Bong Joon Ho’s darkcomedy Parasite came out on top at the 40th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, winning Film of the Year and Director of the Year for Bong. The Souvenir, Joanna Hogg’s bittersweet 1980s memoir was named British/Irish Film of the Year and its 22-year-old leading lady Honor Swinton Byrne received the Young British/Irish Performer award.
American Factory won the top awards at the 2020 Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, taking the award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking’ and ‘Outstanding Achievement in Direction’ for directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert.
Former president Barack Obama shared his list of favorite movies of 2019 which included American Factory, a film from his own production company, Higher Ground, that was recently shortlisted for an Oscar. The list features primarily some of the most critically acclaimed indie films and documentaries of 2019 including Amazing Grace, Apollo 11, Ash Is Purest White and The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
Writer-director Joanna Hogg’s delicate autobiographical drama The Souvenir lead the nominations for the 40th annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards with 7 nominations, including Film, Screenwriter, Actor (Tom Burke), Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton) and Young Performer (Honor Swinton Byrne). In addition, the film is nominated for British/Irish Film of the Year.
Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took the top spot among films released in 2019 in Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Sergei Loznitsa’s State Funeral, Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro’s Endless Night, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth received the top rankings.
Sight & Sound, the BFI’s international film magazine, named Joanna Hogg’s THE SOUVENIR (2019) as the Best Film of the Year. In second place is PARASITE, Bong Joon-ho’s darkly comic thriller, followed by THE IRISHMAN, the latest film from Martin Scorsese.
The Lighthouse and Uncut Gems lead the nominations for the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards with 5 nominations each. The Lighthouse is nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Male Lead, and Best Supporting Male; and Uncut Gems is nominated for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Feature, Best Male Lead, and Best Screenplay. Other nominees for Best Feature included A Hidden Life, Clemency, The Farewell, and Marriage Story. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Santa Monica beach-adjacent award show.
The Personal History of David Copperfield leads the nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs). Armando Iannucci’s fresh take on Dickens’ novel about the ups and downs in the life of its eponymous character is recognized for Best British Independent Film and Best Screenplay amongst nine other awards. Dev Patel is nominated for Best Actor, with co-stars Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie competing in the respective Supporting categories.
The 2019 Edinburgh International Film Festival, taking place June 19th to 30th, will screen around 121 new features, including 18 feature film World Premieres, alongside a tribute to French filmmaker Agnes Varda.
Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) will open its 2019 festival with the world premiere of the documentary The Australian Dream – written by Walkley award-winning Australian journalist Stan Grant. Grant’s moving work is a powerful exploration of race, identity and belonging as told from the perspective of champion AFL footballer and Indigenous rights activist, Adam Goodes.
A24 released the first trailer forThe Souvenir, a mysterious and mesmerizing chronicle of first love from acclaimed filmmaker Joanna Hogg. The Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner features profoundly layered breakout performances by Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke alongside Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton in an enrapturing and personal portrait of the artist as a young woman. The Souvenir will be released in theaters on May 17, 2019.
Bold, intimate, and humanizing stories won at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to Clemency for U.S. Dramatic, One Child Nation for U.S. Documentary, Honeyland for World Cinema Documentary and The Souvenir for World Cinema Dramatic.