Cannes 2013: Winners

Who would have guessed that the gayest and most sexually explicit recipient of the Palme d'Or would be given by Steven Spielberg? Certainly not me, but that's exactly what transpired at the closing ceremony of the 66th annual Cannes Film Festival two Sundays ago when Spielberg and his jury–which consisted of Daniel Auteuil, actress Vidya Balan, filmmaker Naomi Kawase, Nicole Kidman, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Lynne Ramsay, and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz–awarded Abdellatif Kechiche's La vie d'Adèle - Chapitre 1 et 2, or as it's known in English territories Blue Is the Warmest Color, the festival's top prize. In a surprising move, the jury also presented the film's two lead actresses, Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos, with the Palme. This left the Best Actress prize to be awarded to another French thespian, Bérénice Bejo, in Asghar Farhadi's Le passé (The Past). Two American films walked away with honors; the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis took home the Grand Prix, and Bruce Dern claimed the Best Actor prize for Alexander Payne's Nebraska. Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante (Los bastardos, Sangre) was named Best Director for the film Heli. Jia Zhang-ke won the Best Screenplay prize for A Touch of Sin, and the jury prize went to Hirokazu Kore-eda's Like Father, Like Son.

It proved to be a rather strong year for queer films at Cannes, with Alain Guiraudie's L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake) beating the Palme d'Or winner for the Queer Palm award. FIlmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (To Die Like a Man) was the head of that particular jury. Stranger by the Lake is the fourth film to have won the prize, following Gregg Araki's Kaboom in 2010, Oliver Hermanus' Skoonheid (Beauty) in 2011, and Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways in 2012. In addition to the Queer Palm, Alain Guiraudie was named Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section; the top prize went to Rithy Panh's L'image manquante (The Missing Image). The rest of the awards given this year are below.

Palme d'Or: La vie d'Adèle - Chapitre 1 et 2 (Blue Is the Warmest Color), d. Abdellatif Kechiche, France/Belgium/Spain
Grand prix: Inside Llewyn Davis, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA/France
Prix du jury: Like Father, Like Son, d. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan
Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director): Amat Escalante - Heli
Prix d'interprétation féminine (Best Actress): Bérénice Bejo - Le passé (The Past)
Prix d'interprétation masculine (Best Actor): Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Prix du scénario (Best Screenplay): Jia Zhang-ke - A Touch of Sin

Caméra d'Or: Ilo Ilo, d. Anthony Chen, Singapore

Prix Un Certain Regard: L'image manquante (The Missing Picture), d. Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France
- Prix du jury: Omar, d. Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine
- Prix de la mise en scène: Alain Guiraudie - L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake)
- Prix Un Talent Certain: The acting ensemble - La jaula de oro
- Prix de l'avenir: Ryan Coogler - Fruitvale Station

FIPRESCI Awards
- Competition: La vie d'Adèle - Chapitre 1 et 2 (Blue Is the Warmest Color), d. Abdellatif Kechiche, France/Belgium/Spain
- Un Certain Regard: Manuscripts Don't Burn, d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
- Quinzaine des Réalisateurs: Blue Ruin, d. Jeremy Saulnier, USA

Semaine de la critique Grand Prix: Salvo, d. Fabio Grassadonia, Antonia Piazza, Italy/France

Queer Palm: L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake), d. Alain Guiraudie, France

Apichatpong Weerasethakul Takes the Palme d'Or

Tim Burton and the jury awarded Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives the Palme d'Or at Cannes today, marking the first Palme d'Or for the director and for Thailand. Weerasethakul won the Jury Prize in 2004 for Tropical Malady (which still feels like a giant oversight by Quentin Tarantino and his jury that year, who gave the Palme d'Or to Fahrenheit 9/11) and the Un Certain Regard Award in 2002 for Blissfully Yours. You can watch A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, the director's fantastic 17-minute short which he expanded into the feature, on MUBI. In his fourth outing as a feature director, Mathieu Amalric took home the Best Director prize for Tournée [On Tour]. In a rare tie, Javier Bardem and Elio Germano were named the Best Actors for Biutiful and La nostra vita [Our Life] respectively, and Juliette Binoche won her first Best Actress prize at Cannes this year for Abbas Kiarostami's Copie conforme [Certified Copy]. Rounding out the rest of the awards: Lee Chang-dong won Best Screenplay for Poetry, Xavier Beauvois' Des hommes et des dieux [Of Gods and Men] was awarded the Grand Prix and Michael Rowe's Año bisiesto [Leap Year] won the Caméra d'Or (for best first film). Full awards below:

Palme d'Or: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Germany/Spain/United Kingdom
Grand prix: Des hommes et des dieux [Of Gods and Men], d. Xavier Beauvois, France

Prix du jury: Un homme qui crie [A Screaming Man], d. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France/Chad
Prix de la mise en scène [Best Director]: Mathieu Amalric - Tournée [On Tour]
Prix d'interprétation féminine [Best Actress]: Juliette Binoche - Copie conforme [Certified Copy]
Prix d'interprétation masculine [Best Actor]: (tie) Javier Bardem - Biutiful; Elio Germano - La nosta vita [Our Life]
Prix du scénario [Best Screenplay]: Lee Chang-dong - Poetry
Caméra d'Or: Año bisiesto [Leap Year], d. Michael Rowe, Mexico

