2018 New Zealand International Film Festival Artwork[/caption]
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) revealed the first nine films selected for 2018 program plus the official artwork. The films include Disobedience starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, Harry Dean Stanton’s final film Lucky, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix, period piece Zama from Argentinian auteur Lucrecia Martel, and a documentary feature on the pioneering women’s rights activist and US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG).
“When we receive multiple requests we take notice and if we can’t deliver, that’s usually because somebody else will. We’ve been hearing requests for Lynne Ramsey’s film since its debut in Cannes a year ago – and the requests for RBG have been thick and fast since the US reviews came out only last week,” says NZIFF director Bill Gosden.
Buckets of splendor, exotic and native, and a typically discriminating NZIFF patron are celebrated in the artwork for 2018. Illustrator Ken Samonte, inspired by New Yorker covers and the work of Hayao Miyazaki, also references the previous NZIFF illustration style of artist Tom Simpson.
Disobedience
Rachel Weisz stars as a black sheep drawn back to her London Orthodox Jewish home, rekindling sparks with a childhood friend (Rachel McAdams) in the English-language debut of the director of Gloria and A Fantastic Woman.
Lucky
After an idiosyncratic career of iconic roles for everyone from Wim Wenders to David Lynch, the late Harry Dean Stanton hangs up his hat with this wryly funny, affecting character study.
RBG
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. RBG is a revelatory documentary exploring her exceptional life and career.
You Were Never Really Here
Lynne Ramsay, director of Ratcatcher and We Need to Talk About Kevin, teams with Joaquin Phoenix for a startling, nerve-shredding thriller about a brutal hitman contracted to save an abducted teen.
Zama
The brilliant Argentinian auteur Lucrecia Martel returns with a feverish, formally sophisticated period piece about a Spanish officer’s personal hell in colonial South America.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Alexandra Dean’s debut documentary is a revelatory and entertaining portrait of an adventurous woman and talented inventor better known to the world as the embodiment of Hollywood sex and glamour.
Leave No Trace
New Zealand actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is mesmerising as 13-year-old Tom living off the grid with her war vet father (Ben Foster) in this haunting new film from the director of Winter’s Bone.
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
From refugee daughter of a Tamil revolutionary and aspiring filmmaker to pop stardom and controversy magnet: this stimulating documentary about Sri Lankan musician M.I.A. dances to its own idiosyncratic beat.
Yellow Is Forbidden
Kiwi director Pietra Brettkelly takes us into the opulent world of show-stopping Chinese designer Guo Pei as she prepares to make her Paris debut and seeks admission into the exclusive club of haute couture.Lucky (2017)
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2018 New Zealand International Film Festival Reveals First 9 Films + Artwork
[caption id="attachment_29088" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 2018 New Zealand International Film Festival Artwork[/caption]
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) revealed the first nine films selected for 2018 program plus the official artwork. The films include Disobedience starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, Harry Dean Stanton’s final film Lucky, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix, period piece Zama from Argentinian auteur Lucrecia Martel, and a documentary feature on the pioneering women’s rights activist and US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG).
“When we receive multiple requests we take notice and if we can’t deliver, that’s usually because somebody else will. We’ve been hearing requests for Lynne Ramsey’s film since its debut in Cannes a year ago – and the requests for RBG have been thick and fast since the US reviews came out only last week,” says NZIFF director Bill Gosden.
Buckets of splendor, exotic and native, and a typically discriminating NZIFF patron are celebrated in the artwork for 2018. Illustrator Ken Samonte, inspired by New Yorker covers and the work of Hayao Miyazaki, also references the previous NZIFF illustration style of artist Tom Simpson.
Disobedience
Rachel Weisz stars as a black sheep drawn back to her London Orthodox Jewish home, rekindling sparks with a childhood friend (Rachel McAdams) in the English-language debut of the director of Gloria and A Fantastic Woman.
