Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez’s documentary The American Sector announces its intentions from the very beginning, starting with its first three juxtaposed images. The first is of what appears to be a nondescript block of concrete, with splattered paint and a caterpillar crawling upon it; the second reveals the block to be a segment of the Berlin Wall in a large forest–specified in the chyrons as unincorporated land in Western Pennsylvania–with the sound of chainsaws off-camera; the third suddenly jumps to a much different, more sterile setting: the Hilton Hotel in Dallas, Texas, where two sections of the Wall have been installed. Aside from brief interviews, a few instances of archival footage, and an epigraph from “The Monument” by poet Elizabeth Bishop, this deliberate foregrounding of incongruity in both specific and relative location created by editing is all the contextualization that the documentary provides, or needs.
As...
As...
- 2/29/2020
- by Ryan Swen
- The Film Stage
10 Great ‘Small’ Movies You Might Have Missed in the 2010s, From ‘Manakamana’ to ‘The Fits’ (Photos)
The films on this admittedly non-comprehensive list were not distributed by major studios, but by smaller specialty companies. They played for a couple of weeks (or less) in big cities, maybe even just one night in a museum. They weren’t on the multiplex radar at all. But to adventurous film audiences, they were a vital part of any discussion about cinema. They told complex stories ignored by major studios. The dug deeper into abstraction or discomfort. And they pushed at the edges of filmmaking practice in ways that will influence the mainstream in the future.
“Cemetery of Splendor” (2015)
A makeshift hospital on an ancient royal burial ground houses soldiers overcome with a mysterious sleeping sickness. Then they begin psychically communicating with the women who work there. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s oblique, delicate story of historical memory and collective awakening that plays out like a dream.
“Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?...
“Cemetery of Splendor” (2015)
A makeshift hospital on an ancient royal burial ground houses soldiers overcome with a mysterious sleeping sickness. Then they begin psychically communicating with the women who work there. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s oblique, delicate story of historical memory and collective awakening that plays out like a dream.
“Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?...
- 12/11/2019
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
New titles from Petra Costa, Guido Hendrikx and Mila Turajlic.
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 33 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 33 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
- 2/6/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
New titles from Petra Costa, Guido Hendrikx and Mila Turajlic.
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 32 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 32 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
- 2/6/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Flight Of A Bullet Flight Of A Bullet has won the Open City Award at this year's Open City Documentary Festival in London.
The film, directed by Beata Bubenec, is a single take snapshot of a battalion during the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The jury, which was chaired by filmmaker Stephanie Spray, said: "This palpably dangerous film is an unforgettable experience. It reflects a combination of the filmmaker’s capacity to be present, intuitive and to fully utilise the digital camera – revealing a new form of observational filmmaking as both durational and dramatic. It captures the disturbing carnivalesque of military operations – and the undecidable nature of the filmmaker’s role in this, where her camera is both witness and weapon/shield."
The Swing by Cyril Aris - which will close the festival tomorrow night - received an honorable mention for its "impeccable judged framing and profoundly touching meditation on mortality and morality".
The Emerging International Filmmaker Award.
The film, directed by Beata Bubenec, is a single take snapshot of a battalion during the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
The jury, which was chaired by filmmaker Stephanie Spray, said: "This palpably dangerous film is an unforgettable experience. It reflects a combination of the filmmaker’s capacity to be present, intuitive and to fully utilise the digital camera – revealing a new form of observational filmmaking as both durational and dramatic. It captures the disturbing carnivalesque of military operations – and the undecidable nature of the filmmaker’s role in this, where her camera is both witness and weapon/shield."
The Swing by Cyril Aris - which will close the festival tomorrow night - received an honorable mention for its "impeccable judged framing and profoundly touching meditation on mortality and morality".
The Emerging International Filmmaker Award.
- 9/8/2018
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
We here at IndieWire care deeply about animals. So much so, in fact, that we racked our brains, debated among ourselves, and got into shouting matches over the relative merits of our favorite four-legged movie characters (okay, maybe not that last part).
