hamer's "O'Horten" and Ari Folman's "Waltz With Bashir." Check out the full list here. In the next few weeks, the 1,800 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the different award categories. The nominations will then be announced on November 8, 2008 at the Sevilla European Film Festival in Spain. The awards will take place on December 6, 2008 in Copenhagen. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] August 28, 2008iW NEWS | Academy Doc Deadline Approaches
Next Tuesday, September 2nd is the deadline for filmmakers to submit their short subject and feature documentaries to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the 81st Academy Awards. To be eligible, documentary features must have completed a seven-day commercial run in at least one theater in both Los Angeles County and in the Borough of Manhattan in New York, between September 1, 2007, and August 31, 2008. Documentary short subjects must have completed the same in either Los Angeles County or in the Borough of Manhattan in New York, between those dates. The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Official Info ] August 19, 2008iW NEWS | Gotham Awards To Honor Cruz
The IFP has announced that Penelope Cruz will be presented with a Gotham Award Tribute at the 18th Annual Gotham Awards. Cruz currently stars in both "Elegy" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." "Penelope's body of work embodies what is exciting and vibrant about filmmaking today, in particular independent filmmaking" said Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, in a statement. "Her performances working with internationally acclaimed directors and her choice of roles are dynamic, vivacious and varied. IFP is especially pleased to salute her still very young career this year as she delivers knockout performances in two extremely different and winning films presently in theaters." Additional Tribute recipients will be announced next week. Nominees for the awards will be announced on October 20th, 2008, and winners will be honored at a ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on December 2nd. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] July 11, 2008Reuters: Oscar buzz mounts for late Heath Ledger
Actor Heath Ledger won rave reviews from Australian critics on Friday for his final performance as the Joker in the new Batman movie, fuelling speculation of a rare posthumous Oscar. Belinda Goldsmith reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, People ] July 7, 2008iW NEWS | Gotham Awards Move To Wall Street
IFP announced that the 18th Annual Gotham Awards will move to its new home, Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, on Tuesday, December 2nd. The Gotham Awards honor "independently-distributed American feature films made with an economy of means." Past winners include "Junebug," "Half Nelson" and "Juno." "New York is the home of independent film, so it's exciting to bring the Gotham Awards to a classic New York venue like Cipriani Wall Street," said Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, in a statement. "It will provide a spectacular setting for celebrating the best in independent film." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Industry Moves ] July 3, 2008VAR | Oscar candidates lagging this year
An early look at awards season from Variety: "At least on paper, this year looks like a return to the old days, when the majors dominated awards and most of the nominees bowed late in the year -- in contrast with recent history, when the Oscar charge was led by specialty divisions and fall launches." [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] May 16, 2008iW NEWS | Student Academy Awards Announced
Eleven students from eight colleges and universities have been named winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 35th Annual Student Academy Awards competition. They will participate in a week of industry-related activities and social events, culminating in the awards ceremony on June 7 at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The winners in the "Alternative" category are "Circles of Confusion" (Phoebe Tooke, San Francisco State University), and "Viola: The Traveling Rooms of a Little Giant" (Shih-Ting Hung, University of Southern California); in the "Animation" category, Oscars went to "Simulacra" (Tatchapon Lertwirojkul, The School of Visual Arts), "The Visionary" (Evan Mayfield, Ringling College of Art and Design, Florida), and "Zoologic" (Nicole Mitchell, California Institute of the Arts); the "Documentary" category winners were "As We Forgive" (Laura Waters Hinson, American University, Washington, D.C.), "If a Body Meet a Body" (Brian Davis, University of Southern California), and "Unattached"( J.J. Adler, Columbia University); and in the "Narrative" category, winners were "A Day's Work" (Rajeev Dassani, University of Southern California), "Pitstop" (Melanie McGraw, University of Southern California), and "The State of Sunshine" (Z. Eric Yang, Florida State University). The "Honorary Foreign Film" award went to "On the Line (Auf der Strecke)" (Reto Caffi, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne, Germany). While the U.S. winners know they will each receive an award, their placement - Gold, Silver or Bronze - will not be revealed until the June 7 ceremony. In addition to a trophy, Gold Medal winners receive $5,000, Silver Medal winners receive $3,000 and Bronze Medal winners receive $2,000. The Honorary Foreign Film winner receives $1,000 in addition to a trophy. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] May 9, 2008iW NEWS | Golden Trailer Awards Announced