Lucky
After an idiosyncratic career of iconic roles for everyone from Wim Wenders to David Lynch, the late Harry Dean Stanton hangs up his hat with this wryly funny, affecting character study.
RBG
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. RBG is a revelatory documentary exploring her exceptional life and career.
You Were Never Really Here
Lynne Ramsay, director of Ratcatcher and We Need to Talk About Kevin, teams with Joaquin Phoenix for a startling, nerve-shredding thriller about a brutal hitman contracted to save an abducted teen.
Zama
The brilliant Argentinian auteur Lucrecia Martel returns with a feverish, formally sophisticated period piece about a Spanish officer’s personal hell in colonial South America.
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Alexandra Dean’s debut documentary is a revelatory and entertaining portrait of an adventurous woman and talented inventor better known to the world as the embodiment of Hollywood sex and glamour.
Leave No Trace
New Zealand actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie is mesmerising as 13-year-old Tom living off the grid with her war vet father (Ben Foster) in this haunting new film from the director of Winter’s Bone.
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
From refugee daughter of a Tamil revolutionary and aspiring filmmaker to pop stardom and controversy magnet: this stimulating documentary about Sri Lankan musician M.I.A. dances to its own idiosyncratic beat.
Yellow Is Forbidden
Kiwi director Pietra Brettkelly takes us into the opulent world of show-stopping Chinese designer Guo Pei as she prepares to make her Paris debut and seeks admission into the exclusive club of haute couture.
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LADY BIRD Wins Big With Indiana Film Journalists Association, Named Best Film of 2017
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Lady Bird[/caption]
“Lady Bird” scored with the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) awards, taking the top prize of best picture as well as best director and best original screenplay for Greta Gerwig, best Actress for Saoirse Ronan and Best Supporting Actress for Laurie Metcalf.
Its five wins are the most for any film in IFJA awards history.
“Faces Places” won the best foreign language film prize; and “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” won best documentary film.
The Original Vision Award, which goes to a film that is especially original or innovative, went to “Loving Vincent.” The Breakout of the Year went to Timothée Chalamet for his work in “Call Me by Your Name” and “Lady Bird.”
The Hoosier Award, which recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with roots in Indiana, or a film that depicts Hoosier State locales and stories, went to “Columbus,” the debut feature film of director Kogonada, which was set and shot in the southern Indiana city noted for its Modernist architecture.
IFJA members issued this statement for the Hoosier Award: “Writer and director Kogonada made the architectural haven of Columbus, Indiana, an integral part of his debut film. As a meditation on time, responsibility and the influence of art on everyday life, ‘Columbus’ shows the introspective side of Hoosiers that is often left out in stereotypical portrayals.”
2017 Indiana Film Journalists Association Awards
Best Film
Winner: “Lady Bird” Runner-up: “The Shape of Water” Other Finalists (listed alphabetically): “Blade Runner 2049” “Brigsby Bear” “Dunkirk” “The Florida Project” “Get Out” “The Post” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”Best Animated Feature
Winner: “Coco” Runner-Up: “Loving Vincent”Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “Faces Places” Runner-Up: “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”Best Documentary
Winner: “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” Runner-Up: “Liyana”Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Jordan Peele, “Get Out”Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green, “Logan” Runner-up: Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, “Blade Runner 2049”Best Director
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”Best Actress
Winner: Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Sally Hawkins, “Maudie”Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”Best Actor
Winner: Harry Dean Stanton, “Lucky” Runner-up: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project” Runner-up: Doug Jones, “The Shape of Water”Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Andy Serkis, “War for the Planet of the Apes” Runner-up: Sean Gunn & Bradley Cooper, “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2”Best Ensemble Acting
Winner: “The Florida Project” Runner-up: “The Post”Best Musical Score
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water” Runner-up: Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, “Blade Runner 2049”Breakout of the Year
Winner: Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name” and “Lady Bird” Runner-up: Kogonada, “Columbus”Original Vision Award
Winner: “Loving Vincent” Runner-up: “Brigsby BearThe Hoosier Award
Winner: “Columbus” (As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
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CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Leads Nominations for 2017 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
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Call Me By Your Name[/caption]
Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, leads the nominations for the 2017 Chicago Film Critics Association awards with eight nods, including Best Picture, and Guadagnino for Best Director. Co-stars Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor and young star Timothee Chalamet received dual nominations for Actor and Breakthrough Performer.
