Cannes 2012

Today is the best day to start to talk about the 2012 Festival de Cannes as the poster was released a few moments ago.

Cannes will be 65 this year and to celebrate the occasion pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe who has been selected as the icon for the 2012 Festival and as you can see is the object of a beautiful piece of work.

From the press announcement: "Fifty years after her death, Marilyn is still a major figure in world cinema, an eternal icon, whose grace, mystery and power of seduction remain resolutely contemporary.

Each of her screen appearances sparks the imagination. The Festival poster captures Marilyn by surprise in an intimate moment where myth meets reality – a moving tribute to the anniversary of her passing, which coincides with the Festival anniversary.

She enchants us with this promising gesture: a seductively blown kiss.

The Festival is a temple of glamour and Marilyn is its perfect incarnation. Their coming together symbolises the ideal of simplicity and elegance."

Bronx agency, Paris, created the poster from a photo by Otto L. Bettmann and will produce all the graphics for the 2012 Festival.

On other news one of my favorite contemporary Italian directors will be the President of the Jury, I'm talking about none other than great Nanni Moretti.

Accepting the invitation, the Italian actor and director said: “This is a real joy, an honour and a tremendous responsibility to preside over the jury of the most prestigious festival of cinematography in the world, a festival that is held in a country where film has always been treated with interest and respect.

As a director, I was always very moved when my films were presented at the Festival de Cannes. I also have very happy memories of my experience as a jury member during the fiftieth anniversary season, and of the attentiveness and passion that went into the jury’s viewing and discussion of all the films.

As a spectator, fortunately I still have the same curiosity that I had in my youth and so it is a great privilege for me to embark on this voyage into the world of contemporary international film.”

In less than what we can think of, May 16 will be here and the mother of all Festivals will once again start for the glory of extraordinary Cinema. Festival will run from May 16 to 27 and will keep you all up-to-date with the announcements that I know will start to pour next month. Excellent, I survived to live another great party. Yay!

Cheers!

Le Havre

My first and spontaneous reaction to this movie is that is very strange to watch an Aki Kaurismäki movie and understand what actors say instead of reading subtitles. Not that his movies have lots of dialogue, nor this one, that has but the essential words to guide you into this deadpan faces performances (typical) that with very slight expressions tell everything that characters are feeling in a lovely story (non-typical) that absolutely melted my heart all the way to tears when the movie was over. Yes, also thought that probably I’m the only person that could cry with a Kaurismäki movie.

Then, also spontaneously my first thoughts were to how marvelous is the use of light in this movie and in most Kaurismäki movies, as most of his Finland set movies light allows us to feel the cold both from weather as from situations. Here in lower than Finland geographical setting he does exactly the same but with the use of light eventually what we see in the screen, the weather and the complete film experience becomes warm, very warm. Exceptional. I know the story also helps, but is the use of light what really warms the story, that’s it according to me.

Then you have the most carefully crafted production design, amazing visual compositions, many scenes that look like and thus become awesome photographs, great actors performances –yes most if not all scenes with deadpan faces and almost expressionless body language- that tell all with small, very small details, plus a masterful direction that allows flawless fluidity of story and film. Marvelous.

Literally film tells a story about immigration of the not legal kind, but actually according to me is a very simple story with a clear message and morale: do good and you will receive good. A message executed in the most unusual way you can think of, unless you’re very familiar with Kaurismäki storytelling style and still, maybe, you will also find some oddity that probably comes more from the non-Finland setting.

Kaurismäki movies fascinate and mesmerize me, Le Havre is no exception but this movie had the immense power to make me feel beyond what his other films have done and for this I’ll be grateful as feeling intense (warm) emotions in such a dry environment is kind of explosive. Thanks master filmmaker and can’t wait for your next film.

As we know film is Finland submission to Oscar, had its premiere at 2011 Cannes where was in competition for the Palme d’Or and won the FIPRESCI prize, continued to collect honors up to winning the most prestigious Prix Louis Delluc among other accolades. All honors are more than well-deserved.

I was thinking how could be the experience of watching this film when never seen a Kaurismäki movie before; if that’s your case I strongly suggest you do not start with this movie, watch first any other set in Finland Kaurismäki film and then watch this one, I am sure you will enjoy this movie a lot more if is not your first experience with Kaurismäki narrative and visual storytelling style.

Love the movie and thanks to Cannes 2011 also the director –he’s so funny, exactly like his films that have that kind of humor that travels more to the dark and sarcastic side- but I know that this kind of movies is not for all audiences and believe that his films are an acquired taste that once you taste them and like them, you will strive to have more and more.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

84th Academy Awards Winners

Winners are in *Blue.

--//--
2/20
Yes is true, I got really upset and disgusted with these nominations (LOL!) but as the awards ceremony is next Sunday I better fix the post to keep it “clean” in the database. This year will go into my cinema history as the year that Academy members had no clear idea of what to do as only thinking that their minds got cloudy makes me feel a bit at ease or ease enough to write the proper post. Sigh.

To check the list at the official site go here.

Best Picture
*The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry
The Help, Tate Taylor
Hugo, Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Moneyball, Bennett Miller
The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
War Horse, Steven Spielberg

Animated Feature Film
Une vie de chat (A Cat in Paris), Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, France, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium
Chico & Rita, Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando, Spain and UK
Kung Fu Panda 2, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, USA
Puss in Boots, Chris Miller, USA
*Rango, Gore Verbinski, USA

Foreign Language Film
Rundskop (Bullhead), Michaël R. Roskam, Belgium
הערת שוליים (Footnote), Joseph Cedar, Israel
W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland, Poland
Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, Canada
جدایی نادر از سیمین* Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Directing
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
*Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer in The Help

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Cinematography
The Artist, Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Jeff Cronenweth
*Hugo, Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse, Janusz Kaminski

Writing Adapted Screenplay
*The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Hugo, John Logan
The Ides of March, George Clooney , Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan

Writing Original Screenplay
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
Margin Call, J.C. Chandor
*Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi

Film Editing
The Artist, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Kevin Tent
*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo, Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball, Christopher Tellefsen