A few ground rules came into play when whittling down our selections. Live-action animals made the cut, as did CGI creations in live-action films; fully animated productions, however, did not (sorry, Dante from “Coco”). We’ve been blessed with many great cinematic creatures in recent years, some of whom are no longer with us. Lucky, then, that their work is immortalized onscreen.
20. Marvin, “Paterson”
There are many reasons why Jim Jarmusch’s remarkable “Paterson” shouldn’t have worked, but principal among them is its heavy reliance on an actual performance from an English Bulldog. The story of a bus-driving poet (Adam Driver) from New Jersey, the film follows...
A few ground rules came into play when whittling down our selections. Live-action animals made the cut, as did CGI creations in live-action films; fully animated productions, however, did not (sorry, Dante from “Coco”). We’ve been blessed with many great cinematic creatures in recent years, some of whom are no longer with us. Lucky, then, that their work is immortalized onscreen.
20. Marvin, “Paterson”
There are many reasons why Jim Jarmusch’s remarkable “Paterson” shouldn’t have worked, but principal among them is its heavy reliance on an actual performance from an English Bulldog. The story of a bus-driving poet (Adam Driver) from New Jersey, the film follows...
- 3/30/2018
- by Michael Nordine, Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Jenna Marotta, Jamie Righetti, Chris O'Falt, Anne Thompson and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
A look at the list of my favorite movies from 2014 reveals the presence of six extraordinary nonfiction films, and that’s just a taste of the seeming hundreds of docs released last year-- not all of them extraordinary, of course, but all of them indicative of a trend toward the making of the availability of more nonfiction filmmaking than it seems we’ve likely ever seen in this country. And speaking of availability, the six I listed—Ron Mann’s Altman, Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson’s Milius, Orlando von Einsidel’s Virunga, Chaplain and Maclain Way’s The Battered Bastards of Baseball, Stephanie Spray and Pancho Velez’s Manakamana and Errol Morris’s The Unknown Known— were all pictures I caught courtesy of Netflix Streaming. (Virunga was actually produced under the company’s auspices.)
I have a special place in my cinematic heart for nonfiction, both bound between covers and on the screen,...
I have a special place in my cinematic heart for nonfiction, both bound between covers and on the screen,...
- 10/4/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Just like Leviathan and Manakamana before it, J.P. Sniadecki's The Iron Ministry is another striking sensory cinema experience. Closely associated with Havard Sensory Ethnography Lab and its esteemed Colleagues - Julien Castraing-Taylor, Verena Paravel, Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez and others, Sniadecki continues exploring the cinematic medium to its new height with the film which takes place entirely on the moving trains in China.Sniadecki, fluent in Mandarin, has been making films in China since 2010. Chaiquian, his first film explored the changing landscape of China and its 'floating people' - mass workers' migration from rural areas to the cities, followed by People's Park - a breathtaking single take film strolling through the Chengdu park, then Yumen, a docu-hybrid taking place in the ghost city of the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 8/19/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Senses of Cinema has posted the results of its 2014 World Poll and among the many other best-of-2014 lists we've gathered today is Reverse Shot's. #1 is Richard Linklater's Boyhood, followed by Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake, Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs, Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language, James Gray's The Immigrant, Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez's Manakamana, Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Joaquim Pinto's What Now? Remind Me, Ramon Zürcher's The Strange Little Cat, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Two Days, One Night and Sergei Loznitsa's Maidan. » - David Hudson...
- 1/6/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Senses of Cinema has posted the results of its 2014 World Poll and among the many other best-of-2014 lists we've gathered today is Reverse Shot's. #1 is Richard Linklater's Boyhood, followed by Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake, Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs, Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language, James Gray's The Immigrant, Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez's Manakamana, Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Joaquim Pinto's What Now? Remind Me, Ramon Zürcher's The Strange Little Cat, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Two Days, One Night and Sergei Loznitsa's Maidan. » - David Hudson...