Thursday night at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, the 9th Annual Golden Trailer Awards were handed out in a ceremony hosted by comedian Sinbad. The upcoming "The Dark Knight" won best action trailer, while "Iron Man" won the best overall for summer 2008. "In Bruges" was named the most original, while "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" won for best music and best voice-over, respectively. "No Country For Old Men" was awarded the best dramatic trailer, "Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?" best documentary, and "Day Night Day Night" for best independent. The awards will be televised on May 26, 2008 on MyNetworkTV, which will include the winner of the publicly voted "trailer of the year." All other winners were deciphered by a jury that included Joss Whedon, Jonathan D. Krane, Morgan Spurlock, Eli Roth, Gary Meyet and Claudia Puig. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] April 14, 2008iW NEWS | AMPAS Releases Dates for 81st Oscars
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced key dates for its 81st edition of the Academy Awards. Academy President Sid Ganis noted that the ceremony will take place Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and will be televised by ABC. Other dates include the mailing of nomination ballots on December 26, 2008, the nomination announcement on January 22, 2009 a the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and final polls closing at 5pm PT on February 17, 2009. The dates coincide with those since the move of the Oscars from March to February, with exception of a move of nomination announcement from a Tuesday to a Thursday, to avoid conflicting with the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] March 27, 2008iW NEWS | Tarantino to be Honored at Provincetown Fest
Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will be honored with the 2008 Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the 10th annual Provincetown International Film Festival, running from June 18 - 22 in Provincetown, MA. Previous award recipients, all of whom have been invited back for the fest's anniversary are John Waters, Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, James Schamus, Gus Van Sant, Todd Haynes, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron, Gregg Araki, and Todd Solondz. For more information, please visit the festival website. [Eugene Hernandez][permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Festivals ] March 26, 2008iW NEWS | MMI to Honor Schamus, Blank
The Museum of the Moving Image will honor Focus Features CEO James Schamus and Showtime Networks CEO Matt Blank at the organization's annual black-tie benefit, to be held on April 30th at The St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] March 18, 2008 "Manda Bala" Wins Big at First Cinema Eye Awards
Born out of anger, to use the words of filmmaker Jason Kohn, the inaugural Cinema Eye Honors for documentary films awarded three prizes to "Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)" on Tuesday night in New York City. Kohn's doc, nominated in six of the nine Cinema Eye categories, was honored as best picture and also received awards for cinematography and editing. [ read more in Biz ] [ 7 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Documentary, Lead Story ] February 27, 2008  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Erik, Elektra, Friend
More from the Spirits: Celebrating a successful IFC TV bash at Shutters, on the beach in Santa Monica, are (left to right) IFC's Erik Batt and Elektra Gray , with Raquel Bruno from Drive Entertainment. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Smith & Sehring
At this year's IFC party, immediately following the Spirit Awards, nominee Chris Smith ("The Pool") with IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Nein, Kevin, Patricof
More from the Spirits: Hanging out at the IFC Party: Sundance Film Festival programmer John Nein, Kevin Iwashina, and producer Jamie Patricof. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Zobel & Bronstein
More from the Spirits: Inside the tent on Saturday, Spirit Award nominees Craig Zobel ("Great World of Sound") and Ronnie Bronstein. ("Frownland"). [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ] February 26, 2008 AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Cassidy/Battsek
More from the Spirits: This duo from Miramax had plenty to celebrate on awards weekend in Los Angeles. Pictured at the Spirit Awards on Saturday are marketing EVP Jason Cassidy with the company's president, Daniel Battsek. Later that night, Miramax held a swanky party in West Hollywood to celebrate its nominees and a best picture prize for "No Country For Old Men" followed on Sunday. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Spirits: Outdoor group
More from the Spirit Awards: Hanging outside the tent before the rains came on Spirit Awards Saturday are (left to right): Samuel Goldwyn's Meyer Gottleib, Lakeshore's David Dinerstein, Variety's Madelyn Hammond and Landmark Theaters' Ted Mundorff. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Champagne and a Yacht
More from awards weekend: Hanging out at the Women in Film bash -- presented by Perrier-Jouet -- at Peter Guber's house over the weekend are "Tanghi Argentini" producer Anja Daelemans and director Guido Thys, sipping the tasty champagne and enjoying the run up to the Academy Awards, where they were nominated for live action short film. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ] AP: Oscars are a TV ratings dud
The Oscars are a ratings dud. Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings for the 80th annual Academy Awards telecast are 14 percent lower than the least-watched ceremony ever. AP reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 25, 2008AWARDS WATCH '08 | And the winners are...