Art Direction
The Artist; Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2; Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
*Hugo; Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris; Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse; Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
*Hugo, Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
Real Steel, Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Sound Editing
Drive, Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Ren Klyce
*Hugo, Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse, Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
*Hugo,Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Moneyball, Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Costume Design
Anonymous, Lisy Christl
*The Artist, Mark Bridges
Hugo, Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre, Michael O'Connor
W.E., Arianne Phillips

Makeup
Albert Nobbs, Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
*The Iron Lady, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music - Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams
*The Artist, Ludovic Bource
Hugo, Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias
War Horse, John Williams

Music - Original Song
*Man or Muppet from The Muppets, Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
Real in Rio from Rio, Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Documentary
Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner, USA, UK, Afghanistan
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman, USA and UK
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, USA
Pina, Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel, Germany, France and UK
*Undefeated, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas, USA

Short Film Live Action
Pentecost, Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane, Ireland
Raju, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren, Germany and India
*The Shore, Terry George and Oorlagh George, UK
Time Freak, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey, USA
Tuba Atlantic, Hallvar Witzø, Norwegian

Short Film Animated
Dimanche (Sunday), Patrick Doyon, Canada
*The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, USA
La Luna, Enrico Casarosa, USA
A Morning Stroll, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe, UK
Wild Life, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, Canada

Short Film Documentary
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin, USA
God Is the Bigger Elvis, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson, USA
Incident in New Baghdad, James Spione, USA
*Saving Face, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, USA and Pakistan
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen, UK and Japan

Actress is the only category that I really care and this year got really messed with a nominee that truly doesn’t belong there considering not only her performance but also comparing her performance with the likes of Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Charlize Theron in Young Adult, and even Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene. But most important for me is that IF Academy members would have seen Noomi Rapace in the original Män som hatar kvinnor they will never even consider Mara performance as near to what Lisbeth Salander should be and is in the screen. Sigh. Still I know that there are two actresses with possibilities Viola Davis and Meryl Streep; wish Davis wins as even when Streep performance is very good she should not get an award for such a bad movie that not even her great performance can save. I really disliked The Iron Lady.

I know that everyone is expecting The Artist to win and according to the multiple honors that have already collected around the world, it would not be a surprise if a French film wins the top award. Yesterday the film won a Goya and I was laughing hard when Spanish people twitted about Spain giving an award to a French film when France is their enemy; I know is not really funny but at least the Spaniards, the British admit is a French movie while the Americans tend to “believe” is an American movie just because Weistein has the distribution rights and does great movie marketing. Sigh. The other movie that maybe has a change is The Descendants and to be honest I believe this movie gives viewers a better cinematic experience than The Artist.

Two pieces of fun Oscar trivia.

Ms. Streep’s nomination cemented her position as the most-nominated actor in Academy Awards history, with 17 nominations — far more than the next-most nominated, Jack Nicholson and Katharine Hepburn, with 12 each. Ms. Streep last won an Oscar in 1983, for best actress for “Sophie’s Choice,” and she was previously best supporting actress in 1980, for “Kramer vs. Kramer.”

Kenneth Branagh is the first actor to be nominated for five Oscars in five different categories, as pointed out by Mark Harris. Branagh's been nominated for Best Director (Henry V), Best Leading Actor (Henry V), Best Live-Action Short Film (1992's Swan Song), Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet), and now Best Supporting Actor for My Week With Marilyn.

Last, one piece about remakes that I regret that filmmakers try to improve on what Selznick knew since the late thirties. Sigh

In 1936 the Hollywood mogul David O Selznick bought the Swedish movie Intermezzo, signed up its star Ingrid Bergman and remade it in 1939 under the same title with Bergman repeating her original role in an otherwise British and American cast. During pre-production he sent a three-page memo to his chief producer about such adaptations. "I want to impress on you strongly," he wrote, "that the most important saving to be effected in remaking foreign pictures – a saving that more than offsets the doubtful foreign markets that have been used up by the original version, and that makes these remakes uniquely desirable – is in the shooting, by actually duplicating, as far as possible, the [earlier] film." And he added: "Granted a good cast, direction as good as Molander's on the original, a somewhat faster tempo than his, for I think the pace is much too slow for an Anglo-Saxon audience, and some cuts – we can duplicate the picture."

Oscar livestream

Will be sharing different livestreams for you to choose and enjoy



Ustream with three channels here

MTV will broadcast red carpet live





Will check this one later.  THIS ONE WORKS HAS ABC Show.

Seems is raining right now check OTRC live streaming...

I'm looking for a feed where NO ONE TALKS!!! That's the one I really like to watch... but surely will find it later (think I bookmarked in the other machine).

Pre-show in Dailymotion

I can't believe is not butter Toast to the Red Carpet live

Pop Sugar

Very Late Oscar (sort of) Predictions

Due to popular demand (LOL) will do some predictions for tonight but we all know that one movie could also sweep the awards which has become sort of annoying and well, yes, boring especially if you’re one of the many people that believe that movie not necessarily deserves all honors that have been collecting. I am one that thinks exactly that.

Don’t get me wrong movie is nice but IF I wanted to enjoy a silent movie there are so many that I can watch that are extremely superior to this year “popular” silent movie, so being silent is not the issue to deserve honors. Then think about performances, not bad in this movie but if I want to watch silent performances –based on expressions- there are SO many that will simply blow mine (and yours) mind, one fast example: think Chaplin. Then think tech specs, well yes in these elements The Artist is obviously superior to any silent movie, dah! So all the honors the movie has been collecting strongly suggest “nostalgia”, honoring “times that are long gone” and probably will never comeback –when cinema was kind of “innocent” and suddenly what started in USA spill its magic into UK and France as both Academies gave top honors to a movie that celebrates “old” Hollywood and tangentially “old world cinema”. Old is good this year in Hollywood and no surprise as just remember the average age of Academy members that vote in these awards or think Billy Crystal.

Well let’s get into looking at my crystal ball. To clarify, will win is what I predict will win; should win, is the one I think should win from nominees, and my vote goes to could come from nominees or any other movie that I believe was relevant in each category.

