2012 Premio Sur Award Winners

From news winners are in *BLUE. Link to official site will come as they update.

Infancia Clandestina sweep this edition as won all top awards plus more for a total of 10 awards out of the 16 nominations it had. Even when not won Best First Film, El último Elvis collected 6 awards to be the second most honored film.

Pablo Giorgelli's Las Acacias is so-good that I'm glad was honored at "home" after winning many honors in the international festival circuit.

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A while back the Argentinean Academy announced the nominees for this year's Premio Sur and Infancia Clandestina, which is Argentina's submission to Oscar, tops the ranking with 16 nominations followed by El último Elvis (13), Elefante blanco (11), Las Acacias (9) and Dos más Dos (8).

Truth is that thanks to the very non-friendly Academy official site I forgot about this award but better now than never; besides the award ceremony will be soon, in December, and of course I wasn't able to find the exact date for the ceremony in the official site, but from news seems that will be on December 4th, 2012.

These are the nominees for some categories and if you wish to check all the categories please go here.

Best Film
El último Elvis (The Last Elvis), Armando Bo
Elefante Blanco (White Elephant), Pablo Trapero
*Infancia Clandestina (Clandestine Childhood), Benjamín Ávila
Las Acacias, Pablo Giorgelli

Best First Film
El último Elvis (The Last Elvis), Armando Bo
*Las Acacias, Pablo Giorgelli
Medianeras (Sidewalls), Gustavo Taretto
Todos Tenemos un Plan (Everybody Has a Plan), Ana Piterbag

Best Director
*Benjamín Ávila for Infancia Clandestina, (Clandestine Childhood)
Armando Bo for El último Elvis (The Last Elvis)
Pablo Giorgelli for Las Acacias
Pablo Trapero for Elefante Blanco, (White Elephant)

Best Actress
Julieta Díaz in Dos más dos, Diego Kaplan
Dolores Fonzi in El Campo (In the Open), Hernán Belón
*Natalia Oreiro in Infancia clandestina (Clandestine Childhood), Benjamín Ávila
Carla Peterson in Dos más Dos, Diego Kaplan

Best Actor
*Ernesto Alterio in Infancia clandestina (Clandestine Childhood), Benjamín Ávila
Ricardo Darín in Elefante Blanco, (White Elephant), Pablo Trapero
Germán De Silva in Las Acacias, Pablo Giorgelli
Adrián Suar in Dos más Dos, Diego Kaplan

There are a couple of films I have not seen but from those I have definitively Las Acacias is my favorite to win honors.

85th Academy Awards Documentary Feature Shortlist

To top the incredible amount of activity happening at the same time, today the Academy announced that from the one hundred twenty-six films that originally qualified in the category, fifteen (15) will advance in the voting process to select the five nominees that will be announced on January 10, 2013.

These are the films that undoubtedly have strong stories about very difficult contemporary issues to tell.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Alison Kayman, USA
A documentary that chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government.

Bully, Lee Hirsch, USA
A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.

Chasing Ice, Jeff Orlowski, USA
National Geographic photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. In Chasing Ice we follow Balog across the Arctic as he deploys revolutionary time-lapse cameras designed for one purpose: to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers. Balog's hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Traveling with a young team of adventurers by helicopter, canoe and dog sled across three continents, Balog risks his career and his well-being in pursuit of the biggest story in human history. As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramp up around the world, 'Chasing Ice' depicts a heroic photojournalist on a mission to gather evidence and deliver hope to our carbon-powered planet

Detropia, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, USA
A documentary on the city of Detroit and its woes, which are emblematic of the collapse of the U.S. manufacturing base.

Ethel, Rory Kenedy, USA
ETHEL is a 95 minute feature-length documentary about the life of Ethel Kennedy. Scheduled for broadcast on HBO in 2012, the film was produced and directed by Mrs. Kennedy's Emmy Award-winning daughter, Rory Kennedy. An intimate family portrait, ETHEL includes a lengthy interview with Mrs. Kennedy, as well as interviews with seven of her children, providing unique insight into her family's story, her life with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own. The film is an insider's view of a political dynasty, a personal story interwoven with some of the most important moments of the 20th century. The film also features a rich treasure trove of never-before-seen footage from the Kennedy family's private collection.