The Oscars and Spirit Awards were presented this weekend in Southern California. "No Country for Old Men" won best picture from AMPAS (see indieWIRE article), while "Juno" won best feature from Film Independent (see indieWIRE article). Meanwhile iPOP offers photos from awards weekend in Los Angeles. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] BBC: Lohan and Murphy dominate Razzies
Lindsay Lohan and Eddie Murphy have both been crowned the worst actors of 2007 at the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, which spoof the Oscars. BBC reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 24, 2008AWARDS WATCH '08 | The Spirit Award Winners...
The Spirit Awards from Film Independent were presented yesterday in Santa Monica, CA. indieWIRE's dispatch includes all the winners, while iPOP offers photos from awards weekend in Los Angeles. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ]  AWARDS WATCH | The Oscars: "No Country" Wins Best Picture; Coens Named Best Director
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen's "No Country For Old Men" was the winner of four big Oscars at the 80th Academy Awards tonight in Southern California. The film was named best picture of the year and the Coens won awards for directing and their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, while Javier Bardem won the best supporting actor Oscar. The Academy Award for best foreign language film went to Stefan Ruzowitzky's "The Counterfeiters" from Austria and the Oscar for best documentary was presented tonight to Alex Gibney's "Taxi To the Darkside." [ read more in Biz ] [ 1 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ]  AWARDS WATCH | Spirits: Kilik and Lawson
Inside the tent, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" producer Jon Kilik chats up Miramax acquisitions exec Peter Lawson. The company swiftly nabbed the film in Cannes last year and quickly put it on track for an awards season release, garnering heaps of kudos along way. Accepting his best director award last night, filmmaker Julian Schnabel praised Kilik on stage, saying he doesn't make a movie without the veteran producer. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH | Spirits: Sloss, Vachon, Pugliese
Outside the Spirit Awards on Saturday, before the rain came, Cinetic's John Sloss (center) escorts Killer Films' Christine Vachon (right) and Charles Pugliese (left). The group collaborated on this year's Robert Altman Award winner, "I'm Not There." [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH | Coen Brothers Poised For Big Oscar Night
With their "No Country Old Men" nominated for 8 Academy Awards, 4 of which are for themselves, Joel and Ethan Coen are heading into Sunday's ceremony in an unlikely position: the overwhelming front runners. Having won a slew of critics awards, the DGA, the PGA, the SAG ensemble and an assortment of BAFTAs and Golden Globes, "No Country" -- which debuted last year at the Cannes Film Festival -- seems like a tough choice to bet against. Twenty-three years and twelve features after they debuted with "Blood Simple," it seems Hollywood is ready to give quite the embrace to the brothers Coen. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch ] February 23, 2008 AWARDS WATCH '08 | "Juno" Leads Spirit Awards; "Diving Bell," "I'm Not There," "Savages" Each Win Two
Jason Reitman's "Juno" led this afternoon's Spirit Awards, presented by Film Independent, taking home awards for best feature film, best female lead Ellen Page and best first screenplay for Diablo Cody. The ceremony took place in Santa Monica, CA, inside a tent along the beach, and was hosted by Rainn Wilson, while Oscar nominee Javier Bardem was this year's honorary chair. Joining "Juno" in the winner's circle were double winners "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "I'm Not There" and "The Savages." [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Cynthia and Stacie
Oscar nominee Cynthia Wade ("Freeheld") with Stacie Andree, one of her film's subjects, at the Women in Film celebration in Los Angeles on Friday (co hosted by Perrier-Jouet). The film received a finishing grant from the organization before debuting at the Sundance Film Festival last year. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH '08 | Bart, Tamara, Dana, and Batman...