- 1/6/2015
- Keyframe
Academy Awards
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language comes in at #1 on La Furia Umana's list of the top ten films of 2014. For Michael Atkinson at In These Times, it's Sergei Loznitsa's Maidan. Christopher Orr, film critic for the Atlantic, goes for J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. Meantime, the The New York Review of Books gathers 20 reviews it's run this year, including David Bromwich on Laura Poitras's Citizenfour, Zoë Heller on David Fincher's Gone Girl, J. Hoberman on Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s Manakamana, Geoffrey O'Brien on Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin and Francine Prose on Agnieszka Holland's Burning Bush. » - David Hudson...
- 12/23/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language comes in at #1 on La Furia Umana's list of the top ten films of 2014. For Michael Atkinson at In These Times, it's Sergei Loznitsa's Maidan. Christopher Orr, film critic for the Atlantic, goes for J.C. Chandor's A Most Violent Year. Meantime, the The New York Review of Books gathers 20 reviews it's run this year, including David Bromwich on Laura Poitras's Citizenfour, Zoë Heller on David Fincher's Gone Girl, J. Hoberman on Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s Manakamana, Geoffrey O'Brien on Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin and Francine Prose on Agnieszka Holland's Burning Bush. » - David Hudson...
- 12/23/2014
- Keyframe
As we head into December, awards season is well under way, and though we’ll have to wait until the spring for really big fish like the Oscars and the Golden Globes, this month has a respectable number of ceremonies of its own. Last night, celebrities gathered at Cipriani Wall Street in New York for the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards.
It was a long, casual ceremony for those in attendance, but when the night finally wrapped up, few could argue with the results. Birdman spread its wings and took home Best Feature, while Michael Keaton nabbed Best Actor for his revelatory role in the Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed film. Meanwhile, Julianne Moore continued her unstoppable march to the Oscars, receiving Best Actress for her devastating work as an Alzheimer’s-afflicted linguistics professor in Still Alice. And Laura Poitras was awarded Best Documentary Feature for her eye-opening Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour.
Honored...
It was a long, casual ceremony for those in attendance, but when the night finally wrapped up, few could argue with the results. Birdman spread its wings and took home Best Feature, while Michael Keaton nabbed Best Actor for his revelatory role in the Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed film. Meanwhile, Julianne Moore continued her unstoppable march to the Oscars, receiving Best Actress for her devastating work as an Alzheimer’s-afflicted linguistics professor in Still Alice. And Laura Poitras was awarded Best Documentary Feature for her eye-opening Edward Snowden doc Citizenfour.
Honored...
- 12/2/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The 2014 fall awards season is off to a strong start with the unveiling of the nominees for this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards. Though not as recognizable as the Oscars or Golden Globes, the Gotham Awards typically mark the start of awards season, honoring the best and brightest in independent cinema. Additionally, many of the films highlighted by the Gotham Awards go on to become Oscar frontrunners – last year’s most nominated film was eventual Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave, and past winners have included Inside Llewyn Davis, Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Hurt Locker.
This year looks to be no different, with assumed Oscar contenders like Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s technically dazzling Birdman and Richard Linklater’s ambitious 12-year project Boyhood in the mix. Excitingly, Wes Anderson’s brilliant The Grand Budapest Hotel, released way back in March, also made the cut, meaning that its...
This year looks to be no different, with assumed Oscar contenders like Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s technically dazzling Birdman and Richard Linklater’s ambitious 12-year project Boyhood in the mix. Excitingly, Wes Anderson’s brilliant The Grand Budapest Hotel, released way back in March, also made the cut, meaning that its...
- 10/24/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The independent film industry is hotter than ever, and the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards nominees have just been announced.
Leading the way with an impressive four nods (including Best Feature) is Richard Linklater’s critically-acclaimed “Boyhood.”
Additionally, Tilda Swinton, Bennett Miller and Ted Sarandos will all be honored with special tributes at the December 1st ceremony, slated to be held at Cipriani Wall Street.
The complete list of nominees for the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards is:
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen,...
Leading the way with an impressive four nods (including Best Feature) is Richard Linklater’s critically-acclaimed “Boyhood.”
Additionally, Tilda Swinton, Bennett Miller and Ted Sarandos will all be honored with special tributes at the December 1st ceremony, slated to be held at Cipriani Wall Street.