5 Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, Palestine, Israel, France, Netherlands
When his fourth son, Gibreel, is born, Emad, a Palestinian villager, gets his first camera. In his village, Bil'in, a separation barrier is being built and the villagers start to resist this decision. For more than five years, Emad films the struggle, which is lead by two of his best friends, alongside filming how Gibreel grows. Very soon it affects his family and his own life. Daily arrests and night raids scare his family; his friends, brothers and him as well are either shot or arrested. One Camera after another is shot at or smashed, each camera tells a part of his story.

Shomerei Ha’saf (The Gatekeepers), Dror Moreh, Israel, France, Germany and Belgium
In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.

The House I Live In, Eugene Jarecki, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, and USA
From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America's criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy.

How to Survive a Plague, David France, USA
The story of two coalitions -- ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) -- whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

The Imposter, Bart Layton, UK
A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who convinces a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who went missing for 3 years.

The Invisible War, Kirby Dick, USA
An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences.

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Alex Gibney, USA
Alex Gibney explores the charged issue of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, following a trail from the first known protest against clerical sexual abuse in the United States and all the way to the Vatican.

Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul, Sweden and UK
In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career with only two well received but non-selling albums. Unknown to Rodriguez, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon and inspiration for generations. Long rumored there to be dead by suicide, a few fans in the 1990s decided to seek out the truth of their hero's fate. What follows is a bizarrely heartening story in which they found far more in their quest than they ever hoped, while a Detroit construction laborer discovered that his lost artistic dreams came true after all.

In film nist (This Is Not a Film), Mojtaba Mirtahmab and Jafar Panahi, Iran
It's been months since Jafar Panahi, stuck in jail, has been awaiting a verdict by the appeals court. By depicting a day in his life, Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb try to portray the deprivations looming in contemporary Iranian cinema.

The Waiting Room, Peter Nicks, USA
The Waiting Room is a character-driven documentary film that uses extraordinary access to go behind the doors of an American public hospital struggling to care for a community of largely uninsured patients. The film - using a blend of cinema verité and characters' voice over - offers a raw, intimate, and even uplifting look at how patients, executive staff and caregivers each cope with disease, bureaucracy and hard choices. It is a film about fighting for survival when the odds are stacked against you.

Perhaps the most visible omission is the documentary that just today won praise from the New York Film Critics Circle, The Central Park Five. I am aware of most documentaries but there are some new to me in the list, some really call my attention even when know will not be easy to watch them.

Watch trailers @MOC

2012 New York Film Critics Circle Award Winners

The current awards season gains momentum when the first critics group announces their award winners and the so-called "harbingers of the Oscar nominations" have some interesting news for us, especially in the Best Actress category.

While following the awards by Twitter and after seeing how many awards Lincoln was collecting, many predicted that had to get the top awards and sweep this NYFCC edition; in the end was Zero Dark Thirty who got the top two awards plus also one for cinematography, which is absolutely fantastic news and accomplishment by a great female director.

These are the award winners as listed at their official site.

Best Feature Film: Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea
Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field in Lincoln

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey in Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner for Lincoln

Best First Feature: How to Survive a Plague by David France
Best Nonfiction Film (documentary): The Central Park Five by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie by Tim Burton
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour by Michael Haneke

If one actress have been absent in everybody who is anybody in the film business Oscar predictions is Rachel Weisz! But from today she will be in their radars. What I did foreseen for this Oscar category is that is not clear for me and seems that perhaps could be the most interesting and less predictable category of this award season.

I really love Daniel Day-Lewis performances and seems that NYFCC also does as this is the fourth time they honor the actor. But you have no idea how glad I am that Kathryn Bigelow got the Best Director award as clearly places her as a strong contender in this award season; she also won the same award in 2009 for The Hurt Locker. But nothing makes me happier than her film starting to make waves as this first award will do from today on.