At the Women in Film/Perrier-Jouet bash celebrating the women nominated for Oscars this year, Cinetic's Bart Walker, "The Savages" writer/director Tamara Jenkins, and actress Dana Delaney smile alongside Batman in host Peter Guber's office. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  AWARDS WATCH | Indie Spirit: Cassavetes Nominees "August Evening," Owl and the Sparrow," "Quiet City," "Shotgun Stories," "The Pool"
The five nominees for the John Cassavetes Award at this year's Film Independent Spirit Awards are a diverse lot representing five very different films: Chris Eska's "August Evening," Stephane Gauger's "Owl and the Sparrow," Aaron Katz's "Quiet City," Jeff Nichols' "Shotgun Stories" and Chris Smith's "The Pool." indieWIRE spoke with each of the nominees about their acclaimed films, their backgrounds, and their future plans. The prize honors the best of the low-budget films produced each year, singling out five films each made for under $500,000. [ read more in People ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Lead Story, Profiles ] February 22, 2008 AWARDS WATCH '08 | And the nominees are...
At Casa del Mar in Santa Monica last night (Thursday), Film Independent celebrates the annual Spirit Awards, with the 2008 nominees introducing themselves. Meet the nominees from films including "August Evening," "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," "Four Sheets to the Wind," "Great World of Sound," "Helvetica," "I'm Not There," "Juno," "A Mighty Heart," "The Monastery," "The Namesake," "Owl and the Sparrow," Paranoid Park," "Ping Pong Playa," "Police Beat," "Quiet City," "The Savages," "Shotgun Stories," "Starting Out in the Evening," "The Unforeseen," and "Vanaja". The full list of nominees is available at indieWIRE. com. More in our special Awards Watch section. [ filed under Awards Watch ] AWARDS WATCH '08 | "Grain" Wins Big at French Cesar Awards
Abdellatif Kechiche's "The Secret of the Grain" (La Graine et le mulet) was the big winner at French's Cesar Awards tonight. The film won the prizes for best picture, director and original screenplay at the ceremony. Mathieu Amalric won the award for best actor for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Le scaphandre et le papillon) and Marion Cotillard won the best actress award for "La Vie en Rose" (La Mome). The award best first film and adapted screenplay went to Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis." The complete list of winners is available on the Cesar's website, while Variety published a dispatch from the event tonight. [Eugene Hernandez] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] Reuters: Snubs, omissions taint Oscar foreign film award
No matter which movie wins the Oscar for best foreign language film on Sunday, critics and fans may remember this year for work that was snubbed or disqualified by Academy Award voters. Mary Milliken reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 21, 2008 AWARDS WATCH | IDA Celebrates Doc Shorts Nominees
Pictured at Wednesday's International Documentary Association's celebration for documentary Oscar nominees are short film nominees, left to right: Tim Sternberg ("Salim Baba"), Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega ("La Corona"), Cyntia Wade ("Freeheld"), and James Longley ("Sari's Mother"). Filmmakers screened clips from their films and celebrated their success with food and drinks at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. [ read more in iPOP ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Independent Spirit Awards & Oscar Weekend ]  DISPATCH FROM AWARDS SEASON | Docs in the Spotlight: Oscar Nominee Michael Moore Calls for Distribution Reform
Oscar nominee Michael Moore stirred members of the doc community on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, laying out a plan to create a new theatrical distribution outlet for non-fiction film. On stage at the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Moore rallied attendees at the annual International Documentary Association (IDA) celebration for feature and short film doc Oscar nominees. "We have to correct this situation with documentary films," Moore said of the challenges that have recently faced theatrically distributed documentaries. "This cannot go on any longer." [ read more in On The Scene ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Documentary, Lead Story, Trends ] HR: "Away From Her" earns film award in Canada
Canadian actress-turned-director Sarah Polley won the best film prize for her Oscar-nominated debut feature "Away From Her" at the inaugural Canadian Indie Awards in Ottawa Wednesday. Etan Vlessing reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 20, 2008AFP: Host Jon Stewart ready to provide Oscars laughs
Television comedian Jon Stewart will be injecting some stinging satire into the Oscars here Sunday, giving a political flavor to the Hollywood extravaganza in a presidential election year. Tangi Quemener reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, People ] AP: Michael Moore: Bring Fidel to the Oscars