Best Picture
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Descendants
My Oscar goes to: I think I have not seen it yet… (let’s hope is Le Havre)

Best Animated Feature Film
Will Win: Rango
Should Win: Rango
My Oscar goes to: Un vie de chat (A cat in Paris) which I enjoy so much that seemed quite short in length.

Foreign Language Film
Will Win: A Separation
Should Win: A Separation
My Oscar goes to: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) which is the best movie I have seen from past year up to today.

Directing
Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius
Should Win: Michel Hazanavicius – just for daring to do the movie
My Oscar goes to: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for returning to his marverlous style and doing an outstanding masterpiece

Actress in a Leading Role
Will Win: Viola Davis or Meryl Streep
Should Win: Michelle Williams
My Oscar goes to: Michelle Williams for her incredible performance as MM.

Unfortunately the Academy members will not dare to give Michelle Williams the Oscar this year just because she played a “sacred” icon and they will not give anyone a reward for playing a Hollywood icon. But you’ll see that her next good role will mean Oscar for her. Was reading about Rooney Mara nomination by some academy members, their reasoning is that they’re impressed by the “change” Mara went to become Lisbeth and as stated by many, it is OBVIOUS that none of those Academy members have seen Noomi Rapace doing the same role, but ignorance should not excuse their lack of world cinema exposure, sigh. Instead of Mara, great Tilda Swinton should have been nominated, period. I can’t give my Oscar to Meryl Streep as even if she has a good performance in The Iron Lady, she could not save the movie, gosh that was a really bad movie and I hate it.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Octavia Spencer
Should Win: Jessica Chastain for so many good roles in one year that’s truly amazing!
My Oscar goes to: yep, Jessica Chastain especially in Take Shelter but including all her other appearances.

Actor in a Leading Role
Will Win: Jean Dujardin
Should Win: George Clooney (if he’s going to be honored with Oscar then this is the role for which he should get the honor)
My Oscar goes to: as much as I think I could not think about one male performance that particularly impressed me; surprised me, ah! Brad Pitt in Moneyball. See Gosling was really good in Drive but I expect that performance from him, so it’s not surprising.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Christopher Plummer
Should Win: believe it or not, the best of the group is Jonah Hill
My Oscar goes to: not Plummer, he was the best in Beginners but his performance is not as good as Hill or Nolte, for example. One that impressed me was Albert Brooks in Drive, and I’m NO Brooks fan, but he was good.

Cinematography
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: NONE of the nominated and especially NOT The Tree of Life as its celebrated Big Bang too long scene looks and feels like MANY I have seen in Natgeo or similar TV channels.
My Oscar goes to: I’m very visual and the movie that gets my Oscar is Bal (Honey) that I know is too old for this year but truly deserves the top honor in the world. Okay this year stays in Turkey with Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia).

Writing Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: The Descendants
Should Win: The Descendants
My Oscar goes to: The Descendants

Writing Original Screenplay
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: A Separation
My Oscar goes to: A Separation for such a universal story so well developed.

Visual Effects
Will Win: no idea, but surely not the one I like
Should Win: The Planet of the Apes
My Oscar goes to: the outstanding visual effects in The Planet of the Apes that so effectively show amazing ape emotions by facial expressions. Great!

Film Editing
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Descendants or Moneyball

Art Direction
Will Win: no idea (but I predicted Hugo elsewhere)
Should Win: the only movie I have NOT seen Harry Potter

Sound Editing
Will Win: no idea but I predicted Hugo
Should Win: Drive

Sound Mixing
Will Win: no idea but predicted Hugo
Should Win: Transformers maybe? Is the only nominated film where sound is essential part of the movie.

Costume Design
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Jane Eyre

Makeup
Will Win: The Iron Lady
Should Win: The Iron Lady

Music – Original Score
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Artist (music is very good in this movie)

Music – Original Song
Will Win: The Muppets or Rio (lol!)

Documentary
Will Win: Pina HAS TO WIN!
Should Win: Pina
My Oscar goes to: Pina (absolutely one of the best documentaries I have ever seen)

Short Film Live Action
Will Win: Pentecost
Should Win: The Shore

Short Film Animated
Will Win: La Luna
Should Win: maybe The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Short Film Documentary
Will Win: no idea but let’s hope The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom wins
Should Win: Lucy Walker – she’s such a great filmmaker

So these are my “crazy” predictions for this year where fate says that The Artist could (and will) sweep all the awards in the world including the Oscars… don’t you think that France is really “sorry” for not sending The Artist as their foreign language film? Oops, now I remember that “silence” is not a foreign language for the Academy, lol! But one thing I’m absolutely sure, SILENCE is what many Hollywood films need nowadays.

27th Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners

Following the awards by twitter has become one of the most fascinating activities in this award season as you can really laugh hard with all the things people write; this time I followed #spiritawards and the best tweet just happened a few seconds ago and reads "Complete list of Harvey Weinstein Award winners" (LMAO) Oh Gosh, HW is either loved or hated (more the later) but is so funny all the stuff (industry) people say in twitter about him. No, will not watch tonight as jokes are too gross for me (don't enjoy American humor) so this will be all for me and the Spirit awards. Winners are in *BLUE and will be at official site here soon.

--//--

11/29/2011

A few minutes ago organizers announced the nominees selected from 277 submissions; this annual celebration honors artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Here are the nominees.

Best Feature
50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
*The Artist
The Descendants

Best Director
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Mike Mills for Beginners
Jeff Nichols for Take Shelter
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Best First Feature
Another Earth, Mike Cahill
In the Family, Patrick Wang
*Margin Call, J. C. Chandor
Martha Marcy May Marlene, Sean Durkin
Natural Selection, Robbie Pickering

John Cassavetes Award (given to best feature for under US$500,000)
Bellflower, Evan Glodell
Circumstance, Maryam Keshavarz
Hello Lonesome, Adam Reid
*Pariah, Dee Rees
The Dynamiter, Brad Inglesby

Best Female Lead
Lauren Ambrose in Think of Me
Rachael Harris in Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye in Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
*Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

Best Male Lead
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Woody Harrelson in Rampart
Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain in Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston in 50/50
Janet McTeer Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road
*Shailene Woodley in The Descendats

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks in Drive
John Hawkes in Martha Marcy May Marlene
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners
John C. Reilly in Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll in Midnight in Paris