Is too early but if LA Critics also give the award to Amour and at least one guild/association/organization considers film in their nominations, then the most predictable win in Oscar 2013 could be the one that is always unpredictable, the foreign language category.

奪命金 Duó Mìng Jīn (Life Without Principle)

Another director that I'm not familiar with, but believe that this film is an interesting way to start to learn about him as is not his usual gangster story, even when the subject matter is touched in one of the three stories told here. Interesting because I haven't been much exposed to stories set in contemporary Hong Kong, now under Chinese rule, and much less when movie deals with the universal theme of greed set in the midst of the global economical crisis.

But as expected by movie title and from an oriental movie, story is not developed as we are used to see in western cinema, which obviously makes film more interesting to watch than, for example, the two Wall Street movies. My brief story interpretation is that deals with human behavior and how different can they behave under "new" circumstances -especially in a society/culture with a long-tradition of honorable life principles. But more universal, when the rules of the life-game change.

Johnnie To's story is told by telling the three-days story of three characters with very different backgrounds, bank employee Teresa (Denise Ho), triad loyal gangster Panther (Lau Ching Wan) and police inspector Cheung (Ritchie Jen). The key element in the three stories is financial investments profit and how far they go to have the "happy-ending" all three stories have. The "how far" element is not explored in a dramatic way, but in a very ordinary-life succession of events. So ordinary that when you think twice (you have to think twice) you realize that everything told here could be based more on reality than in fiction.

But definitively is To's storytelling style what captures your attention as stories are told not sequentially, there are many secondary characters introduced, and intertwined stories flawlessly become one in one fantastic scene, the only scene with the three characters in the screen, the final scene. Big kudos to editing as yes, believe that editing was fantastic here, so good that not only enables viewers to have eyes glued to the screen but also makes story very provoking and excellent source of food-for-thought after watching when you start to digest everything you just saw. Yes, film is complicated, not superficial and surely not many viewers are willing to invest time to decode what they saw after watching.

As we know film premiered in competition at 2011 Biennale, Johnnie To won the Best Director award at 2012 Golden Horse Awards where Lau Ching Wan won best actor and screenplays got Best Original Screenplay award; but most interesting, is Hong Kong submission to 2013, which I really do not understand as honestly believe film is too complex for general audiences and much more for foreign-language committee members.

I do recommend movie to those viewers that are willing to invest time to decode what they will see in the screen as believe that if you see film with "regular" eyes you probably will not enjoy it that much.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

一命 Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai)

Not really familiar with Takashi Miike's films mainly because he likes to travel the horror genre but recently 13 Assassins departed the genre so decided to see it and liked the visuals but the story was not exactly one I could enjoy. However had to see his next film that screened in competition at 2011 Cannes.

To my surprise Takashi Miike brings us a drama that truly borders a Greek tragedy not only because the story it tells but also because the filmmaking style he uses which in my opinion again departs from what he previously has done. What he gives us again is a fantastic succession of visually outstanding compositions and images that with a darkish palette will marvel your eyes.

This time I enjoyed the story that is told mainly with flashbacks, a storytelling style that allows viewers to keep interest as film pace tend to be on the very-slow side, even for me that love slow-pace movies, when story moves to the past. While evidently story is about revenge, honor and disgrace we can also clearly see many reasons-why the Samurai, the warrior class, disappeared in Japan and most interesting, could give us a vision on why (the hypocrisy) warriors and wars prevail in our contemporary society.

Yes this is a remake of 1962 Seppuku (Harakiri) by Masaki Kobayashi, which I haven't seen and maybe will give it a try mainly because film is in black and white; but according to what I read Miike did an interpretation that makes film his own thanks to radically different attitudes toward the subject matter and diametrically-opposed conceptions of space and movement. But most viewers express disdain for Miike's version when they compare this film to Kobayashi's version.

You have to see both films to know what to believe/think, but what I know is that Miike's movie independently of the story it tells, definitively has a fascinating and mesmerizing filmmaking style thanks to how he conceptualized, visualized and shaped space and movement in this movie.

