Alex Honnold aims to be the first climber to ascend free solo–without safety ropes–the 3,000-foot cliff of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite Park. Courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
Directed by FREE SOLO
Genre(s) Documentary Film
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in consideration for the 91st Oscars® in nine categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association voted the musical drama A STAR IS BORN as the best film of 2018. Rounding out the composite list of the top 10 films of the year were ROMA (2), THE FAVOURITE (3), VICE (4), BLACKkKLANSMAN (5), BLACK PANTHER (6), GREEN BOOK (7), IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (8), EIGHTH GRADE (9), and CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (10).
Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite leads all films in the Vancouver Film Critics Circle’s international section with six nominations, and Katherine Jerkovic’s Roads in February leads all films in the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circles’ Canadian section with six nominations.
In the international section, Lanthimos’ delectable bodice ripper shares the Best Picture category with First Reformed, Paul Schrader’s pointed diagnosis of our ill-stricken times, and Alfonso Cuarón’s technically virtuosic and emotionally devastating Roma; Lanthimos, Schrader and Cuarón also assume their respective places in the Best Director category.
Burning, Roma and Shoplifters are up for Best Foreign Language Film, while Free Solo, Minding the Gap and Won’t You Be my Neighbor? are nominated for Best Documentary.
In the Canadian section, a wistful story about a young woman returning home to Uruguay after more than a decade away, Roads in February is nominated for Best Picture alongside Fausto, Andrea Bussmann’s loose adaptation of Goethe’s version of the Faust legend, and Edge of the Knife, co-directors Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown’s 19th century epic, scripted entirely in two endangered Haida dialects (of which there are only 20-odd fluent speakers remaining). Jerkovic, Bussmann and Edenshaw and Haig-Brown are all nominated for Best Director, where they are joined by Philippe Lesage for Genesis.
The Best Canadian Documentary nominees are ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch, The Museum of Forgotten Triumphs, and What Is Democracy?
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle named Roma the Best Picture of 2018 along with Best Foreign Language Picture but gave the award for Best Director to Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman. BlacKkKlansman also won the awards for Best Original Score and Best Screenplay, Adapted.
Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” is the clear favorite with the Chicago Film Critics Association, earning the most nominations of all for their 2018 film awards with nine. In addition to being one of the finalists for Best Picture, Cuaron himself was personally nominated in four additional categories for Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing, the latter alongside Adam Gough. Yalitza Aparicio, the non-professional chosen by Cuaron to star in the film received two nominations herself for Best Actress and Most Promising Performer and it also received nods for Art Direction/Production Design and Foreign Film.
BlacKkKlansman[/caption]
The Favourite and Black Panther top the 2018 Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society (LAOFCS) nominations list with ten nominations each, followed by A Star is Born with nine and BlacKkKlansman with eight. Indie films were well represented with Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade scoring six nominations. and Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk scoring a total of five nominations including Best Supporting Actress.
The members of the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society have also voted on some of the more underrepresented films this award season including Fox’s The Hate U Give, Focus Features’ Tully, Sony Pictures’ Searching, and Roadside’s Ben is Back, among several others.
“In a year where diversity and representation have been at the forefront of so many conversations, I believe that the LAOFCS nominations this year proves how much representation truly matters. There have been a lot of great films this year that have tackled important issues, so I am thrilled to see that reflected in our nominations,” added LAOFCS’ Scott Menzel.
In addition to the film nominations, the LAOFCS will also announce a few other awards including the recipient of this Trailblazer Award which was previously awarded to Jessica Chastain.
The Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society (LAOFCS) 2nd Annual Awards Ceremony will be held on January 9th, 2019, at the Taglyan Complex in Los Angeles.
EIGHTH GRADE[/caption]
Eighth Grade is the big winner at 2018 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards with eight nominations and three wins for Best Picture; Best Supporting Actor; and Breakthrough for Bo Burnham, the film’s writer and director.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8lFgF_IjPw
Vice received five nominations and three wins for Adam McKay, Best Director; Best Ensemble; and tied for Best Screenplay with Green Book, which had four nominations. Other top nominees include A Star Is Born with six nominations and one win for Best Use of Music and The Favourite with five nominations, but no wins.
The Detroit Film Critics Society was founded in the Spring of 2007 and consists of a group of 21 film critics with a Michigan connection who write or broadcast in the Detroit area as well as other major cities including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Flint, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and New York, New York.
The Favourite[/caption]
The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) which comprises of 60 DC-based film critics from the District, Maryland and Virginia announced their nominees for the 2018 awards. The Favourite lead with 10 nominations including Best Film and Best Director for Yorgos Lanthimos. Other films nominated for Best Film include A Star Is Born, Green Book, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Roma.
The nominees for Best Documentary are Free Solo, RBG, Science Fair, Three Identical Strangers and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? The nominees for Best Foreign Film are Burning, Capernaum, Cold War, Roma and Shoplifters. The nominees for the special category The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC are The Front Runner, RBG and Vice.
The 2018 WAFCA Award winners will be announced on Monday, December 3, 2018.
A Colony (Une colonie) by Geneviève Dulude De Celles[/caption]
Geneviève Dulude-De Celles first feature A COLONY, a touching and heartbreaking coming of age story, swept the Borsos Awards of the 18th annual Whistler Film Festival with three wins including Best Canadian Feature, Best Director in a Borsos Film for Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, and Best Performance in a Borsos Film for Emilie Bierre taking the $15,000 cash prize and $15,000 post production prize. The jury stated: “We awarded A COLONY the Borsos awards for its strength of vision and raw authenticity.
The Borsos Award for Best Screenplay went to Robert Budreau, writer and director of STOCKHOLM, for the complex emotional clockwork that balances action, suspense and romance.