César Awards 2010

Jacques Audiard's Un prophète (predictably) swept the Césars today, taking home nine awards including Meilleur film (Best Film), Réalisateur (Director) and Scénario original (Original Screenplay). Its heartthrob star Tahar Rahim, already quite the celebrity in France despite appearing in just one film, won two awards for Meilleur acteur (Best Actor) and Meilleur espoir masculin (Best Male Newcomer). Emmanuelle Devos, who starred in Audiard's last two films (and is easily one of the finest actresses in the business), won the Supporting Actress prize for Xavier Giannoli's À l'origine. Radu Mihăileanu's Le concert was the only other film to win in more than one category (for Music and Sound Design). Clint Eastwood was (again predictably) the winner in the Film étranger (Foreign Film) category for Gran Torino. The big winners are below; the full list of winners is here (in French); the nominees can be found here.

Meilleur film [Best Film]: Un prophète [A Prophet], d. Jacques Audiard
Meilleur réalisateur [Best Director]: Jacques Audiard, Un prophète
Meilleur premier film [Best First Film]: Les beaux gosses [The French Kissers], d. Riad Sattouf
Meilleur film étranger [Best Foreign Film]: Gran Torino, d. Clint Eastwood, USA
Meilleur film documentaire [Best Documentary]: L'enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot [Henri-George Clouzot's Inferno], d. Serge Bromberg, Ruxandra Medrea
Meilleur acteur [Best Actor]: Tahar Rahim, Un prophète
Meilleure actrice [Best Actress]: Isabelle Adjani, La journée de la jupe [Skirt Day]
Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle [Supporting Actor]: Niels Arestrup, Un prophète
Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle [Supporting Actress]: Emmanuelle Devos, À l'origine [In the Beginning]
Meilleur espoir masculin [Best Male Newcomer]: Tahar Rahim, Un prophète
Meilleur espoir féminin [Best Female Newcomer]: Mélanie Thierry, Le dernier pour la route [One for the Road]
Meilleur scénario original [Original Screenplay]: Un prophète - Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit
Meilleur scénario adaptation [Adapted Screenplay]: Mademoiselle Chambon - Stéphane Brizé, Florence Vignon
Meilleure photographie [Best Cinematography]: Stéphane Fontaine, Un prophète

Well, Kathryn Bigelow Is Hotter Than James Cameron...

While The Hurt Locker isn't exactly my favorite film of last year, it's the perfect "I'm okay with _____ winning so long as ______ and _______ doesn't." I think that's pretty much how most people are with the Oscar nominees this year. Kathryn Bigelow's war drama took home six BAFTAs today (for those not acronym savvy, it's the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards), setting it as the likely frontrunner for the Best Picture race at the Oscars. Andrea Arnold's wonderful Fish Tank won the prize for Outstanding British Film. The major awards are below; the nominees are here; and the full list of awards are here.

Film: The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
British Film: Fish Tank, d. Andrea Arnold
Film Not in the English Language: Un prophète [A Prophet], d. Jacques Audiard, France
Animated Film: Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Leading Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Leading Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: Duncan Jones, director, Moon

Awards at Berlin, 2010

The awards for the 60th Berlin International Film Festival were delivered this afternoon (Sunday in Germany), with the most-talked about award going to Roman Polanski, who claimed a Silver Bear award for Best Director for The Ghost Writer. Like Polanski's Academy Award win, this seems incredibly suspect, something of a lifetime achievement meets "Sorry for all your legal troubles" accolade. I'll still end up watching it, though my faith in his abilities isn't strong these days (I am, however, one of the few who likes Death and the Maiden; however, both Jim Beluschi and Kim Cattrall make it hard to get too amped about this one). The Golden Bear went to Turkish director and playwright Semih Kaplanoğlu's Bal [Honey], the third part of a trilogy entitled Yusuf Üçlemesi, or Yusef's Trilogy, which began with Süt [Milk] and Yumurta [Egg]. Claudia Llosa's La teta asustada [The Milk of Sorrow], now up for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, was last year's top winner. The awards are listed below, including the main jury prizes, as well as those of the Ecumenical Jury, FIPRESCI and the Teddy Jury (given to queer films):

Golden Bear: Bal [Honey], d. Semih Kaplanoğlu, Turkey/Germany
Silver Bear, Jury Grand Prix: Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier [If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle], d. Florin Şerban, Romania
Silver Bear, Best Director: Roman Pokanski, The Ghost Writer
Silver Bear, Best Actress: Shinobu Terajima, Caterpillar
Silver Bear, Best Actor: (tie) Grigori Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis, How I Ended This Summer
Silver Bear, Outstanding Artistic Achievement: Pavel Kostomarov, cinematographer, How I Ended This Summer
Silver Bear, Screenplay: Wang Quan'an, Na Jin, Apart Together
Alfred Bauer Prize (given to a work of particular innovation): Eu când vreau să fluier, fluier [If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle], d. Florin Şerban
Best First Feature: Sebbe, d. Babak Najafi, Sweden