Saw the 2D version, but film has the honor of being the first 3D movie ever to be screened in competition at Cannes; however, can't imagine how 3D could make this film look better than what I saw in the richness of technically very advanced two dimensions.

I'm in the mood for my own Oriental films little festival where I set my mind to watch only great films from that side of the world; I believe that western minds need to mentally prepare to see these films so maybe that is a key reason why I was able to enjoy this movie as much as I did. So, do I recommend movie? Yes, I do. But if you are a westerner, suggest to prepare yourself for a very oriental cinema experience.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

25th European Film Awards Winners

The big winner of the 2012 EFA's is none other than Michael Haneke's Amour that collected four (4) awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor.

For once, absolutely agree with the European Film Academy members that once again honored Haneke as Best Director (has won 4 times) and for the first time gave him the honor for a film he directs.

These are all the winners.

European Film: Amour (Love), Michael Haneke, Austria, France and Germany

European Director: Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)

European Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour (Love)
European Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour (Love)



European Screenwriter: Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt)
European Editor: Joe Walker for Shame
Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer Award: Sean Bobbitt for Shame
European Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
European Composer: Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

European Documentary: Hiver Nomade (Winter Nomads), Manuel von Stürler, Switzerland

European Animated Film: Alois Nebel, Tomáš Luňák, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia

European Discovery - FIPRESCI Prix: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands

People's Choice Award: Hasta La Vista (Come As You Are), Geoffrey Enthoven, Belgium
Young Audience Award: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands

European Short Film: Superman, Spiderman Sau Batman (Superman, Spiderman or Batman), by Tudor Giurgiu, Romania, 11 min, fiction

European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award: Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy
European Achievement in World Cinema: Helen Mirren, UK
European Co-Production Award - Prix Euroimages: Helena Danielsson, Sweden

The ceremony felt short and even if I didn't laugh with all jokes, I did laugh with many that were dry and very dark; the best speech of the night belongs to Helen Mirren and the most emotional moment to master filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. But the most unexpected moment was the live marriage proposal moment that made me laugh loud. I can say that I highly enjoyed the two hours ceremony for being so light and most of all, for the excellent movies that won.

I know that the outcome of these awards doesn't influence the Oscars -the joke told in the beginning of the ceremony about EFA and Americans was really good- but hope that at least influences the foreign-language committee members to honor Amour and let's hope both French actor's improve in the ranking of the many Oscar predictors.

Cheers!!!!

2013 Sundance Film Festival Lineup

Usually don't post anything about this festival but this year fantastic lineup in the US Dramatic competition has to be celebrated and my little contribution to thank Trevor Groth and Shari Frilot, fest programmers, is this posts that lists all the films in all the sections.

The festival takes place January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Opening film: May in the Summer, Cherien Dabis, USA, Qatar and Jordan
Afternoon Delight, Jill Soloway, USA
Ain't Them Bodies Saints, David Lowery, USA
Austenland, Jerusha Hess, USA and UK
C.O.G., Kyle Patrick Alvarez, USA
Concussion, Stacie Passon, USA
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, Francesca Gregorini, USA
Frutivale, Ryan Coogler, USA
In a World..., Lake Bell, USA
Kill Your Darlings, John Krokidas, USA
The Lifeguard, Liz W. Garcia, USA
Mother of George, Andrew Dosunmu, USA
The Spectacular Now, James Ponsoldt, USA
Touchy Feely, Lynn Shelton, USA
Toy's House, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, USA
Upstream Color, Shane Carruth, USA

To read US Dramatic Competition Preview go here.