"Sicko" director Michael Moore jokes that Fidel Castro would be a "ratings grabber" at Sunday night's Academy Awards show. Moore's Oscar-nominated documentary on the health-care industry concludes with a trip to Cuba, where he seeks care for a group of 9/11 responders who have experienced health problems. Marcela Isaza reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, People ]  SHORTS COLUMN | Oscar-Nominated Short Film Directors Bask in the Spotlight
On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Curtis Hanson hosted the Academy's pre-ceremony screening of the nominated live action and animated short films. With directors and producers of eight of the ten films in attendance, the sold-out event was a rare opportunity for the filmmakers to see each other's work and for the audience to hear what inspired these Oscar-caliber stories. The one-time-only gathering also drove home the point that none of this year's honorees are from the United States, and only one producer and one director have ever been nominated before. "We are seeing the future," announced Hanson in his opening remarks to the program, which lasted over four hours, including two panel discussions and an intermission. [ read more in Movies ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Watch, Lead Story, Monthly Short Film Column, Shorts ] February 19, 2008AFP: There will be blood as Oscars turn 80
Violent movies are tipped to carve up the top honors when the red carpet is rolled out for the 80th Academy Awards on Sunday, reflecting Oscar voters' increasing willingness to honor darker fare. Rob Woollard reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 18, 2008iW NEWS | "Bourne", "Sweeney", "Sicko" Take ACE Eddies
The American Cinema Editors handed out their 58th annual ACE Eddie awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday night. In the film categories, Christopher Rouse won for his work on "The Bourne Ultimatum" in the dramatic category, Chris Lebenzon won in the comedic category for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," while Geoffrey Richman, Chris Seward and Dan Swietlik won for "Sicko" in he documentary category. One of the narrative winners usually goes on to win the Academy Award for best editing, with only one instance (in 2001, when "Gladiator" won the Eddie and "Traffic" won the Oscar) in the past decade in which this didn't occur. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] February 16, 2008HR: Full steam ahead for Oscar telecast
With the threat of picketing writers having passed, Oscar organizers on Thursday unveiled presenters and performers for their upcoming telecast. Host Jon Stewart and his writing team are expected to arrive in Hollywood on Saturday for some intensive Oscar prep before the February 24 ceremony. Gregg Kilday and Paul J. Gough report. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 14, 2008iW NEWS | Oscars Announce Presenters, Performers
Academy Awards producer Gil Cates and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis announced the presenters and performers of this year's February 24th telecast Thursday. Included are all four of last year's acting winners, Alan Arkin, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker, as well as a long list of others including Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy, Queen Latifah, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Hilary Swank, John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Renee Zellweger. Additionally, Amy Adams will perform the song "Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted." The other two songs will be performed by Kristen Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders ("That's How You Know") and Jon McLaughlin ("So Close"). "Once's Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova will perform their song "Falling Slowly," while Jamia Simone Nash will perform "Raise it Up" from "August Rush." Jon Stewart and his team of writers Hal Kanter, Buz Kohan, Jon Macks and Bruce Vilanch, are currently working on the show itself, which airs one week from this upcoming Sunday. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 13, 2008iW NEWS | Bardem Named Honorary Chair For Spirits
Film Independent announced that Javier Bardem will serve as the Honorary Chair at the 2008 Spirit Awards, to be held on February 23, 2008 in Santa Monica. As Honorary Chair, Bardem will be a presenter at the ceremony, which is being hosted this year by Rainn Wilson. Bardem, who won a Spirit Award for "Before Night Falls," joins a list of previous chairs that includes last year's co-chairs Maggie Gyllenhaal and Terrence Howard, as well as Halle Berry, Ang Lee, Martin Scorcese, Nicole Kidman and Jodie Foster. Honorary Chairs are selected for their outstanding achievements in film as well as their commitment to Film Independent's overall mission to celebrate the wide spectrum of independent filmmaking. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] February 10, 2008iW NEWS | "Atonement" Wins BAFTA's Best Film Award
