Awards

The Academy announced today that Ellen DeGeneres will return to host the Oscars® for a second time. DeGeneres hosted the 79th Academy Awards in 2007, for which she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.”  The Academy Awards® will be broadcast live on OscarSunday, March 2, 2014, on the ABC Television Network.

“We are thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres host the Oscars,” said Zadan and Meron. “As a longtime friend, we had always hoped to find a project for us to do together and nothing could be more exciting than teaming up to do the Oscars. There are few stars today who have Ellen’s gift for comedy, with her great warmth and humanity. She is beloved everywhere and we expect that the audience at the Dolby Theatre, and in homes around the globe, will be as excited by this news as we are.”

“I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say – the third time’s the charm,” said DeGeneres.

“I agreed with Craig and Neil immediately that Ellen is the ideal host for this year’s show,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President. “We’re looking forward to an entertaining, engaging and fun show.”

“Ellen is talented, wonderfully spontaneous, and knows how to entertain a worldwide audience,” said Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO. “She’s a big fan of the Oscars; we’re huge fans of hers. It’s a perfect match.”

“It is an honor to welcome back Ellen DeGeneres as the host of the biggest entertainment celebration of the year,” said Paul Lee, president, ABC Entertainment Group. “She is the consummate entertainer, equally beloved by her peers in the industry, movie fans and television viewers. We very much look forward to having her back on ABC for Oscar Sunday.”

http://youtu.be/whgVLNC5KSY

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced category submission deadlines for 86th Academy Awards consideration.

The dates are as follows:

Scientific and Technical Awards  – Friday, July 12
Documentary Short Subject  – Tuesday, September 3
Documentary Feature  – Monday, September 23
Live Action Short Film  – Tuesday, October 1
Animated Short Film  – Tuesday, October 1
Foreign Language Film  – Tuesday, October 1
Animated Feature Film  – Friday, November 1
Original Score  – Monday, December 2
Original Song  – Monday, December 2
Official Screen Credits Form  – Monday, December 2
All submissions are due by 5 p.m. PT

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network. 

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Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored last night, June 8, and received medal placements, as winners of the 40th Student Academy Awards. The ceremony was hosted by writer-director and 1978 Student Academy Award® winner Bob Saget, and writer-director Kimberly Peirce and actors Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman and Quvenzhané Wallis presented the awards.

The winners are:

Alternative
Gold Medal: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
Silver Medal: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan
Bronze Medal: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts

Animation
Gold Medal: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
Silver Medal: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts
Bronze Medal: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design

Documentary
Gold Medal: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
Silver Medal: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
Bronze Medal: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University

Narrative
Gold Medal: “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
Silver Medal: “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
Bronze Medal: “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University

Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
Silver Medal: “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
Bronze Medal: “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium

The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards. The roster includes such distinguished filmmakers as John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

Image:

Front row (left to right): Talkhon Hamzavi, Brian Schwarz, David Aristizabal, Eusong Lee, Lindsey St. Pierre, Ashley Graham, Kristina Yee and Rachel Loube.

Back row (left to right): John Mattiuzzi, Kevin Herron, Jonathan Langager, Perry Janes, Mauro Mueller, Wouter Bouvijn, Rafael Cortina and Daniel Koehler.

credit: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

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[caption id="attachment_1958" align="alignnone" width="552"]Monsieur Lazhar[/caption]

Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar and Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s The Intouchables are the winners of the 2012 Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards. Monsieur Lazhar was named Best Canadian Film and The Intouchables was selected as the Best International Film. 

The Film Circuit People’s Choice Awards is part of the TIFF’s (Toronto International Film Festival) national film outreach program Film Circuit.

Nominated for an Academy Award, Monsieur Lazhar follows the story of Bachir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag), an Algerian immigrant hired to replace an elementary school teacher who died tragically. As he helps the class through their long healing process, Bachir must also cope with his painful former life—and a secret too great to reveal. Monsieur Lazhar won the City of Toronto Best Canadian Feature Award at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and was recognized through TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten in 2011. 

[caption id="attachment_3039" align="alignnone" width="550"]The Intouchables[/caption]

Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s The Intouchables has become a worldwide sensation. Nominated for nine César Awards, with Best Actor honors going to Omar Sy, The Intouchables tells the story of the improbable friendship between Philippe (François Cluzet), a wealthy quadriplegic, and Driss (Sy), a young offender of Senegalese descent who is hired as his live-in caregiver. 

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There is the Academy Awards, and there is the Student Academy Awards, all supported by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level; past winners include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee. This year thirty-eight students from 17 U.S. colleges and universities as well as nine students from foreign universities have been selected as finalists in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Student Academy Awards competition. 

