5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

Last night (i.e. very early morning for me) the Academy had their award ceremony that you can watch here.  The following are the winners.

Best Feature Film: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Jury Grand Prize: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

Achievement in Directing: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Turkey
Best Performance by Actress: Nadezha Markina in Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
Best Peformance by Actor: Wang Baoqiang for Hello! Shu Xian Sheng (Mr. Tree) by Jie Han, China

Best Children’s Feature Film: Buta by Ilgar Najaf, Azerbaijan
Best Animated Feature Film: Madangeul naon amtak (Leafie) by Oh Seonyun, Korea
Best Documentary Feature Film: Jag Var Värd 50 Lamm (I Was Worth 50 Sheep) by Nima Sarvestani, Sweden, Japan and USA

Best Screeplay: Denis Osokin for Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) by Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia
Achievement in Cinematography Award: Gökhan Tiryaki for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

UNESCO Award: Ivan Sen for Toomelah, Australia
FIAPF Award: Zhang Yimou

To check the announcement go here and to check nominees plus winners in all categories go here.

84th Academy Awards Documentary Features Shortlist

Recently the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process to select the five nominees. One hundred twenty-four films had originally qualified in the category.

These are the fifteen films that include extraordinary Pina by Wim Wenders that I hope will be chosen as a nominee in this category as well as in the foreign language category, which will increase its probabilities to win an extremely well-deserved Oscar.

Battle for Brooklyn, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, USA
Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press, USA (Yes, I’m very curious about this doc)
Buck, Cindy Meehl, USA
Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis, USA, UK, and Afghanistan
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman, USA and UK
Jane’s Journey, Lorenz Knauer, Germany and Tanzania
The Loving Story, Nancy Buirski, USA
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, USA
Pina, Wim Wenders, Germany, France and UK
Projected Nim, James Marsh, USA and UK (interesting, will watch)
Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert, USA
Sing Your Song, Susanne Rostock, USA
Undefeated, Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, USA
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat, Martyn Burke, Canada
We Were Here, David Weissman and Bill Weber, USA

As we know nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 and the awards ceremony will be on Sunday, February 26. To check the press release go here.

XXVI Goya Awards News – Latin American Films

A total of eight (8) Latin American films will be screened from December 16 to 23 to define the five that will be nominated for a Goya Award. These are the films.

Artigas-La Redota (aka La Redota-Una Historia de Artigas), César Charlone, Uruguay
Boleto al Paraíso, Gerardo Chijona, Cuba
El Páramo, Jaime Osorio Márquez, Colombia
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Rosario García-Montero, Peru
Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico
Reverón, Diego Rísquez, Venezuela
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein
Violeta se fue a los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Andrés Wood

To check the official announcement go here.

2011 Lux Cinema Prize

The European Parliament’s annual film prize LUX was awarded in Strasbourg to the film Les neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro) by Robert Guédiguian.

At the ceremony, the film's producer said on behalf of Robert Guédiguian: "The values of Europe are, for me, linked to the idea of the Republic - this Republic which Jean Jaurès, under whose auspices my film is placed, called a 'social Republic': liberty, equality and fraternity are qualities that Europe also owes it to itself to defend [....] Please do not abandon the poor people of Victor Hugo, a symbolic figurehead of both film and Europe, in the 'icy waters of egotistical calculation'."

To read announcement at prize site go here and to read press release go here.

2011 Premio Sur Winners

Winners are in *BLUE. Not long ago the Argentinean Academy announced the nominees for this year Premio Sur and here they are.