Joe Wright's "Atonement" was awarded best film at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in London Sunday night. Though the film also picked up an award for best production design, it was not the leader in terms of total awards. "La Vie En Rose" led an unusually spread out group of winners, taking awards for best actress (Marion Cotillard), best makeup, best music and best costume design. Following "Rose" was Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country For Old Men," which won three awards for best director, best supporting actor (Javier Bardem) and best cinematography (Roger Deakins). Other notable winners were Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor for his performance in "There Will Be Blood," surprise winner Tilda Swinton for best supporting actress in "Michael Clayton and "Juno"'s Diablo Cody for best original screenplay. And despite winning best film overall, "Atonement" lost the best british film award to "This Is England." For a complete list of winners, please visit BAFTA's website. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] February 9, 2008iW NEWS | WGA Award Cody, Coens, Gibney
For the 60th anniversary of their annual awards, the Writers Guild of America announced their winners Saturday night. Diablo Cody won for best original screenplay for "Juno," Joel and Ethan Coen won for their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country For Old Men," while Alex Gibney won in the documentary category for "Taxi To The Dark Side." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] February 7, 2008iW NEWS | Oscar Nominated Short Programs Open February 15
Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International will release the ten Academy Award-nominated short films in two separate programs (live action and animated) nationwide on Friday, February 15, 2008. The nominated live action shorts are "At Night," "Il Supplente" (The Substitute), "Le Mozart Des Pickpockets" (The Mozart of Pickpockets), "Tanghi Argentini" and "The Tonto Woman," while animated nominees include "I Met The Walrus," "Madame Tutli-Putli," "Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis" (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven), "My Love" and "Peter and the Wolf." There will be separate admission for each program. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Events ] iW NEWS | Golden Trailers Set For May
The 9th Annual Golden Trailer Awards gala, which honors movie promotion, will take place on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. Established in 1999, the Golden Trailer Awards have become a coveted mark of achievement in the industry, and are awarded in 55 categories covering domestic and foreign movie trailers, video game trailers, movie posters, TV spots and overall marketing campaigns for title releases. This year's call for entries will be issued officially to the industry today, with March 27, 2008 set as the deadline for general submissions. Applications are available at their website. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] NYT: Ganis Urges Nominees To Attend Oscars
"It would be such a terrible shame if, through no fault of yours and no fault of ours, the current conditions prevented us from shining that brightest possible light," said Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis at the annual nominee luncheon. Michael Cieply reported on the event, suggesting that "the usually congenial Mr. Ganis gave the assembled actors and filmmakers something of a lecture." [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 6, 2008AP: Vanity Fair cancels annual Oscar party
It's typically the hottest party in town on Oscar night -- but not this year. Vanity Fair has canceled its annual Academy Awards party, the magazine announced Tuesday. Sandy Cohen reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 5, 2008AP: Oscar nominees hopeful show will go on
Optimism was in the air among Academy Awards nominees -- both on their films' prospects and the chances that Hollywood's crippling writers strike will end in time for the Oscars show to go on as planned. David Germain reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] February 3, 2008iW NEWS | "No Country" For PGA
Joel and Ethan Coen furthered their Oscar frontrunner status Saturday night by winning the Producer's Guild of America for "No Country For Old Men." Scott Rudin as well as Ethan and Joel Coen were given the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award. The film was released by Miramax/Paramount Vantage. This adds to key awards from the DGA and SAG. In other categories, Michael Moore's "Sicko" took the best documentary feature award while Brad Bird's "Ratatouille" took best animated feature. Last year's recipient of the feature film award was "Little Miss Sunshine." [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] January 31, 2008BBC: Oscars team prepares back-up show
A contingency plan for the Oscars has been put in place in case the traditional red carpet event is cancelled due to the writers' strike. The back-up show would include a history of the Oscars and film clips. BBC reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] AFP: Oscars ballots mailed to voters as awards near