Coming in second place in the nomination count with seven was The Shape of Water, visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-era romantic fantasy. The film was nominated for Best Picture and del Toro received nods for Director and Original Screenplaywith co-writer Vanessa Taylor; while Sally Hawkins landed in the Best Actress category.
Now in its 30th year, the CFCA will announce its winners during their year-end awards dinner to be held on December 12, 2017.
2017 CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE Call Me By Your Name Dunkirk Lady Bird The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri BEST DIRECTOR Guillermo Del Toro (-) The Shape of Water Greta Gerwig (-) Lady Bird Luca Guadagnino (-) Call Me By Your Name Christopher Nolan (-) Dunkirk Jordan Peele (-) Get Out BEST ACTRESS Sally Hawkins (-) The Shape of Water Vicky Krieps (-) Phantom Thread Frances McDormand (-) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie (-) I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan (-) Lady Bird BEST ACTOR Timothee Chalamet (-) Call Me By Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis (-) Phantom Thread James Franco (-) The Disaster Artist Gary Oldman (-) Darkest Hour Harry Dean Stanton (-) Lucky BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Mary J. Blige (-) Mudbound Holly Hunter (-) The Big Sick Allison Janney (-) I, Tonya Lesley Manville (-) Phantom Thread Laurie Metcalf (-) Lady Bird BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Willem Dafoe (-) The Florida Project Armie Hammer (-) Call Me By Your Name Jason Mitchell (-) Mudbound Sam Rockwell (-) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Michael Stuhlbarg (-) Call Me By Your Name BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Blade Runner 2049 (-) Hampton Fancher & Michael Green Call My By Your Name (-) James Ivory The Disaster Artist (-) Scott Neustadta & Michael H. Weber Logan (-) Scott Frank, James Mangold & Michael Green Mudbound (-) Virgil Williams & Dee Rees BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY The Big Sick (-) Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanijani Get Out (-) Jordan Peele Lady Bird (-) Greta Gerwig Phantom Thread (-) Paul Thomas Anderson The Shape of Water (-) Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (-) Martin McDonagh BEST ANIMATED FILM The Breadwinner Coco The LEGO Batman Movie Loving Vincent Your Name BEST DOCUMENTARY Abacus: Small Enough to Jail City of Ghosts Ex Libris: New York Public Library Faces Places Jane Kedi BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM BPM (Beats Per Minute) A Fantastic Woman Loveless Raw The Square BEST ART DIRECTION Beauty and the Beast Blade Runner 2049 Dunkirk Phantom Thread The Shape of Water BEST EDITING Baby Driver (-) Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss Call Me By Your Name (-) Walter Fasano Dunkirk (-) Lee Smith The Florida Project (-) Sean Baker Get Out (-) Gregory Plotkin BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Blade Runner 2049 (-) Benjamin Walifisch & Hans Zimmer Dunkirk (-) Hans Zimmer Phantom Thread (-) Johnny Greenwood The Shape of Water (-) Alexandre Desplat War For the Planet of the Apes (-) Michael Giacchino BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Blade Runner 2049 (-) Roger Deakins Dunkirk (-) Hoyte Van Hoyteme The Florida Project (-) Alexis Zabe Mudbound (-) Rachel Morrison The Shape of Water (-) Dan Laustsen MOST PROMISING PERFORMER Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name Dafne Keen, Logan Jessie Pinnick, Princess Cyd Brooklynn Prince, The Florida Project Florence Pugh, Lady Macbeth Bria Vinaite, The Florida Project MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER Kogonada, Columbus Jordan Peele, Get Out Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird John Carroll Lynch, Lucky Julia Ducournau, Raw
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BOMB CITY, BIG SONIA and GAME Win Audience Awards at Tallgrass Film Festival
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Bomb City[/caption]
Bomb City, Big Sonia and Game wowed the audience at the 2017 Tallgrass Film Festival and were voted winners of the Audience Awards. Bomb City directed by Jameson Brooks won the Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Narrative, and Big Sonia directed by Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday won the Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Documentary. Game directed by Jeannie Donohoe won the prize for Audience Award Winning Short .