Best Cinematography in a Borsos Film went to cinematographer Michel La Veaux for his work in THE FIREFLIES ARE GONE. The jury said they presented this to the movie that they felt showed an elegant authenticity and strong visual storytelling through classic use of framing color and choreography.
The World Documentary Award went to MOMENTUM GENERATION. The jury stated that “This documentary provides unparalleled access to the events that shaped its iconic subjects, presenting a powerful story of the bond between friends throughout profound personal struggle. An uplifting coming of age film that nails its slick and engaging execution, our award winner delivers undeniable audience impact and critical potential. The Jury awards the World Documentary Award to this memorable tribute to hardship and friendship, MOMENTUM GENERATION” directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist.
The jury also gave an honorable mention to Jordan Manley, director of TREELINE, ”for its original choice of subject matter, striking imagery and masterful visual storytelling, the Jury wishes to recognize this film for its poetic approach to filmmaking and ability to open our minds to a world never before seen.”
The Best Mountain Culture Film Award went to FREE SOLO directed by Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi. The Jury stated “ It’s pretty incredible when a film has you totally gripped from beginning to end, despite already knowing the ending. FREE SOLO did just that and we chose it as our Mountain Culture winner for many reasons. Its ability to deeply humanize a character who is quantifiably “crazy” by most definitions, its technical filmmaking commitment and prowess, and its ability to open the sport of climbing to a wider audience in a relatable way. We felt its storytelling and entertaining portrayal of this unparalleled athletic achievement embodied the Mountain Culture award.“
The $1,000 Canadian ShortWork Award went to BROTHERHOOD, directed by Meryam Joobeur; the International ShortWork Award went to MISS WORLD, directed by Georgia Fu; and the $500 ShortWork Student Award went to THE BUS STOP directed by Kama Sood. The MPPIA Short Film Award, presented by MPPIA and Creative BC, was awarded to Alayna Silverberg for B-SIDE. The award consists of a $15,000 cash award plus up to $100,000 in services. The completed project will have its world premiere screening at the 2018 Whistler Film Festival.
Jen Araki with her “Slip Into Darkness” project won the WFF Power Pitch $41,000 prize package that included a $1,000 cash prize and a $40,000 production package featuring a $10,000 post production credit from Encore Vancouver, and a $10,000 studio credit, $10,000 lighting and grip credit and a $10,000 camera credit from Sim. WFF’s Power Pitch had seven Canadian producers with feature projects in development participating in the program designed to set them up for success by fine-tuning their project packages and pitching skills.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists presented this year’s EDA Award for Best Female-directed Feature to two films, HONEY BEE directed by Rama Rau and FAMILY FIRST directed by Sophie Dupuis; and the EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Short Film to BROTHERHOOD directed by Meryam Joobeur.
“The Alliance of Women Film Journalists is honored and proud to partner with the Whistler Film Festival for the 5th consecutive year to present EDA awards recognizing women filmmakers. WFF, in our experience, has a uniquely successful record in programming women’s films, not only for screenings, but also in programs that open opportunities for women,” said Jennifer Merin, President of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. “We applaud Shauna Hardy Mishaw for her singular efforts in this regard. This year’s nominees were extraordinarily good, and it was difficult for us to single out one in each category.”
“Green Book” directed by Peter Farrelly[/caption]
The National Board of Review named Green Book as Best Film of the Year, Bradley Cooper as Best Director of the Year for A Star is Born, Viggo Mortensen as Best Actor of the Year for his performance in Green Book, and Lady Gaga as Best Actress of the Year for her performance in A Star is Born.
NBR President Annie Schulhof said, “We are proud to honor Green Book as our best film – it is a warm and heartfelt look at a remarkable friendship, brought to the screen at a moment where its story of love, compassion, and shared humanity deeply resonates. We are also thrilled to award Bradley Cooper as our best director – he is an extraordinary talent behind the camera, bringing a fresh and modern perspective, as well as superb craftsmanship and tremendous heart, to the classic story of A Star is Born.”
The 2018 awards continue the NBR’s tradition of recognizing excellence in filmmaking, going back 109 years. This year 261 films were viewed by this select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters.
The National Board of Review’s awards celebrate the art of cinema, with categories that include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Original and Adapted Screenplay, Breakthrough Performance, and Directorial Debut, as well as signature honors such as Freedom of Expression and the William K. Everson Film History Award.
The honorees will be feted at the NBR Awards Gala, hosted by Willie Geist, on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at Cipriani 42nd Street.
Birds Without Feathers[/caption]
The Whistler Film Festival will present an unprecedented number of female focused films, talent, events, and awards throughout its 2018 programs. The Festival will screen 21 feature films and 18 short films directed or co-directed by women or non-binary individuals, which makes up 46% of this year’s film programming, the highest percentage for the festival to date. WFF will also have 41 Canadian females out of 80 (51%) participating in 11 different talent programs, including 16 directors, 5 producers, 3 screenwriters, 8 filmmakers, 1 actor, and 7 musicians in bands in the Music Showcase.
“The Whistler Film Festival’s female focused initiatives are aligned with several industry wide mandates, and we are committed to promoting the shared goal of breaking the celluloid ceiling, increasing the number of women in the director’s chair, addressing the imbalance of industry diversity behind the camera, and supporting the collaborative efforts to bring more female written and directed narratives to screen, and more females on screen to reflect society,” says Shauna Hardy Mishaw, WFF Executive Director. “With strong representation both in front of and behind the camera in our films, and talent programs this year, Whistler is maintaining a timely leadership role for women in the industry, when the need is not only apparent, the collective is calling for it.“