The finalists are (listed alphabetically by film title):

Alternative
“Beyond the Spheres,” Meghdad Asadi Lari, Rochester Institute of Technology
“Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
“Bye Hyungjik,” Hyungjik Lee, Florida State University
“The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts
“File Not Found,” Maria Sequeira, University of Southern California
“The Pirate of Love,” Sara Gunnarsdottir, California Institute of the Arts
“Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan

Animation
“Couch & Potatoes,” Chris Lam and Eunsoo Jeong, San Jose State University
“Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Drifters,” Ethan Clarke, California Institute of the Arts
“Make a Wish,” Heejin Kim, School of Visual Arts
“Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Runaway,” Emily Buchanan and Esther Parobek, Ringling College of Art and Design
“Still I Breathe,” Sang Ho Lee, School of Visual Arts
“Watercolors,” Robert Kornstein, New York University
“Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts

Documentary
“The Battle of the Jazz Guitarist,” Mark Columbus, University of California, Los Angeles
“Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
“Everybody’s Business,” Laura Green, Stanford University
“Graceland Girls,” Jordan Theresa Salvatoriello, Emerson College
“A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
“Through the Fire,” Eunice Lau, New York University
“Vultures of Tibet,” Russell O. Bush, University of Texas at Austin
“Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University
“Wonder Workshop,” Amitabh Joshi and Erik Spink, School of Visual Arts

Narrative
“Caught,” Bruce Li, New York University
“Cootie Contagion,” Joshua Smooha, Florida State University
“Footsteps,” Thomas (Hyungkyun) Kim, New York University
“Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
“Kalifornija,” Tomas Vengris, American Film Institute
“The Midwife’s Husband,” Deja Bernhardt, University of Texas at Austin
“Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
“Samnang,” Asaph Polonsky, American Film Institute
“Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University

Foreign Film
“Erbgut (Liquidation),” Matthias Zuder, Hamburg Media School, Germany
“För Sverige i Tiden (King of Sweden),” Jonas Westbom, Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, Sweden
“Kanyekanye,” Miklas Manneke, AFDA The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and 
Live Performance, South Africa
“The Library of Burned Books,” Alasdair Beckett-King, London Film School, United Kingdom
“Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
“MO,” Jakub Kouril, FAMU, Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic
“Parvaneh,”Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
“To Guard a Mountain,” Izer Aliu, The Norwegian Filmschool, Norway
“Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, Rits School of Arts, Erasmus College Brussels, Belgium

The 40th Student Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

image: credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

39th Annual Student Academy Awards Winners

Front row (left to right): Amanda Tasse, Ellen Tripler, Heather Burky, Mark Raso, Thomas Stuber and Justin Tipping.

Back row (left to right): David Wolter, David Winstone Elmar Imanov, Keiko Wright, Eric Prah, Ryan Prows and Mark Nelson.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network today announced the dates for the 86th and 87th Oscar® presentations. The 86th and 87th Academy Awards® will air live on ABC on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, and February 22, 2015, respectively.

Key dates for the Awards season are: 

Saturday, November 16, 2013: The Governors Awards

Monday, December 2, 2013: Official Screen Credits due

Friday, December 27, 2013: Nominations voting begins

Wednesday, January 8, 2014: Nominations voting ends 5 p.m. PT

Thursday, January 16, 2014: Oscar nominations announced

Monday, February 10, 2014: Nominees Luncheon

Friday, February 14, 2014: Final voting begins

Saturday, February 15, 2014: Scientific and Technical Awards

Tuesday, February 25, 2014: Final voting ends 5 p.m. PT

Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014: 86th Academy Awards

Oscar Sunday, February 22, 2015: 87th Academy Awards

The 86th and 87th Academy Awards ceremonies will be held at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.

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[caption id="attachment_2288" align="alignnone" width="550"]Searching for Sugar Man won the award for Best Documentary [/caption]

Argo and Life of Pi were the big winners last night at the 85th Academy Awards. Argo took the biggest prize, Best Picture, in addition to Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay; and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi grabbed four wins including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Score. 

[caption id="attachment_2949" align="alignnone" width="550"]Amour won the award for Foreign Language Film[/caption]

Searching for Sugar Man won the award for Best Documentary and as expected Amour won the award for Foreign Language Film.

The full list of winners of 85th Academy Awards:

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

Animated Short Film: Paper Man

Animated Feature Film: Brave

Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi

Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Costume Design: Anna Karenina

Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables

Live Action Short Film: Curfew

Documentary Short Subject: Innocente

Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man

Foreign Language Film: Amour

Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

Sound Editing: Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall (A tie)

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway

Film Editing: Argo

Production Design: Lincoln

Original Score: Life of Pi

Original Song: Skyfall

Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio for Argo

Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantion for Django Unchained

Directing: Ang Lee

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Picture: Argo

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[caption id="attachment_3236" align="alignnone" width="550"]Producer Paul Garnes, writer/director Ava DuVernay, and producer Howard Barish accept the John Cassavetes Award for ‘Middle of Nowhere’ onstage during the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards at Santa Monica Beach on February 23, 2013 in Santa Monica, California.[/caption]

Silver Linings Playbook, The Sessions and The Perks of Being A Wallflower were among the winners at the 28th Film Independent Spirit Awards held on Saturday night. Beasts of the Southern Wild, Magic Mike, Amour and The Invisible War also received awards at the ceremony, which is held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

This year’s major category winners were Silver Linings Playbook, which won Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Female Lead and The Sessions, which won Best Supporting Female and Best Male Lead; The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which won Best First Feature and Safety Not Guaranteed, which won Best First Screenplay; Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won Best Cinematography, Magic Mike, which won Best Supporting Male and Middle of Nowhere which won the John Cassavetes Award; Sony Pictures Classics’ Amour, which won Best International Film and The Invisible War, which won Best Documentary. A Special Distinction Award was given posthumously to Cinematographer Harris Savides.