Best Screenplay
Joseph Cedar for Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Tom McCarthy for Win Win
Mike Millsfor Beginners
*Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash for The Descendants

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling for Another Earth
J.C. Chandor for Margin Call
Patrick deWitt for Terri
Phil Johnston for Cedar Rapids
*Will Reiser for 50/50

Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge for Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke for The Off Hours
Darius Khondji for Midnight in Paris
*Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron for The Dynamiter

Best Documentary
An African Election, Jarreth Merz
Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press
*The Interrupters, Steve James
The Redemption of General Butt Naked, Eric Strauss and Danielle Anastation
We Were Here, David Weissman

Best International Film
*A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Melancholia, Lars von Trier, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany
Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
The Kid With a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France and Italy
Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine, UK

To check the official announcement go here and to check nominees in all categories download file at the bottom of announcement. As a summary, leading the pack Take Shelter and The Artist with 5 nominations each; Fox Searchlight takes 14 nods followed by Sony Pictures Classics with 9.

My biggest surprise is Glenn Close NOT being nominated for Best Actress, which makes me wonder IF she’ll make it to an Oscar nod; still Janet McTeer got a nomination for a supporting role. A lot less surprising as Hollywood does not really “like” Woody Allen is the absence of top nominations for Midnight in Paris as film gets nods for cinematography and best supporting male. Last, I’m VERY surprised that Malick’s latest got no nominations at all, but as I’ve been saying, I didn’t enjoyed much his latest movie; still is very surprising that NY did nominate film while LA did not. Okay also not nominated, George Clooney but somehow I’m glad as gives opportunity to more interesting actors to be nominated.

There are several –if we compare nominees to previous years- Cannes films in this year Spirit nominations starting with a French movie (ok, has some USA producers) The Artist, followed by Drive, Hearat Shulayim (Footnote) and Take Shelter; plus four more in the Best International Film category. As we know Cannes credentials mean a lot in the cinema world, with the exception of the American industry, so believe that this credential doesn’t assure much in American Indies awards.

Most interesting for me are the nominees in the John Cassavetes Award as there are two lesbian interest films that have become notorious not only because story/performances but also for "unexpected" quality that seldom populates the genre. Circumstance is must be seen for me as story, performances, situation, cinematography, and more seem to be quite out-of-the-ordinary and let's hope gets this honor.

Awards ceremony will be on February 25, 2012 as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica and the premiere broadcast will air later that evening at 10:00pm ET/PT on IFC.

Oscar Poll

Which movie will win Best Picture?


Which movie will win Best Foreign Language Film?

37th César Awards Winners

Award ceremony was not much entertaining as I really don’t like French humor but I did laugh a few times, enjoyed each time Kate Winslet was on stage, and simply loved Annie Girardot homage that made me recall movies that maybe I should revisit again. As we know the big winner is The Artist that won many awards but in general, awards were dispersed and given to several films including Angèle et Tony that had 100% effectiveness as got 2 nods and won 2 awards.

To check winners in all categories go here.

Best Film: The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Best First Film: Le cochon de Gaza (When Pigs Have Wings), Sylvain Estibal
Best Animated Film: Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi’s Cat), Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux
Best Foreign Film: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Actress: Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Best Supporting Actress: Carmen Maura in Les Femmes du 6e étage (The Women on the 6th Floor)
Best Female Newcomer: (tie)
Naidra Ayadi in Polisse, Maïwenn
Clotilde Hesme in Angèle et Tony

Best Actor: Omar Sy in Intouchables (Untouchable)
Best Actor Supporting Actor: Michel Blanc in L'exercice de l'Etat
Best Male Newcomer: Grégory Gadebois in Angèle et Tony

Best Writing Original Screenplay: Pierre Schoeller, L’Exercice de l’Etat
Best Writing Adapted Screenplay: Yasmina Rez et Roman Polanski, Carnage
Best Cinematography: Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Best Editing: Laure Gardette and Yann Dedet, Polisse
Best Original Music: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Sound: Olivier Hespel, Julie Brenta and Jean-Pierre Laforce, L'exercice de l'Etat
Best Costumes: Anaïs Romand, L'Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Best Production Design: Laurence Bennet, The Artist

Best Documentary: Tous au Larzac, Christian Rouaud
Best Short Film: L'accordeur, Olivier Treiner

List has only winners as this year I'm lucky enough to have seen almost all honored films; with a few exceptions, Cesar films are Cannes movies thus must be seen for me.

My Week with Marilyn

I never met Norma Jeane Mortenson or as the myth says, the one character she became when there was a camera in front of her. I have seen all her movies, including the very last one when I was a kid and was not supposed to be in the theater as movie was for adults only; but I was there. I probably had a crush as I couldn’t understand how in the big screen there was someone so beautiful. Suddenly I stopped watching her movies and she became a souvenir as many I have inside my brain. That’s it until I saw this movie.

I am impressed as saw Marilyn Monroe, not the actress, not Norma Jeane, but a Marilyn that surely is fictitious but so credible, so Marilyn that makes you feel for her and her particular troubles while filming the movie with none other than great Lawrence Olivier as this is also a movie about a movie with a few (nice) distractions about the life of young Colin Clark in his first ever film related job.

After watching The Iron Lady and hating the film I was really concern as this one is also a BBC production that many have spoken not nicely about it. Well, let me say that film is normal, what I can call a regular BBC production BUT film becomes mesmerizing, intriguing, emotional, puzzling because the beyond extraordinary performance by Michelle Williams. Williams is SO good that she has my vote for Oscar as her performance and portrait is by far the best of all nominated actresses. I know Marilyn is a Hollywood icon and the conservative Academy members will not dare to give Williams the Oscar for portraying Marilyn; but she will get it for this role and many more that she will do in the future, I know.

I assure you that if you have no expectations and you know Marilyn from her movies you have to enjoy this simple (not-complex), direct (not-layered), story about a young man that “helped” her to overcome the rejection she felt from Lawrence Olivier, who insisted she acted just like him, while she acted just like her and both had very different styles.

