9 Foreign Language Films Advance in 2008 Oscar® Race

Posted by editor@vimooz.com on January 14, 2009 under Academy award, Awards, Foreign Film | Comments are off for this article

Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 81st Academy Awards^®. Sixty-five films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Austria, “Revanche,” Gotz Spielmann, director;
Canada, “The Necessities of Life,” Benoit Pilon, director;
France, “The Class,” Laurent Cantet, director;
Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director;
Israel, “Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman, director;
Japan, “Departures,” Yojiro Takita, director;
Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out,” Roberto Sneider, director; (pictured)
Sweden, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director;
Turkey, “3 Monkeys,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five 2008 nominees by specially selected committees in New York and Los Angeles. The committee members will spend this Friday, Saturday and Sunday viewing three of the films each day.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center^®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

“Waltz With Bashir,” tops 2008 National Society of Film Critics Awards

Posted by editor@vimooz.com on January 3, 2009 under Awards | Comments are off for this article

“Waltz With Bashir,” Ari Folman’s animated documentary was named best picture of 2008 by the National Society of Film Critics.

BEST PICTURE
1. Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman (26)
2. Happy-Go-Lucky (20)
3. WALL-E (20)

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
1. Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh (55)
2. Trouble the Water (34)
3. Encounters at the End of the World (26)

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky (36)
2. Gus Van Sant, Milk & Paranoid Park (20)
3. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (16)

BEST ACTOR
1. Sean Penn, Milk (87)
2. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (40)
3. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino (38)

BEST ACTRESS
1. Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky (65)
2. Melissa Leo, Frozen River (33)
3. Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy (31)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky (41)
2. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (35)
3. Josh Brolin, Milk (29)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Hanna Schygulla, The Edge of Heaven (29)
2. Viola Davis, Doubt (29, on fewer ballots)
3. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (24)

BEST SCREENPLAY
1. Happy-Go-Lucky, by Mike Leigh (29)
2. A Christmas Tale (24)
3. Synecdoche, New York (17)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle (29)
2. The Flight of the Red Balloon (22)
3. The Dark Knight (18)
4. Still Life

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
1. Razzle Dazzle, directed by Ken Jacobs

FILM HERITAGE AWARDS

• The Criterion Collection for finally making Samuel Fuller’s suppressed White Dog (1982) available to a wide American audience via DVD release.
• The Exiles, Kent Mackenzie’s realistic 1961 independent film about Native Americans in Los Angeles. (Restored by Ross Lipman of the UCLA Television and Film Archives and distributed by Milestone.)
• Flicker Alley for releasing DVD collections of rare early U.S. and foreign silent films.
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment for its DVD set “Murnau, Borzage and Fox.”

Forty-nine of the 63 members of the society voted Saturday afternoon at the 43rd annual meeting at the venerable Sardi’s restaurant in New York City.  [via | via]

See five nominated foreign language films at Fifth Annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association Foreign Language Film Nominees Symposium on Saturday, January 10 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood at 1:00 pm

Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 30, 2008 under Awards, Foreign Film | Comments are off for this article

Foreign language film enthusiasts will have an additional reason to celebrate on Golden Globe Weekend as filmmakers from Germany, Sweden, Israel, France and Italy participate in the Fifth Annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association Foreign Language Film Nominees Symposium on Saturday, January 10 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood at 1:00 pm.

The free round table panel discussion with the five directors of the Golden Globe Award-nominated foreign language films will be moderated by Mike Goodridge, HFPA Vice President and U.S. Editor of Screen International.

The event follows special screenings of the nominated movies at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica January 7-9.

The five nominated foreign language films are:

– France, “I’ve Loved You So Long,” Philippe Claudel, director
– Germany, “The Baader-Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director
– Israel, “Waltz With Bashir,” Ari Folman, director
– Italy, “Gomorra,” Matteo Garrone, director
– Sweden/Denmark, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director (pictured)

The seminar and screenings are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres. The seminar is free but there is a ticket charge to view the nominated foreign language films. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.fandango.com. Additional information on the films is available at www.americancinematheque.com.

“The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will take place Sunday, January 11, 2009 at The Beverly Hilton with a live telecast airing on NBC at 8 PM (EST.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Announces its 2008 Nominations

Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 9, 2008 under Awards | Comments are off for this article

“Wall-E” was voted Best Picture of the Year, it was announced today by Lael Loewenstein, President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).  The runner up was “The Dark Knight.”

LAFCA’s 34th annual achievement awards ceremony will be held Monday, January 12 at the InterContinental Los Angeles.  The 34th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards are dedicated to Manoel de Oliveira for his extraordinary contribution to the cinema as he enters his 101st year.

Other award winners are:

DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”

ACTRESS: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”

ACTOR: Sean Penn, “Milk”

Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

SCREENPLAY: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy”

Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “Still Life” (pictured) directed by Jia Zhangke

Runner-up: “The Class” directed by Laurent Cantet

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM: “Man on Wire” directed by James Marsh

Runner-up: “Waltz with Bashir” directed by Ari Folman

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York”

Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”

ANIMATION: “Waltz with Bashir”

MUSIC/SCORE: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life”

Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

NEW GENERATION: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT:  John Calley (previously announced)

DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO: James Benning, “RR”
and “Casting a Glance”

Founded in 1975, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is comprised of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.  Each December, LAFCA members vote on the year’s Achievement Awards, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera. Plaques of recognition are then presented to winners during LAFCA’s annual awards ceremony, held in mid-January. [via]