The Kansas City Film Critics Circle announced the winners for its 56th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards with The Power of the Dog receiving the awards for Best Film, the Robert Altman Award for Best Director (Jane Campion), and Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch).
CNN Films and HBO Max have partnered on Navalny, a revealing fly-on-the-wall documentary thriller by filmmaker Daniel Roher about anti-corruption Russian government opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Navalny survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020. During his months-long recovery Navalny makes shocking discoveries about his assassination attempt and decides to return home. Despite the risks to his personal safety, he willingly returned to Russia on January 17, 2021, and was arrested moments after landing in Moscow. January 17, 2022, marks one year since Navalny was imprisoned for leaving Russia, related to a prior suspended sentence.
Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog earned the most wins of any film this year at the 3rd North Dakota Film Society Awards with 8 wins, including Best Picture, setting a new record for Awards wins for a single film.
Breaking Bread, Beth Elise Hawk’s award-winning documentary about Jews and Arabs cooking together, opens in theaters on February 4, 2022.
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car is the big winner of the 2021 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards, taking four awards, including Best Picture of the Year. Hamaguchi’s film also earned him this year’s Best Director award, as well as Best Film Not in the English Language.
Ahead of the US theatrical release in February, the official trailer is here for “Fabian – Going to the Dogs” (Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde), the German drama film starring Tom Schilling, Saskia Rosendahl, Albrecht Schuch, Meret Becker, Michael Wittenborn, Petra Kalkutschke, Elmar Gutmann, Aljoscha Stadelmann, Anne Bennent and Eva Medusa Gühne.
The Harder They Fall and King Richard won the top honors with the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) 2021 Awards taking four awards each. The Harder They Fall was named Best Picture of 2021 along with Best Ensemble and Best Director for Jeymes Samuel. King Richard took top acting honors including Best Actor for Will Smith, Supporting Actress for Aunjanue Ellis, Breakout Actor for Saniyya Sidney, along with Emerging Director for Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Berlin International Film Festival continues to add films to the upcoming 72nd edition, confirming films in the Forum and Classics programs. The Forum Special program includes 27 feature-length works in the main program, 14 feature-length works and shorts in the Forum Special program; and Berlinale Classics will present seven world premieres of classic films in digitally restored versions. The Berlinale Classics section opens with Mamma Roma on February 11, and the silent film Brüder (Brothers) with a live music concert will premiere on February 13.
The Iowa Film Critics Association awarded Belfast the honors of Best Film of 2021 along with Best Supporting Actress for Caitríona Balfe for their annual awards honoring the best films and performances. The honor of Best Documentary went to Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho was named Best Picture of 2021 by the Hawaii Film Critics Society (HFCS) along with honors for Best Horror Film in addition to Best Sound and Best Film Editing.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car won the three top 2021 awards from the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA), taking the prizes for Best Picture, Best International Film and Best Screenplay.
The Unmaking of a College, the documentary film directed by Amy Goldstein (Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl) and produced by Anouchka van Riel and Troy Takaki will open at the IFC Center in New York on February 11, and at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on February 18. Other cities will follow.