Bomb City is a crime-drama about the cultural aversion of teenage punks in a conservative Texas town and their ongoing battle with a rival, more-affluent group of jocks. The film is based on the true story of Brian Deneke.
In Big Sonia, Holocaust survivor and diva, Sonia Warshawski, has just been served an eviction notice for her popular tailor shop in suburban Kansas City. Sonia’s trauma comes to the surface as she struggles with the concept of retirement.
Gook, directed Justin Chon was awarded the prize for Outstanding Narrative Feature, along with Outstanding Rising Star for Simone Baker. In the film, set in 1992, two Korean-American brothers strike up an unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African-American girl, while racial tensions build to a breaking point as the L.A. riots break out.
For Ahkeem directed by Jeremy S. Levin and Landon Van Soest took the award for Outstanding Documentary Feature. After a school fight lands 17-year old Daje Shelton in a court-supervised alternative high school, she’s determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself, despite challenges both personally and in society.
2017 Tallgrass Film Festival Award Winners
Best Kansas & Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Best Emerging Student Award Documentary: Yellow, Director Rowyn Mottershead Best Emerging Student Award – Narrative: Reverse, Director Andrew Kivett Best Kansas Short Film Award – Documentary: Dragtivists, Director, Savannah Rodgers Best Kansas Short Film Award -Narrative: Rabbits, Director Patrick ClementGolden Strands Programming Awards
Outstanding Cinematography: Seat 25, CInematographer Joe Kaufman Outstanding Screenplay: Lucky, Screenwriters Logan Sparks & Drago Sumonja Best Editing: 20 Weeks, Editor David Hopper Outstanding Film Animation: Two Trains Runnin’ Outstanding Rising Star: Simone Baker, Gook Outstanding Male Actor: Christopher Marquette, I Hate the Man in the Basement Outstanding Female Actor: Simone Nortman, For the Birds Outstanding Ensemble Cast: Badsville, Ian McLaren, Benjamin Barrett, Tamara Duarte, Emilio Rivera, Robert Knepper Outstanding Courage in Filmmaking: City of Joy, Director, Madeleine Gavin Excellence in the Art of Filmmaking: Black Cop, Director, Cory Bowles Venus Award for the Teddie Barlow Outstanding Female Filmmaker: Skye Borgman, Forever ‘B’ Outstanding First Feature: Whose Streets?, Directors, Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis Outstanding Documentary Short Film: Edith + Eddie, Director, Laura Checkoway Outstanding Narrative Short Film: Real Artist, Director, Cameo Wood Outstanding Documentary Feature: For Ahkeem, Directors, Jeremy S. Levin, Landon Van Soest Outstanding Narrative Feature: Gook, Director Justin ChonAudience Awards
Audience Award Winning Short ($1,000 Cash Prize): GAME, Director, Jeannie Donohoe Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Documentary ($2,500 Cash Prize): BIG SONIA, Directors, Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday Audience Award for Award Winning Feature Narrative ($2,500 Cash Prize): BOMB CITY, Director Jameson Brooks
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2017 Gotham Awards Nominations – ‘Get Out’, ‘The Florida Project’, ‘Lady Bird’ Among Nominees
The nominations for the 27th Annual IFP Gotham Awards are out, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out lead with four nods including Best Feature, Breakthrough Director and Screenplay and Best Actor for Daniel Kaluuya. Next up with three nominations each were Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project, and Lady Bird.