Best Film
Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear), Fernando Spiner
El Estudiante (The Student), Santiago Mitre
Juan y Eva (Juan and Eva), Paula De Luque
*Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein

Best First film
*El Estudiante (The Student), Santiago Mitre
El túnel de los huesos (Tunnel of Bones), Nacho Garassino
Fase 7 (Phase 7), Nicolás Goldbart
Vaquero (Cowboy), Juan Minujín

Best Director
Sebastián Borensztein for Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away)
Santiago Mitre for El Estudiante (The Student)
Carlos Sorín for El Gato Desaparece (The Cat Vanishes)
*Fernando Spiner for Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)

Best Actress
*Moro Anghileri in Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)
Valeria Bertuccelli in Viudas (Widows), Marcos Carnevale
Graciela Borges in Viudas (Widows), Marcos Carnevale
Julieta Díaz in Juan y Eva (Juan and Eva)

Best Actor
Pablo Cedrón in Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)
*Ricardo Darín in Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away),
Rodrigo De La Serna in Revolución, el cruce de los Andes (aka San Martín: El cruce de Los Andes)
Estaban Lamothe in El Estudiante (The Student)
Osmar Nuñez in Juan Y Eva (Juan and Eva)

Not really curious about the Argentina submission to Oscar or many of this year nominations, but yes I looking forward to watch Ricardo Darin performance in Un Cuento Chino. To check nominees in all categories go here. Award ceremony will be in the middle of December.

2011 Outstanding Female Roles

About a year ago I listed 23 possible great female roles that had enough buzz to obtain an Oscar nomination and dared to make my very-early prediction (I had 4 right and 1 wrong!) so it’s time for me to review how kind or not 2011 was with female roles and play the guessing game for the Best Actress category.

Haven’t seen many of the movies that could have great performances by female actors but from the ones I have seen, I’m sure that Viola Davis is going to get a nod thanks to her outstanding performance in The Help. Even when European film industry is honoring Melancholia, I honestly doubt that American film industry will honor anything related to the film so doubt that Kirsten Dunst or Charlotte Gainsbourg could get a nod; I didn’t like Dunst performance or segment but I did enjoy a lot more Gainsbourg performance and segment but doubt that her great performance will be recognized as such in America.

From movies that haven’t seen, again this year Tilda Swinton pops-up with her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin –hope she gets it this year but 2011 is a year where there are other roles that now are being labeled “sure Oscar nod” like Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn, Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, and Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady.

With performances that have gathered industry buzz we have Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet in Carnage but American film industry is not an easy to forgive industry and doubt will honor anything related to Roman Polanski. Charlize Theron looks absolutely FANTASTIC in the upcoming Snow White movie but is her role in Young Adult (directed by Jason Reitman and with a Diablo Cody script) what could bring her an Oscar nomination in a role that has been described as “Theron finally gets to kill it and be beautiful”, which obviously refers to her Oscar winning performance in Monster.

In the lesser known movies that could get nods for their lead actress we have Felicity Jones in Like Crazy (saw movie is okay, she has a very good performance), Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower (great performance in a so-so movie that could have been better with a different script), Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene –which I believe she could be the “surprise” nod (have to watch movie first), Abbie Cornish in W.E. (yep, Madonna’s film), one of my favorite young actress Carey Mulligan in Shame, that not sure if qualifies for lead or supporting and the same goes to Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method.

Another young actress that is gathering too-much buzz is Rooney Mara in THAT film (yes, the film/character that BELONGS TO Noomi Rapace!!!) oh gosh, I’m really torn with this as I know will watch Hollywood remake but I’m hoping is awful!!! (lol!) Anyway the industry keeps mentioning Mara as a possible contender, even when they haven’t seen but trailers from film, odd isn’t?

Maybe I should include Ellen Barkin in Another Happy Day and wonder if Michelle Yeoh in The Lady plus Olivia Colman in Tyrannosaur can also be consider as contenders.

Nevertheless I have the feeling that there were less outstanding performances in 2011 than in 2010 and if we count the mentions we notice that this year there are 20 versus 23 last year so is about the same, but still have the perception that 2011 was not that good for female roles. Sigh.

If I have to guess the five nominees considering what I have seen plus the buzz index, they will look as follows.

Viola Davis in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene

I’m almost certain that Davis will be nominated and won’t be surprised at all if she’s the second African-American women to win an Oscar; she truly deserves it as she did an excellent performance in a complex, layered film. Won’t be surprised IF Streep is not nominated as critics are “destroying” film but claim that Streep saves movie.