Final ballots to pick the winners of the movie industry's most sought-after awards -- the Oscars -- were sent to voters on Wednesday, four weeks out from Hollywood's biggest night of the year. The ballots, sent to 5,829 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, list nominees in 19 categories for the Oscars, which will be announced on February 24. AFP reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] January 22, 2008AWARDS WATCH | "Blood" and "Country" Lead 80th Annual Academy Award Nominations
Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country For Old Men" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" led the nominations for the 80th annual Academy Awards with eight apiece. In Los Angeles early Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis and Kathy Bates announced the nominees, including for best picture of the year:Joe Wright's "Atonement," Jason Reitman's "Juno," Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood." "Into The Wild" was the most shocking omission, receiving just two nominations, neither for writer-director Sean Penn. The complete list of nominees is available below. [ read more in Biz ] [ 0 comments ] [ filed under Awards Season, Awards Watch, Lead Story ] January 21, 2008AP: Lohan, Murphy lead Razzie worst-of noms
Advice for actors looking to get nominated for worst performance: multiple roles help. Lindsay Lohan and Eddie Murphy scored multiple nominations Monday for the Razzies, which sort out the worst that Hollywood dredged up the previous year. David Germain reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] January 20, 2008iW NEWS | Cinema Eye Honors Announces Inaugural Nominees
Nominations for the inaugural Cinema Eye Honors For NonFiction Filmmaking were announced today by 2008 Award Co-Chairs Thom Powers, Documentary Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, and filmmaker AJ Schnack, director of "Kurt Cobain About A Son." Films nominated for best picture include: Philip Groenin's "Into Great Silence," Tony Kaye's "Lake of Fire," Jason Kohn's "Manda Bala (Send A Bullet)", Pernille Rose Gronkjaer's "The Monastery - Mr. Vig and the Nun," and Charles Ferguson's "No End In Sight." "Into Great Silence" and "Manda Bala" lead with six nominations each, while "Lake of Fire" has five. The full nomination list is available on the indieWIRE Insider blog. The Cinema Eye Honors, named for the revolutionary group of young filmmakers led by pioneering documentarian Dziga Vertov, will be awarded on March 18, 2008 at a ceremony at the IFC Center in New York City. The event will be presented by IndiePix [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Documentary, Honors ] January 16, 2008AFP: "Atonement" gets 14 BAFTA nominations
"Atonement," the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's award-winning novel about life and love in World War II, on Wednesday received 14 nominations at Britain's showpiece film awards, the BAFTAs. Elsewhere, Joel and Ethan Coen's bleak "No Country for Old Men" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a ruthless oil baron, each received nine nominations. AFP reports. [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ] January 15, 2008iW NEWS | Academy Announces 9 Foreign Finalists; "Persepolis," "4 Months" Snubbed
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced nine films selected as finalists in the foreign-language film category. The finalists are: Stefan Ruzowitzky's "The Counterfeiters," from Austria; Cao Hamburger's "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," from Brazil; Denys Arcand's "Days of Darkness," from Canada; Joseph Cedar's "Beaufort," from Israel; Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Unknown," from Italy; Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol," from Kazakhstan; Andrzej Wajda's "Katyn," from Poland; Nikita Mikhalkov's "12," from Russia; and Srdan Golubovic's "The Trap," from Serbia. The Academy's dismissal of heavily favored duo "Persepolis," from France, and "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," from Romania, is sure to cause considerable criticism. Nominations for the 80th Academy Awards, including the five nominees in this category, will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. [Peter Knegt] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Biz ] January 14, 2008iW NEWS | PGA Announces Annual Film Award Nominations
The Producers Guild of America announced nominations in its film categories this morning in Los Angeles. The nominated films for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award are "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood." Awards are also handed out to the producers of animated films and documentaries. "Bee Movie," "Ratatouille" and "The Simpsons Movie" were the animated nominees, while "Body of War," "Hear and Now," "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," "Sicko" and "White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" were the documentary nominees. Winners will be announced Saturday, February 2, 2008 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. [Peter Knegt]] [permalink] [ filed under Awards Watch, Honors ]
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