I do recommend the movie but I have seen many BBC productions so I’m very familiar with their particular “seal” or style and this movie doesn’t escape from it, which I believe is not bad (au contraire is good) is just that is not a flashy production even when tells about a very flashy American actress. Have to praise performances by great Judi Dench, Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, Toby Jones and most of all Kenneth Branagh that also did a credible (yet surely fictitious) Lawrence Olivier.

Watch movie, don’t skip it, it’s worth watching for the awesome Michelle Williams performance, truly spectacular. Bravo Ms Williams.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

14th Polskich Nagród Filmowych Orły (Eagle Awards)

Recently the Polish Academy announced the nominees for this year and no surprise the film with more nominations is W ciemności (In Darkness) by Agnieszka Holland that’s Poland submission to Oscar that made the shortlist of nine and is nominated for Best Foreign Language film. Winners are in *BLUE.

Best Film
*Róża (Rosa), Wojciech Smarzowski
Sala Samobójców (Suicide Room), Jan Komasa
W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland

Best Director
*Wojciech Smarzowski for Róża (Rosa)
Jan Komasa for Sala Samobójców (Suicide Room)
Agnieszka Holland for W ciemności (In Darkness)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Roma Gąsiorowska-Żurawska in Ki (My Name is Ki), Leszek Dawid
*Agata Kulesza in Róża (Rosa), Wojciech Smarzowski
Agnieszka Grochowska in W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Marcin Dorociński in Róża (Rosa), Wojciech Smarzowski
Jakub Gierszał in Sala Samobójców (Suicide Room), Jan Komasa
*Robert Więckiewicz in W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland

To check nominees in all 16 categories go here.  Award ceremony will be on March 5 and will be broadcast live on Channel 2.

84th Academy Awards Nominated Short Films

As every year here are some of the nominated shorts.

Dimanche (Sunday), Patrick Doyon, Canada




The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, USA



Short Preview of La Luna, Enrico Casarosa, USA (Pixar)



Trailer of A Morning Stroll, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe, UK



Wild Life, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, Canada

2012 Golden Reel Award Winners

Yesterday the Motion Picture Sound Editors had their awards ceremony and from general news in *BLUE are the feature film winners. To check winners in all categories go here and browse for television categories.

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in an Animation Feature Film

*The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango Rio
The Smurfs

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
Cave of the Forgotten Dreams
*George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Lemmy
Pearl Jam Twenty

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Foreign Language Film
1920. The World's Most Important Battle
Circumstance
*The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Sarah's Key
The Skin I Live In
Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within)

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hop
*Hugo
Priest
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film
Footloose
*The Muppets
Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
Pina

Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
Abduction
The Help
Moneyball
Quarantine II: Terminal
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
*Super 8
War Horse
The Way

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
*War Horse

Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male

Now I understand why Academy members will always vote in strange ways as accordingly to the L.A. Times study "The Times found that some of the academy's 15 branches are almost exclusively white and male. Caucasians currently make up 90% or more of every academy branch except actors, whose roster is 88% white. The academy's executive branch is 98% white, as is its writers branch."

The LATimes article continues to give us charts that tells us the Academy members are mainly white (94%), male (77%), have a median age of 62, and are mostly not Oscar winners (64%) which obviously doesn't represent USA population distribution. Some like Denzel Washington said: "If the country is 12% black, make the academy 12% black," Washington said. "If the nation is 15% Hispanic, make the academy 15% Hispanic. Why not?" Yes, why not? But did you all notice what I immediately notice?  There is no mention to women; so, if  American population by gender is approximately 50% male and 50% female, shouldn't the Academy ALSO be 50% female?

But then I'm thinking that AMPAS is really representative of large American Industries, Corporations, etc that not only are owned but also are managed by proportions similar to what the L.A. Times is publishing about the Academy members in yesterday article.

If you wish to read the complete article please go here and maybe will like to comment about the many interesting findings from their study.  As you can see in the article above photo is from the AMPAS seen at its first organizational meeting in 1927 and if my eyes work right, I can clearly see about five women in what you can call an almost all male room.

If the Academy members distribution looks similar to what looked in in 1927, Oscar nominees this year have a little bit more female participation but look really white; take a look to the Class of 2012.

2012 EDDA Awards Winners

Last Saturday the Icelandic Film & TV Academy had the awards ceremony where Rúnar Rúnarsson’s Volcano was the big winner. Here are the winners for the main categories.

Feature Film of the Year: Eldfjall (Volcano), Rúnar Rúnarsson
Director of the Year: Rúnar Rúnarsson for Eldfjall (Volcano)
Actress of the Year: Margrét Helga Jóhannsdóttir in Eldfjall (Volcano), Rúnar Rúnarsson
Actor of the Year: Theodór Júlíusson in Eldfjall (Volcano), Rúnar Rúnarsson

To check winners in all categories including television go here.

2012 Writers Guild Awards Winners

Last night the guild had the awards ceremony and to check winners in all categories including TV go here. Winners are in *BLUE.

--//--
1/5

A few minutes ago the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2011 and here they are for the film categories.

Original Screenplay
50/50, Will Reiser
Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
*Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Win Win, Tom Mcarthy
Young Adult, Diablo Cody

Adapted Screenplay
*The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steven Zaillian
The Help, Tate Taylor
Hugo, John Logan
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

Documentary Screenplay
*Better This World, Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek
Nostalgia for the Light, Patricio Guzmán
Pina, Wim Wenders
Position Among the Stars, Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich
Senna, Manish Pandey

One screenplay I truly wish to win this award, the one written by Patricio Guzmán; no other favorites but I really enjoy the amazing scripts by Diablo Cody so hope this one is good (haven’t seen film yet) and she gets the award. Not sure how these nominees could reflect the possible Oscar nominations, but I’m almost sure that Steven Zaillian has to get a nod and probably will be the one he share credits with Aaron Sorkin.

To check the official announcement that includes TV categories go here. Award ceremony will be Sunday, February 19, 2012.

26th Goya Awards Winners

A few minutes ago the award ceremony reach the end with no big awards to Almodovar, except for Elena Anaya winning. I'm convinced that is not easy to win in Spain for Almodovar but I'm very glad that he won the BAFTA a few days ago as his movie deserves all the honors because he went back to his most excellent style that only him can do. Sigh. Okay got it out.