The complete list of nominees for the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards is:
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen,...
- 10/23/2014
- GossipCenter
Gotham Awards 2014 nominations: Julianne Moore, Michael Keaton among famous names shortlisted Best Feature Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Boyhood Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films) The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Love Is Strange Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics) Under the Skin Jonathan Glazer, director; Nick Wechsler, James Wilson, producers (A24 Films) Best Actress Patricia Arquette in Boyhood (IFC Films) Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond the Lights (Relativity Media) Julianne Moore in Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics) Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin (A24 Films) Mia Wasikowska in Tracks (The Weinstein Company) Best Actor Bill Hader...
- 10/23/2014
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Deemed as his career best, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood leads all nominations for the 24th Gotham Independent Film Awards with winks in the Best Feature, Best Actor (Ethan Hawke), Best Actress (Patricia Arquette) and Breakthrough Actor (Ellar Coltrane) while Birdman, Nightcrawler, Under the Skin and Dear White People technically place second with two noms a piece in the five possible categories. Arguably 2014′s most prolific indie film in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash failed to move the five-critic panels in the Best Film category and sans a Best Supporting category, means Miles Teller receives Best Award nom but J.K. Simmons will just have to wait it out for the Indie Spirit Awards to acknowledge his perf. A special Gotham Jury Award has already been awarded to the ensemble performance of the players of Foxcatcher (Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum) shrewd Vanessa Redgrave perhaps didn’t get enough screen time...
- 10/23/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Richard Linklater’s drama that follows the life of a boy from five to 18 is in contention for four prizes at the 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards by Ifp.
In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given as previously announced to Tilda Swinton, Bennett Miller and Industry Tribute recipient Ted Sarandos of Netflix.
The nominating committee for the best actor category has voted a special jury award to Foxcatcher’s Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum for their ensemble work.
Voting will take place online from November 19-26. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony in New York on December 1.
“We congratulate this year’s nominees, from the master film artists to the talented newcomers, a true representation of the rich and diverse range of today’s independent filmmaking,” said Ifp and Made In NY Media Center executive director Joana Vicente.
“We are grateful...
In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given as previously announced to Tilda Swinton, Bennett Miller and Industry Tribute recipient Ted Sarandos of Netflix.
The nominating committee for the best actor category has voted a special jury award to Foxcatcher’s Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum for their ensemble work.
Voting will take place online from November 19-26. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony in New York on December 1.
“We congratulate this year’s nominees, from the master film artists to the talented newcomers, a true representation of the rich and diverse range of today’s independent filmmaking,” said Ifp and Made In NY Media Center executive director Joana Vicente.
“We are grateful...
- 10/23/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
And the Oscar season is off and running! Nominees for the 24th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards have been unleased and Richard Linklater's fantastic "Boyhood" led the pack with four nods including Best Feature, Best Actor for Ethan Hawke, Best Actress for Patricia Arquette, and Breakthrough Actor for Ellar Coltrane.
We'll find out the winners of the 2014 Gotham Awards on December 1st! Here's the complete list of nominees:
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics...
We'll find out the winners of the 2014 Gotham Awards on December 1st! Here's the complete list of nominees:
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics...
- 10/23/2014
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Love Is Strange and Under The Skin are up for the Best Feature prize in the 24th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. The Independent Filmmaker Project calls this the “kickoff to the film awards season,” and highlights “worthy independent films.” The collection includes 15 films nominated for Best Feature, Best Documentary, and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. Ifp members can vote online from November 19-26. The ceremony will be held on December 1 in NYC. Here are the nominees:
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs,...
Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood
Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs,...
- 10/23/2014
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) announced Thursday morning the nominees for the 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. Highlighting the best of the year’s independent film, the Gotham Awards give an early bump to the smaller films that could get lost in the studio shuffle. For 2014, the seven competitive awards include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress (presenting sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein), Breakthrough Actor, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director award, and the Gotham Audience Award. In addition to the competitive awards, Tilda Swinton, director Bennett Miller, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos will be honored with tributes. 24 films received nominations this year, not including a special award handed bestowed to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum for their ensemble work in “Foxcatcher.” Voting for the primary awards begins on Nov. 19th at 12:01 Am Est and concludes on November 26th at 5:00 Pm Est. “Each year the Gotham...