Mudbound scored an early win for the special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance (actors Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks).
The Gotham Awards signals the kick-off to the film awards season. As the first major awards ceremony on the calendar, the IFP Awards provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films.
“This year offered a bountiful array of diverse, creative work that represents the very best from this community. We’re thrilled to celebrate these achievements,” said Joana Vicente, executive director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center.
In addition to the film awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actors Nicole Kidman and Dustin Hoffman, director Sofia Coppola, producer Jason Blum, cinematographer Ed Lachman, and a Gotham Humanitarian Tribute to Al Gore.
The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 27th at Cipriani Wall Street.
2017 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations
Best Feature
Call Me by Your Name Luca Guadagnino, director; Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics) The Florida Project Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou, producers (A24) Get Out Jordan Peele, director; Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm, Jr., Jordan Peele, producers (Universal Pictures) Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis, Terry Dougas, Sebastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson, producers (A24) I, Tonya Craig Gillespie, director; Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, producers (NEON)Best Documentary
Ex Libris – The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, director and producer (Zipporah Films) Rat Film Theo Anthony, director; Riel Roch-Decter, Sebastian Pardo, producers (MEMORY and Cinema Guild) Strong Island Yance Ford, director; Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Netflix) Whose Streets? Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, directors; Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, Jennifer MacArthur, Flannery Miller, producers (Magnolia Pictures) The Work Jairus McLeary, director; Gethin Aldous, co-director; Alice Henty, Eon McLeary, Jairus McLeary, Miles McLeary, producers (The Orchard and First Look Media)Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Maggie Betts for Novitiate (Sony Pictures Classics) Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (A24) Kogonada for Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Jordan Peele for Get Out (Universal Pictures) Joshua Z Weinstein for Menashe (A24)Best Screenplay
The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (Amazon Studios) Brad’s Status, Mike White (Amazon Studios) Call Me by Your Name, James Ivory (Sony Pictures Classics) Columbus, Kogonada (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Get Out, Jordan Peele (Universal Pictures) Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig (A24)Best Actor*
Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project (A24) James Franco in The Disaster Artist (A24) Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out (Universal Pictures) Robert Pattinson in Good Time (A24) Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (Netflix) Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky (Magnolia Pictures)Best Actress*
Melanie Lynskey in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Netflix) Haley Lu Richardson in Columbus (Superlative Films/Depth of Field) Margot Robbie in I, Tonya (NEON) Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird (A24) Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime (FilmRise)Breakthrough Actor
Mary J. Blige in Mudbound (Netflix) Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats (NEON) Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in It Comes at Night (A24) Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project (A24) * The 2017 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating committee also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Mudbound, The award will go to actors Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke, Jason Mitchell, Mary J. Blige, Rob Morgan, and Jonathan Banks.Breakthrough Series – Long Form
Atlanta, Donald Glover, creator; Donald Glover, Dianne McGunigle, Paul Simms, executive producers (FX Networks) Better Things, Pamela Adlon, Louis C.K., creators; Dave Becky, M. Blair Breard, Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon, executive producers (FX Networks) Dear White People, Justin Simien, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Justin Simien, Stephanie Allain, Julia Lebedev, executive producers (Netflix) Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator; Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Harry Williams, Jack Williams, executive producers (Amazon) Search Party, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, creators; Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, Michael Showalter, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, executive producers (TBS)Breakthrough Series – Short Form
555, Kate Berlant, Andrew DeYoung and John Early, creators (Vimeo) Inconceivable, Joel Ashton McCarthy, creator (YouTube) Junior, Zoe Cassavetes, creator (Blackpills and VICE) Let Me Die a Nun, Sarah Salovaara, creator (Vimeo) The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes, Nancy Andrews, creator (YouTube) (Additional credits to be determined.)
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