Ceremony was not entertaining with a few exceptions but most amusing and highly entertaining was following the #premiosgoya in twitter while watching on TV, that was really fun as seems "everyone" was twitting about the awards as almost reached trend No. 1 worldwide so you could read the most funny, amusing, annoying, etc tweets you can imagine. But was lots of fun.

The Academy site was object of a DOS attack and will take a while for them to have the site back; so if you wish to read winners in all categories will have to wait until probably tomorrow, but go here. Nevertheless winners for main categories are in *BLUE.

--//--
1/10

A few minutes ago the Academy announced the nominations and here they are for some categories. Most remarkable is that Almodovar latest film, La Piel Que Habito got 16 nominations, which I think makes film one with most nods in Almodovar’s own country, congrats to Pedro Almodovar!

Best Film
Blackthorn, Mateo Gil (oh! Magaly Solier is here!)
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar
La Voz Dormida (The Sleeping Voice), Benito Zambrano
*No habrá paz para los malvados, Enrique Urbizu

Best Director
Mateo Gil for Blackthorn
Pedro Almodóvar for La Piel que Habito
Benito Zambrano for La Voz Dormida
*Enrique Urbizu for No habrá paz para los malvados

Best New Director
Paula Ortiz for De tu Ventana la Mía
*Kike Maíllo for Eva
Paco Arango for Maktub
Eduardo Chapero-Jackson for Verbo

Best Actress
Verónica Echegui in Katmandú. Un espejo en el cielo, Icíar Bollaín
Salma Hayek in La Chispa de la Vida, Alex de la Iglesia
*Elena Anaya in La Piel Que Habito, Pedro Almodóvar
Inma Cuesta in La Voz Dormida, Benito Zambrano

Best Actor
Daniel Brühl in Eva, Kike Maíllo
Antonio Banderas in La Piel que Habito, Pedro Almodóvar
Luis Tosar, Mientras Duermes (Sleep Tight), Jaume Balagueró
*Jose Coronado in No habrá paz para los malvados, Enrique Urbizu

Best European Film
Jane Eyre, Cary Fukunaga
Melancholia, Lars von Trier
*The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Carnage, Roman Polanski

Best Iberoamerican Film
Boleto al Paraíso, Gerardo Chijona, Cuba
Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico
*Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina
Violeta se fue a los Cielos (Violeta), Andrés Wood, Chile

To check nominees in all categories go here.  Eva Hace will be the award host and let’s hope this year will be entertaining (I know every year I hope for the same, lol); award ceremony will be at 10:00pm Madrid time on February 19 and will be broadcast by TVE.

48th Cinema Audio Society Award Winner

Last night The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) announced their awards winners and there is only one for Motion Pictures with more for Television and other categories that you can check at the society official site that’s here.

And the winner is...

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures: Hugo

62nd Annual ACE Eddie Awards Winners

Last night the group had their award ceremony and winners are in *BLUE.  To check complete list of winners that include TV categories go here.

--//--

1/16
A few minutes ago the American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced their nominations for current year and here they are for film categories.

Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic
*Kevin Tent for The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical
*Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Young Adult

Best Edited Animated Feature Film
The Adventures of Tintin
Puss in Boots
*Craig Wood for Rango

To check TV categories and read the official announcement go here. Awards ceremony will be on Saturday, February 18.

62nd Berlin International Film Festival Award Winners

Ceremony is over and the awards are given to all winners. Everyone is surprised with the top winner and twitter is not saying good things but from the few scenes I have seen I find the Taviani's Cesare deve morire quite hypnotic and definitively looking forward to watch it.

Tend to agree with Miguel Gomes as his film looks and feel quite traditional and "old fashion" but hope to discover soon why the jury awarded him the innovation award.

So this is it until next year, now we have to watch the movies that were screened in the festival.

--//--
More awards have been announced and in about 5 hours the award ceremony will be streamed live with main awards.
--//--

2/17

As some winners have been announced let’s start the post that will be finished tomorrow when the festival has the closing ceremony.

Competition

Golden Bear for Best Film: Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy

Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix: Csak a szél (Just The Wind), Bence Fliegauf, Hungary, Germany and France

Silver Bear for Special Mention: L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier, Switzerland and France

Silver Bear for Best Director: Christian Petzold for Barbara, Germany

Silver Bear for Best Actress: Rachel Mwanza in Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Mikkel Følsgaard in En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany

Silver Bear for Best Script:En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in the categories Camera, Editing, Score, Costume Design or Set Design: Bai lu yuan (White Deer Plain), Wang Quan'an, China

Alfred Bauer Prize: Tabu, Miguel Gomes, Portugal, Germany and Brazil

Best First Feature Award: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Special Mention: Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece

Generation

Generation Kplus
Children's Jury
Crystal Bear Best Film: Arcadia, Olivia Silver, USA
Special Mention: Kikoeteru, furi wo sita dake (Just Pretend to Hear), Kaori Imaizumi, Japan
Crystal Bear Best Short Film: Julian, Matthew Moore, Australia
Special Mention: B I N O, Billie Pleffer,Australia

International Jury
Grand Prix of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for Best Film: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Special Mention: Gattu, Rajan Khosa, India
Special Prize of the Deutsche Kinderhilfswerk for Best Short Film: BINO, Billie Pleffer,Australia
Special Mention: L, Thais Fujinaga, Brazil

Generation 14plus
Crystal Bear for Best Film: Lal Gece (Night of Silence), Reis Çelik, Turkey
Special Mention: Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels), Ella Lemhagen, Sweden

Crystal Bear for Short Film: Meathead, Sam Holst, New Zealand
Special Mention: 663114, Isamu Hirabayashi, Japan

Short Films

Golden Bear for Best Short Film: Rafa, João Salaviza, Portugal and France
Silver Bear Jury Prize: Gurehto Rabitto, Atsushi Wada, France
Special Mention: Licuri Surf, Guile Martins, Brazil

DAAD Short Film Prize: The Man that Got Away, Trevor Anderson, Canada
Nominee for the European Film Awards 2012: Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon (Two Ships), Justine Triet, France