- 10/23/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
At the end of a nearly three-kilometer cable car journey in Nepal is the temple of the Goddess Bhagwati. The journey takes approximately ten minutes to complete. Each year, thousands of Hindus participate in the Manakamana Darshan, a pilgrimage to the temple to worship the Goddess and to have their wishes granted. On the surface, a film documenting this expedition could be rather tedious. But Manakamana filmmakers Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez have crafted a fascinating, observational film that far exceeds expectations (shot on the same 16mm camera that Robert Gardner used for his remarkable Forest of Bliss). >> - Jonathan Marlow...
- 9/12/2014
- Keyframe
At the end of a nearly three-kilometer cable car journey in Nepal is the temple of the Goddess Bhagwati. The journey takes approximately ten minutes to complete. Each year, thousands of Hindus participate in the Manakamana Darshan, a pilgrimage to the temple to worship the Goddess and to have their wishes granted. On the surface, a film documenting this expedition could be rather tedious. But Manakamana filmmakers Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez have crafted a fascinating, observational film that far exceeds expectations (shot on the same 16mm camera that Robert Gardner used for his remarkable Forest of Bliss). >> - Jonathan Marlow...
- 9/12/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Birthed by the brilliant minds at Harvard’s increasingly influential Sensory Ethnography Lab, Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s Manakamana takes in the sights and sounds of the mountainous Nepalese wildness from the bird’s eye view of a sky-bound Austrian engineered cable car that transports Hindu pilgrims and worldly tourists alike to a temple atop the rugged ridge, yet the film does not explain this simple fact. Rather, taking visual cues from the structuralist filmmakers of the 60s and 70s, their 16mm camera sits statically across from various lift passengers on their way to and from the mountain top temple, documenting their 10 minute trip in whole 400 foot reels of film as the lush landscape passes them by like some kind of nostalgic scrolling rear projection effect. In theory, the film sounds like a heady slog of documentary slow cinema, but the resulting two hour feature is a charming bit...
- 8/27/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Thanks to the increase in access to small scale non-fiction films through the barrage of streaming services viewers now have access to – Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Mubi, Vudu, etc – people are watching more documentaries than ever before. You can literally turn on any web ready device of your choosing and be watching any number of top quality docs within a number of seconds. It’s nothing short of incredible. But, with ease of access comes an over saturation of content used to fill in the curatorial gaps. For every Marwencol, Senna, Gimme Shelter or The Act of Killing, there are heaps of ordures cinéma clogging up precious bandwidth. And let’s not forget, cinemas themselves are enjoying a renewed trust in the non-fiction form, exhibiting over 100 documentaries on the silver screen last year and banking over $50 Million at the box office in the process, not including the hundreds of...
- 7/28/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Edited by Adam Cook
The 52nd New York Film Festival is shaping up to be an especially high profile event this Fall. Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice is set to premiere there, along with David Fincher's Gone Girl, and Alejandro Iñárritu's bizarre looking Birdman. On David Bordwell's blog, he writes on Wes Anderson, and the current state of authorship in cinema:
"Wes Anderson has found a way to make films that project a unique sensibility while also fitting fairly smoothly into the modern American industry. He has his detractors (“I detest these films,” a friend tells me), but there’s no arguing with his distinctiveness. The Grand Budapest Hotel is perhaps the most vivid example of Andersonian whimsy as signature style....I want to look at the auteurish aspects of another Anderson film. Whether you admire him, abominate him, or have mixed feelings, I think that studying...