FIPRESCI Prizes


- Competition: En familie [A Family], d. Pernille Fischer Christensen, Denmark
- Panorama: Parade, d. Isao Yukisada, Japan
- Forum: El vuelco del cangrejo [Crab Trap], d. Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia/France


Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury


- Competition: Bal [Honey], d. Semih Kaplanoğlu
- Panorama: Kawasakiho růže [Kawasaki's Rose], d. Jan Hřebejk, Czech Republic
- Forum: Aisheen (Still Alive in Gaza), d. Nicolas Wadimoff, Switzerland/Quatar


Teddy Awards


- Best Feature Film: The Kids Are All Right, d. Lisa Cholodenko, USA
- Best Documentary: La bocca del lupo [The Mouth of the Wolf], d. Pietro Marcello, Italy
- Best Short Film: The Feast of Stephen, d. James Franco, USA
- Jury Award: Open, d. Jake Yuzna, USA

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 Nunsploitation Classic Comes to DVD in the US, Plus a Bunch of Lame Blu-rays

Walerian Borowczyk's Behind Convent Walls [Interno di un convento], often regarded as the quintessential nunsploitation film, will finally make its way to the US via Cult Epics on 30 March. Cult Epics will also release it in a set entitled The Nunsploitation Convent Collection with Norifumi Suzuki's School of the Holy Beast and a bonus disc tracking the illustrious history of the nunsploitation sub-genre. In addition to all that goodness, Scorpion Releasing will have Volker Schlöndorff's Voyager [Homo Faber], with Sam Shepard, Julie Delpy and Barbara Sukowa, out on the same date. As you can see below, there's nothing worth mentioning on the Blu-ray front.

And, my apologies for the lack of updates over the weekend. I was swamped with the Saint Louis International Film Festival (not to mention a bit of seasonal depression, career woes, general malaise), which ended on Sunday. As one might have guessed, Precious won the Audience Choice award for Narrative Films; Denis Rabaglia's Swiss/German romantic comedy Marcello, Marcello (in the Italian language) won the Audience Award for International Feature; and Eric Byler and Annabel Park's 9500 Liberty won for Documentary. David Lowery's lovely St. Nick won the New Filmmakers Forum Award, well-deserved, especially after Mary Bronstein's incredible Yeast took home the prize last year. The St. Louis Film Critics Association gave a special "Under the Radar" award for Aida Begić's Snow [Snijeg] from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Naturally, my favorite films that screened this year did not fare as well with the general public, but I'll be writing about them as part of The Decade List this week.

- Praxis, 2008, d. Alex Pacheco, Ariztical, 19 January
- Righteous Ties, 2006, d. Jang Jin, Virgil Films, 26 January
- As It Is in Heaven [Så som i himmelen], 2004, d. Kay Pollak, Kino, 2 February
- Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning, 2009, d. Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai, Magnet/Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 2 February
- The Vanished Empire, 2008, d. Karen Shakhnazarov, Kino, 2 February
- The Wolf Man, 1941, d. George Waggner, Universal, Legacy Series, 2 February
- Bronson, 2009, d. Nicolas Windig Refn, Magnet/Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 9 February
- Rome & Jewel, 2008, d. Charles T. Kanganis, Well Go USA, 9 February
- Secret Moonlight, 2009, d. Cheryl Hines, Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 9 February
- The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, 2009, d. Rebecca Miller, Screen Media, also on Blu-ray, 16 February
- Battle Girl: Living Dead in Tokyo, 1991, d. Kazuo Komizu, Synapse, 23 February
- No Orchids for Miss Blandish, 1948, d. St. John Legh Clowes, VCI, 23 February
- Splinterheads, 2009, d. Brant Sersen, Monarch, 23 February
- The Brothers Warner, 2008, d. Cass Warner, Warner, 10 March
- Yesterday Was a Lie, 2008, d. James Kerwin, Koch Vision, 23 March
- Behind Convent Walls [Interno di un convento], 1978, d. Walerian Borowczyk, Cult Epics, 30 March
- Shut-Eye, 2003, d. John Covert, Cinema Obscura, 30 March
- Two Films by Jean-Louis van Belle (The Sadist with Red Teeth [Le sadique aux dents rouges] / Forbidden Paris [Paris inderdit]), 1971/1969, Mondo Macabro, 30 March
- Voyager [Homo faber], 1991, d. Volker Schlöndorff, Scorpion Releasing, 30 March

Blu-ray

- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998, d. Terry Gilliam, Universal, 2 February
- Drop Zone, 1994, d. John Badham, Lionsgate, 9 February
- The Phantom, 1996, d. Simon Wincer, Lionsgate, 9 February
- The Running Man, 1987, d. Paul Michael Glasser, Lionsgate, 9 February
- Cabin Fever, 2002, d. Eli Roth, Lionsgate, 16 February
- Tromeo & Juliet, 1996, d. James Gunn, Lloyd Kaufman, Troma, 30 March
- Vampyres, 1974, d. José Ramón Larraz, Blue Underground, 30 March

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]