Collateral Awards

FIPRESCI
Competition: Tabu, Miguel Gomes, Portugal, Germany and Brazil
Panorama: L'âge atomique (Atomic Age), Héléna Klotz, France
Forum: Hemel, Sacha Polak, Netherlands and Spain

Ecumenical Jury
Competition: Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
Special Mention: Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Panorama: Die Wand (The Wall), Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria and Germany
Special Mention: Parada (The Parade), Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
Forum: La demora (The Delay), Rodrigo Plá, Uruguay, Mexico and France

NETPAC Prize: Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception), Mani Haghighi, Iran

Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas: A moi seule (Coming Home), Frédéric Videau, France

Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai (C.I.C.A.E.)
Panorama: Death for Sale, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Belgium, France and Morocco
Forum: Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland), Yang Yonghi, Japan

Europa Cinemas Label: My Brother The Devil, Sally El Hosaini, UK
Special Mention: Dollhouse, Kirsten Sheridan, Ireland

Dialogue en Perspective: This Ain't California, Marten Persiel, Germany

Caligari Prize: Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Special Mentions
Bagrut Lochamim (Soldier/Citizen), Silvina Landsmann, Israel
Escuela normal (Normal School), Celina Murga, Argentina
Jaurès, Vincent Dieutre, France

Teddy Award
Feature Film: Keep The Lights On, Ira Sachs, USA
Jury Award: Jaurès, Vincent Dieutre, France
Best Documentary: Call Me Kuchu, Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA
Best Short Film: Loxoro, Claudia Llosa, Spain, Peru, Argentina and USA

Peace Film Prize: Csak a szél (Just The Wind), Bence Fliegauf, Hungary, Germany and France

Amnesty International Film Prize: Csak a szél (Just The Wind), Bence Fliegauf, Hungary, Germany and France

Cinema Fairbindet Prize: Call Me Kuchu, Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA

Panorama Audience Award
Best Feature: Parada (The Parade), Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
Best Documentary: Marina Abramović The Artist is Present, Matthew Akers, USA

The Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Award: Barbara, Christian Petzold, Germany
The Tagesspiegel Readers' Award: La demora (The Delay), Rodrigo Plá, Uruguay, Mexico and France
Else - The Siegessäule Readers' Choice Award: Parada (The Parade) by Srđjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia

To check winners in all categories and special awards go here.

26th Teddy Award Winners

Award winners were just announced at the official site here. Winners are in *BLUE.

--//--

2/1/2011

As organizers say in their press release “The world’s most prestigious queer film prize the TEDDY AWARD will be presented during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2012 for the 26th time. TEDDY AWARD prizes will be presented in the categories: best feature film, best documentary / film essay and best short film.” The following are the films being considered for the awards.

Competition
Les adieux à la Reine (Farewell My Queen) by Benoït Jacquot, France and Spain (L)

Panorama
7 Deadly Kisses (7 Deadly Kisses) by Sammaria Simanjuntak, Indonesia
A Lazy Summer Afternoon with Mario Montez by John Heys, Germany
Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi) by Children of Srikandi Collective, Indonesia (L/Q)
Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1092 by Dagmar Schultz, Germany (L)
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong and China
*Call Me Kuchu by Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA BEST DOCUMENTARY
Cherry by Stephen Elliot, USA (L?)
Dtlef by Stefan Westerwelle, Germany
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death) by Peter Kern, Austria
Green Laser by John Greyson, Canada
Hot Boy Nổi Loạn và Câu Chuyện về Thằng Cười, Cô Gái Điếm và Con Vịt (Lost In Paradise) by Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam (G)
*Keep The Lights On by Ira Sachs, USA (G)  BEST FEATURE FILM
König des Comics (King Of Comics) by Rosa von Praunheim, Germany (G)
Kuma by Umut Dag, Austria (interesting)
L'âge atomique (Atomic Age) by Héléna Klotz, France (G)
Leave It On The Floor by Sheldon Larry, Canada and USA (G)
Mommy is Coming by Cheryl Dunye, Germany (L)
My Brother The Devil by Sally El Hosaini, UK
Olhe pra mim de novo (Look at me Again) by Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla, Brazil
Parada (The Parade) by Srđjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
Ulrike Ottinger – die Nomadin vom See (Ulrike Ottinger – Nomad from the Lake) by Brigitte Kramer, Germany
Unter Männern – Schwul in der DDR (Among Men – Gay in East Germany) by Markus Stein, Ringo Rösener, Germany (G)
Vito by Jeffrey Schwarz, USA (G)
Wo men de gu shi (Our Sotry – 10 year “guerrilla warfare” of Beijing Queer Film Festival) by Yang Yang, China
Zucht und Ordnung (Law and Order) by Jan Soldat, Germany (G)

Forum
Francine by Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA and Canada
*Jaurès by Vincent Dieutre, France  SPECIAL JURY AWARD
Koi ni itaru yamai (The End of Puberty) by Kimura Shoko, Japan (L –wow! Must be seen for me)
Sekret (Secret) by Przemyslaw Wojcieszek, Poland
Sleeples Knights by Stefan Butzmühlen, Cristina Diz, Germany (G)
Swoon by Tom Kalin, USA (G)

Forum Expanded
A World of our own by Eline McGeorge, Norway and UK
As they say by Hicham Ayouch, Morocco and UAE
Road Movie by Elle Flanders and Tamira Sawatzky, Canada
The Tiny Ventriloquist by Steve Reinke, Canada

Generation
Joven & Alocada (Young & Wild) by Marialy Rivas, Chile (L – just won screenplay award at Sundance)
Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels) by Ella Lemhagen, Sweden (L)
Magi I Luften (Love is in the Air) by Simon Staho, Denmark and Sweden
Nono by Rommel Toletino, Philippines
Una Noche by Lucy Mulloy, USA, Cuba and UK
The Wilding by Grant Scicluna, Australia

Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Man for a Day by Katarina Peters, Germany, UK and Finland
Westerland by Tim Staffel, Germany (G)

Shorts
Erotic Fragments No. 1, 2, 3 by Anucha Boonyawatana, Thailand
La Santa (The Blessed) by Mauricio López Fernández, Chile
*Loxoro by Claudia Llosa, Spain, Peru, Argentina and USA  BEST SHORT FILM
The Man That Got Away by Trevor Anderson, Canada

To check the official press release go to pages 10 up to 13 here.