U.S. Documentary Competition

Opening Film: Twenty Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville, USA
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, and Nina Kristic, USA
After Tiller, Martha Shane, Lana Wilson, USA
American Promise, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA
Blackfish, Gabriela Cowpethwaite, USA
Blood Brother, Steve Hoover, USA
Citizen Koch, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, USA
Cutie and the Boxer, Zachary Heinzerling, USA
Dirty Wars, Richard Rowley, USA
Gideon's Army, Dawn Porter, USA
God Loves Uganda, Roger Ross Williams, USA
Inequality for All, Jacob Kornbluth, USA
Manhunt, Greg Barker, USA and UK
Narco Cultura, Shaul Schwartz, USA
Untitled Progeria Film, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, USA
Valentine Road, Marta Cunningham, USA

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Opening Film: Crystal Fairy, Sebastián Silva, Chile and USA
El Futuro (The Future), Alicia Scherson, Chile, Germany, Italy and Spain
Houston, Bastian Günther, Germany
지슬 Jiseul, Muel O, South Korea
Krugovi (Circles), Srdan Golubović, Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia and Slovenia
Metro Manila, Sean Ellis, UK and Philippines
Nieulotne (Lasting), Jacek Borcuch, Poland and Spain
Shopping, Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, New Zealand
Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane), Daniel Hoesl, Austria
Un Giorno devi Andare (There Will Come a Day), Giorgio Diritti, Italy and France
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Barmak Akram, Afghanistan
Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don't Talk When They Talk About Love), Mouly Surya, Indonesia

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Opening Film: Who is Dayani Cristal?, Marc Silver, UK
破碎城市 Fallen City, Qi Zhao, China
Fire in the Blood, Mohan Gray, India
Google and the World Brain, Ben Lewis, Spain and UK
Manqana, romelic kvelafers gaaqrobs (The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear), Tinatin Gurchiani, Georgia and Germany
The Moo Man, Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier, UK
Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer, Mike Lerner and Maxim Poxdorovkin, Russia and UK
ក្បង់ទឹកទន្លេ A River Changes Course, Kayanee Mam, Cambodia and USA
Salma, Kim Longinotto, UK and India
The Square (El Midan), Jehane Noujaim, Egypt and USA
The Stuart Hall Project, John Akomfrah, UK
The Summit, Nick Ryan, Ireland and UK

NEXT <=>
Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.

Blue Caprice, Alexandre Moors, USA
Computer Chess, Andrew Bujalski, USA
Escape from Tomorrow, Randy Moore, USA
I Used to Be Darker, Matthew Porterfield, USA
It Felt Like Love, Eliza Hittman, USA
Milkshake, David Andalman, USA
Newlyweeds, Shaka King, USA
Pit Stoop, Yen Tan, USA
A Teacher, Hannah Fidell, USA
This is Martin Booner, Chad Hartigan, USA

If you wish to read brief info about each of the above films please go here.

Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.

Fill the Void, Rama Burshtein, Israel
Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, India
The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh, Israel, Germany, Belgium and France (documentary)
Mud, Jeff Nichols, USA
NO, Pablo Larraín, Chile and USA
Sightseers, Ben Wheatley, UK
Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley, Canada (documentary)

Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake. Each is a world premiere.

Ass Backwards, Chris Nelson, USA
Hell Baby, Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, USA
In Fear, Jeremy Lovering, UK
kink, Christina Voros, USA (documentary)
The Rambler, Calvin Lee Reeder, USA
S-VHS, Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies, USA and Canada
Virtually Heros, GJ Echternkamp, USA
We Are What We Are, Jim Mickle, USA

New Frontier
With media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, panels, films and more, New Frontier highlights work that celebrates experimentation and the expansion of cinema culture through the convergence of film, art, and new media technology. I'm listing ONLY the films.

Charlie Victor Romeo, Robert Berger and Karlyn Michelson, USA
Fat Shaker, M Shirvani, Iran
Halley, Sebastian Hofmann, Mexico
Interior. Leather Bar, Travis Mathews and James Franco, USA
The Meteor, François Delisle, Canada

To read brief info about each of the above films, plus check the Installations in the New Frontier section, please go here.

In case you wonder why I don't usually cover this fest, the main reason is in the above complete lineup. Did you notice the absence of French films? There are only French co-productions. Still, even I have to admit that this festival has films not only from America but also from other countries in the world; most interesting is that woman filmmakers are significantly represented in each of the fest sections.

Watch trailers @MOC (not many trailers yet, but will continue to update)