Close has five nominations and no wins, this could be her sixth but not sure that could be translated into a win, still Academy members LOVE when good looking actresses do “not-good-looking” characters (remember Theron and Kidman?) so maybe there is a chance. Williams has two nominations and I’m almost certain that this will be her third (but have to see movie, which of course I’m “dying” to watch), this brilliant young actress will get her Oscar soon if she continues to choose her roles SO goodly as she has been doing. The last spot is the one that I’m always unsure and could go to Olsen, as well as Theron, any of the other women mentioned or a new “surprise” role that could appear before the award deadline.

If you ask about the Best Actor I believe that Brad, Leonardo, and George could make the list, BUT I hope that the winner will NOT be an American actor, has to be a European as last year, the two contenders are British Michael Fassbender in Shame and French Jean Dujardin in The Artist.

Cheers!!!

Thinking Notes of Today

I'm going public by admitting that I'm no fan of Martin Scorsese but do recognize him as one of the American contemporary master-filmmakers.  But as everything in life  -absolutes hardly exist- there are exceptions and the following letter absolutely is the exception that makes me "admire" Scorsese for being willing to make public what so many think about those countries where films with subtitles are not easily accepted.

The letter dated November 25, 1993 was published as a comment to an article in the New York Times on November 19, 1993. The letter date is important as was one week after Federico Fellini's dead.

Here is a copy and paste of the letter; if you wish to read it at the source I used please go here.

To the Editor:

“Excuse Me; I Must Have Missed Part of the Movie” (The Week in Review, 7 November) cites Federico Fellini as an example of a filmmaker whose style gets in the way of his storytelling and whose films, as a result, are not easily accessible to audiences. Broadening that argument, it includes other artists: Ingmar Bergman, James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Bernardo Bertolucci, John Cage, Alain Resnais and Andy Warhol.

It’s not the opinion I find distressing, but the underlying attitude toward artistic expression that is different, difficult or demanding. Was it necessary to publish this article only a few days after Fellini’s death? I feel it’s a dangerous attitude, limiting, intolerant. If this is the attitude toward Fellini, one of the old masters, and the most accessible at that, imagine what chance new foreign films and filmmakers have in this country.

It reminds me of a beer commercial that ran a while back. The commercial opened with a black and white parody of a foreign film—obviously a combination of Fellini and Bergman. Two young men are watching it, puzzled, in a video store, while a female companion seems more interested. A title comes up: “Why do foreign films have to be so foreign?” The solution is to ignore the foreign film and rent an action-adventure tape, filled with explosions, much to the chagrin of the woman.

It seems the commercial equates “negative” associations between women and foreign films: weakness, complexity, tedium. I like action-adventure films too. I also like movies that tell a story, but is the American way the only way of telling stories?

The issue here is not “film theory,” but cultural diversity and openness. Diversity guarantees our cultural survival. When the world is fragmenting into groups of intolerance, ignorance and hatred, film is a powerful tool to knowledge and understanding. To our shame, your article was cited at length by the European press.

The attitude that I’ve been describing celebrates ignorance. It also unfortunately confirms the worst fears of European filmmakers. Is this closedmindedness something we want to pass along to future generations?

If you accept the answer in the commercial, why not take it to its natural progression:
Why don’t they make movies like ours?
Why don’t they tell stories as we do?
Why don’t they dress as we do?
Why don’t they eat as we do?
Why don’t they talk as we do?
Why don’t they think as we do?
Why don’t they worship as we do?
Why don’t they look like us?
Ultimately, who will decide who “we” are?

—Martin Scorsese
[New York, 19 Nov 1993]

Also suggest to read the recent NYTimes article from April 29, 2011 "Eating Your Cultural Vegetables" that you will find here.

More than 15 years after the letter was written is impressive how the largest movie market in the world -when you count only money- has not opened to world movies. Won't elaborate but have to comment that one of the consequences I dislike the most is the doing of "remakes" that never are as good as the original ones. Sigh.

By the way the conversation about "Cultural Vegetables" has been going on since April 2011 and I'm just joining today.