The Jury
Alessandro Rais, film historian and film critic, Italy
Bilge Taş, co-founder Pink Life QueerFest in Ankara, Turkey
Joako Ezpeleta, organizer of FIRE!! International LGBT Film Mostra of Barcelona, Spain
João Federici, producer of Mix Brasil Film Festival of Sexual Diversity, Brazil
Magali Simard, film programmer at Toronto International Film Festival, Canada
Monika Visniarova, programmer for Filmovy Festival inakosti / Slovak Queer Film Festival, Slovakia
Mhlanhla Ndaba, production manager for the Out in Africa Film Festival, South Africa
Shannon Kelley, Head of Public Programs for the UCLA Film & Television Archive, USA
Yang Yang, co-founder and executive-chairwoman of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, China

To read info about each juror go here.

Last year organizers were so kind as to classify films but this year they haven’t done it yet, so I hope that when they list the films at their official site –info came from press release- they’ll be so kind as to tell us to which letter from LGTB+ each film belongs. Still from what I read about each film most seem to be with gay interest, a few with T interest and very little to L interest, sigh.

I was already following Marialy Rivas Young & Wild, but Kimura Shoko’s film is a great find that I hope to see soon. Cheryl Dunye is no stranger to Berlinale as in 1996 won the Teddy for her film Watermelon Woman and her latest film, Mommy is Coming, not only is a full German production but story could will be interesting. Wasn’t able to tell from synopsis if there are other lesbian interest movies, but no matter what interest has Kuma by Umut Dag seems very interesting.

Award ceremony will be on February 17 and as in previous years Arte TV will broadcast ceremony plus video will be uploaded to official site.

Las Acacias

If you ask me what type of movie would I like to see a lot more nowadays my answer absolutely is the type Las Acacias has. What a fantastic movie, one that makes you feel good, makes you wonder why cinema doesn’t have more stories told like this one and one that absolutely deserves all the honors that has been collecting since premiering at 2011 Cannes where won the prestigious Camera d’Or plus the Grand Rail d’Or, the ACID Award and the Young Critics award in the Semaine de la Critique section.

As you know I don’t like to know much about a movie and in this case I knew nothing, zip, nada. I strongly suggest that if possible that’s the best way to watch this marvelous movie that slowly, very slowly will grow in you, grab you, hold you tight with a big smile in your face and won’t release you –nor your smile- until is over.

Let me just share that Pablo Giorgelli’s film is what we could call a road movie but is of the unexpected kind –if you know nothing about story- that starts near the Paraguay/Argentina border and ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina; trip is done in a trailer and yes, there are handheld cameras that will allow you to feel inside the cabin the uneven roads the truck transits. It’s great.

Actually have to comment that last year Canes Critics’ Week had fabulous movies like this one and Take Shelter, which is NOT common as usually the strangest/weirdest movies are screened in this section; second all the honors that film have been collecting all over the world are extremely well deserved for a fantastic story, great production values, excellent performances and a filmmaker that masters the art of storytelling with images, little details and very little dialogue. While is not unique certainly is not common so-well done in Latin American cinema, thus chapeau Master Giorgelli!

All right is not for all audiences unless you prepare for a very slow storytelling, a long while where nothing seems to be happening, lots of silences where actors expressions –or lack of expressions- (including an impressive baby) tell everything that’s going on and an intrusive camera with many handheld takes.

Strongly recommend this movie to all that enjoy great world-class cinema and especially to those that enjoy Latin American cinema, even when story is not local, is really universal and filmmaker transcended most styles that predominate in the region. Oh yes, I enjoyed the movie well-beyond my expectations and well, when movie was over I was surprised beyond my imagination with the high quality of this complete cinematic experience.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) (House of Tolerance)

Bertrand Bonello paints magnificent moving pictures that absolutely recall Ingres, Degas, Manet -and more- with those decadent scenes in a decadent house of tolerance that is about to disappear with the coming of the 20th century as story starts in the twilight of the 19th century in November 1899. With an unconventional story that probably will not be true in a real bordello, we are taken in a voyage that starts in the “normal” everyday life of the girls until one girl becomes careless with a regular and allows him to damage her for life. She becomes “the woman that laughs” and is like the invisible axis that holds the stories of the madam and a few of the girls.

Story is complex and layered with the most interesting ending that proposes that even do the houses of tolerance were banned in France a long time ago, today the setting might have change, but the everyday life and conditions under what the girls work may have remain the same.

Is a very beautiful to watch film with great performances by Hafsia Herzi, Adele Haenel, Jasmine Trinca, Céline Sallette, and especially Alice Barnole that plays Madeleine, the woman that laughs with makeup that is scary/awkward/pathetic as looks a lot like Batman’s the Joker in the latest version.

A film with a name that comes from Apollonie Sabatier the muse that inspired Baudelaire verses like: "Ange plein de gaîté, connaissez-vous l'angoisse/ La honte, les remords, les sanglots, les ennuis/Et les vagues terreurs de ces affreuses nuits/qui compriment le coeur comme un papier qu'on froisse ?/Ange plein de gaîté, connaissez-vous l'angoisse ?" (Réversibilité). Verses that also talk about this film.

This film made me think about another poetic bordello film Hai shang hua (Flowers of Shanghai) by Hsiao-hsien Hou and believe is the best reference when I say that if you enjoyed this film you will also highly enjoy Bonello film. But I know that film is not for all audiences as is a very French/European film that shows images of the body but actually is speaking about or reflecting the soul.

I highly enjoyed the film both visually as well as because the female story that while set in the past is so true nowadays. I do recommend film but be aware that film is not sexy, sexual or soft porn and there are much less sensual or erotic scenes than in other films or other Bonello’s films, so if you’re watching because anything similar you will be bored to death as many have been.

This is another outstanding film from Cannes 2011 in competition selection that confirms me that last year was an excellent year for world cinema and Cannes just showcased the best of the best. Great.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC