Film Independent announced the winners of its four filmmaker grants at the annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch hosted by director and Project Involve Fellow Jon M. Chu (In the Heights, Crazy Rich Asians) and actor and Spirit Award nominee Alfre Woodard (Clemency). Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 8. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live exclusively on IFC at 5:00 pm ET / 2:00 pm PT.
The American Film Institute (AFI) celebrated the 2019 AFI Awards honorees at an invite-only luncheon in Beverly Hills. Unique in its celebration of the film and television arts’ collaborative nature, AFI Awards – now in its 20th year – is the only national program that honors creative teams as a whole.
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite swept the top honors at the Houston Film Critics Society‘s 13th Annual Movie Awards, winning Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, along with Best Director for Bong Joon-ho.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced the lineup of over 200 movies including 47 world premieres and 71 U.S. premieres, for its 35th edition, which will take place from January 15 to 25, 2020. Kicking off the festival is opening night film – the U.S. premiere of Shelly Love’s A Bump Along the Way, a female-led, feel-good comedy drama set in Derry, Northern Ireland, about a middle-aged woman whose unexpected pregnancy after a one-night stand acts as the catalyst for her to finally take control of her life.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Parasite led the film nominations for GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ 11th Dorian Awards given for the best in film and television of 2019. Portrait of a Lady on Fire and was nominated for Film of the Year, Foreign Language Film of the Year and LGBT Film of the Year.
Film Movement released a new trailer for the award winning documentary Advocate, a powerful portrait of the controversial Israeli defense attorney Lea Tsemel, directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche. The documentary opened in theaters on Friday, January 3, 2020 in New York at Quad Cinema and Los Angeles at Laemmle Royal.
The National Society of Film Critics voted the South Korean film PARASITE as Best Picture of the Year 2019. Parasite also won for Best Screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won. The Society, which is made up of 60 of the country’s most prominent movie critics, held its 54th annual awards voting meeting as guests of the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City, using a weighted ballot system.
The new trailer was released for the Icelandic film A White, White Day (Hvítur Hvítur Dagur), the second feature from Hlynur Palmason (Winter Brothers). A White, White Day starring Ingvar Sigurdsson, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Björn Ingi Hilmarsson and Sara Dögg Ásgeirsdóttir premiered in 2020 Cannes Critics Week (La Semaine de la Critique of Festival de Cannes) where Ingvar Sigurdsson won Best Actor. Film Movement will release Palmason’s A White, White Day in select theaters on February 28th, 2020.
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) announced the winners of the 9th AACTA International Awards – winning the Award for Best Film was the South Korean black comedy thriller PARASITE, written and directed by Bong Joon Ho who accepted the Australian Academy’s highest Award. The film also received the AACTA Award for Best Asian Film at the AACTA Awards in Sydney last month.
Sony Pictures Classics released a new trailer for Michael Angelo Covino’s debut The Climb, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard section and won the Jury Coup de Couer Prize. The film starring Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino, Gayle Rankin, Judith Godréche, George Wendt, Talia Balsam follows best buddies Kyle and Mike who share a close bond until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée.
The indie comedy Elsewhere from Costa Rican filmmaker Hernan Jimenez, and starring Ken Jeong, Parker Posey, Jackie Tohn, Beau Bridges, Kathleen Munroe, Aden Young, along with Jacki Weaver released the first official trailer. Elsewhere which premiered at the Napa Valley Film Festival will be released in select US theaters and on VOD starting January 24th, 2020.
Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood leads the nominations for the Music City Film Critics’ Association 2019 Film Awards with 9 nominations.