The 6th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Sean Baker’s Starlet received this award, along with casting directors Julia Kim and ensemble cast members Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone.

The 2013 Chaz and Roger Ebert Fellowship, which is awarded to a filmmaker in Project Involve, Film Independent’s diversity mentorship program and includes a cash grant of $10,000, was given to Melissa Haizlip, director of the documentary Mr. SOUL!. 

The following is a complete list of the winners:

Best Feature: Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

Best Director: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)

Best Screenplay: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)

Best First Feature: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Summit Entertainment)
Writer/Director: Stephen Chbosky / Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

Best First Screenplay: Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed (FilmDistrict)

John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Middle of Nowhere (AFFRM in partnership with Participant Media)
Writer/Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay / Producers: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes

[caption id="attachment_3237" align="alignnone" width="550"]Actor Fred Armisen (L) and actress Helen Hunt [/caption]

Best Supporting Female: Helen Hunt, The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)

Best Supporting Male: Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike (Warner Bros.Pictures)

[caption id="attachment_2171" align="alignnone" width="445"]Actress Jennifer Lawrence speaks onstage during the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards[/caption]

Best Female Lead: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)

Best Male Lead: John Hawkes, The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)

Robert Altman Award: Starlet (Music Box Films)
Director: Sean Baker / Casting Director: Julia Kim / Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

Best Cinematography: Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight)

Best International Film: Amour (France – Sony Pictures Classics) Director: Michael Haneke

Best Documentary: The Invisible War (Cinedigm Entertainment Group)
Director: Kirby Dick / Producers: Amy Ziering, Tanner King Barklow

Special Distinction: Harris Savides

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Ben Affleck won the Directors Guild of America’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Argo at the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Malik Bendjelloul won the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for Searching for Sugar Man.  This is Ben Affleck and Malik Bendjelloul’s first win.

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[caption id="attachment_3102" align="alignnone" width="550"]The Sapphires[/caption]

The 2nd Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards were dominated by The Sapphires, which won five of a possible six AACTA Awards: Best Cinematography (Warwick Thornton), Best Editing (Dany Cooper ASE), Best Production Design (Melinda Doring – who also won this Award last year for The Eye of the Storm), Best Costume Design (Tess Schofield) and Best Sound (Andrew Plain, Bry Jones, Pete Smith, Ben Osmo, John Simpson).

And in Los Angeles, Silver Linings Playbook was the big winner at the AACTA International Awards, winning Best Film; Best Direction for David O. Russell; and Best Lead Actress for Jennifer Lawrence.

The offbeat comic drama sees Lawrence playing a reckless young widow who befriends a bipolar schoolteacher (Bradley Cooper) who is obsessing about his ex-wife. Rounding out the film’s stellar cast are Robert De Niro,Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker.

Winners of the AACTA Awards:

AACTA RAYMOND LONGFORD AWARD

Al Clark

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Iron Sky. Samuli Torssonen, Jussi Lehtiniemi, Juuso Kaari, Kelly Myers.

DOCUMENTARY

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
Storm Surfers 3D. Ellenor Cox, Marcus Gillezeau.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY UNDER ONE HOUR
Then The Wind Changed. Jeni McMahon, Celeste Geer. ABC1

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Go Back To Where You Came From. Rick McPhee, Ivan O’Mahoney. SBS

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION IN A DOCUMENTARY
Fighting Fear. Macario De Souza. FOXTEL – Movie Network

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A DOCUMENTARY
Fighting Fear. Tim Bonython, Chris Bryan, Macario De Souza, Lee Kelly. FOXTEL – Movie Network

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING IN A DOCUMENTARY
Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta – Episode 1. Sam Wilson. SBS

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SOUND IN A DOCUMENTARY
Dr Sarmast’s Music School. Dale Cornelius, Livia Ruzic, Keith Thomas. ABC1

SHORT FILM

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SHORT ANIMATION
The Hunter. Marieka Walsh

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FICTION FILM
Julian. Robert Jago, Matthew Moore.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY IN A SHORT FILM
Transmission. Zak Hilditch.

FEATURE FILM

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Sapphires. Warwick Thornton.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST EDITING
The Sapphires. Dany Cooper ASE.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST SOUND
The Sapphires. Andrew Plain, Bry Jones, Pete Smith, Ben Osmo, John Simpson.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE
Not Suitable For Children. Matteo Zingales, Jono Ma.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Sapphires. Melinda Doring.

AACTA AWARD FOR BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Sapphires. Tess Schofield.

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY
Django Unchained. Quentin Tarantino

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION
Silver Linings Playbook. David O. Russell

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis. Lincoln

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence. Silver Linings Playbook

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST FILM
Silver Linings Playbook. Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert De Niro. Silver Linings Playbook

AACTA INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jacki Weaver. Silver Linings Playbook

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