The 52nd New York Film Festival is shaping up to be an especially high profile event this Fall. Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice is set to premiere there, along with David Fincher's Gone Girl, and Alejandro Iñárritu's bizarre looking Birdman. On David Bordwell's blog, he writes on Wes Anderson, and the current state of authorship in cinema:
"Wes Anderson has found a way to make films that project a unique sensibility while also fitting fairly smoothly into the modern American industry. He has his detractors (“I detest these films,” a friend tells me), but there’s no arguing with his distinctiveness. The Grand Budapest Hotel is perhaps the most vivid example of Andersonian whimsy as signature style....I want to look at the auteurish aspects of another Anderson film. Whether you admire him, abominate him, or have mixed feelings, I think that studying...
- 7/23/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Ana Lily Amirpour, Jodie Mack, Dustin Guy Defa are among the directors who've made Filmmaker's annual list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film." The new issue of The Seventh Art features video interviews with Bruce Labruce, Don McKellar, Erik Skjoldbjaerg and Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez. Also in today's roundup of news and views: David Bordwell on Wes Anderson, Jonathan Rosenbaum on Leos Carax, Vadim Rizov's interview with Jafar Panahi, the first review of Glenn Kenny's book on Robert De Niro and more. » - David Hudson...
- 7/21/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
Ana Lily Amirpour, Jodie Mack, Dustin Guy Defa are among the directors who've made Filmmaker's annual list of "25 New Faces of Independent Film." The new issue of The Seventh Art features video interviews with Bruce Labruce, Don McKellar, Erik Skjoldbjaerg and Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez. Also in today's roundup of news and views: David Bordwell on Wes Anderson, Jonathan Rosenbaum on Leos Carax, Vadim Rizov's interview with Jafar Panahi, the first review of Glenn Kenny's book on Robert De Niro and more. » - David Hudson...
- 7/21/2014
- Keyframe
★★★★☆The latest from Harvard University's Sensory Ethnography Lab (the same team who brought us last year's Leviathan), Manakamana (2013) is another non-narrative, observational portrait of life that eschews conventional storytelling in favour of a meditative approach to documentary filmmaking. Using a Nepalese cable car as the stage for a study of human spirituality, directors Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez have crafted a delicate representation of life in contemporary Nepal. The cable car transports people from the Gorkha town of Cheres, 1302 metres above sea level, to the Manakamana Temple. Each journey takes roughly ten minutes - conveniently the runtime of a roll of 16mm film.
- 6/23/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
It wasn’t so long ago that in order to reach Manakamana temple one had to walk for days, across rivers, over mountains and through sprawling sal forests. Since the completion of a new cable car service, which in 1998 finally linked the isolated sacred site in Gorkha District with the city of Cheres, a round trip need only take seventeen minutes – the journey uphill lasting only marginally longer than the descent. Among those taking advantage of the new service are a man and a boy, a pair of sarangi players and a small herd of goats.
It’s amazing what can be gleaned through observation and relatively idle chit-chat. Though the first few occupants content themselves with simply soaking in the surrounding scenery from their novel vantage point, guarded commentary soon gives way to enthusiastic conversation as the silent single occupants are replaced with increasingly vibrant groups. By the time...
It’s amazing what can be gleaned through observation and relatively idle chit-chat. Though the first few occupants content themselves with simply soaking in the surrounding scenery from their novel vantage point, guarded commentary soon gives way to enthusiastic conversation as the silent single occupants are replaced with increasingly vibrant groups. By the time...
- 6/19/2014
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
It wasn’t so long ago that in order to reach Manakamana temple one had to walk for days, across rivers, over mountains and through sprawling sal forests. Since the completion of a new cable car service, which in 1998 finally linked the isolated sacred site in Gorkha District with the city of Cheres, a round trip need only take seventeen minutes – the journey uphill lasting only marginally longer than the descent. Among those taking advantage of the new service are a man and a boy, a pair of sarangi players and a small herd of goats.
It’s amazing what can be gleaned through observation and relatively idle chit-chat. Though the first few occupants content themselves with simply soaking in the surrounding scenery from their novel vantage point, guarded commentary soon gives way to enthusiastic conversation as the silent single occupants are replaced with increasingly vibrant groups. By the time...
It’s amazing what can be gleaned through observation and relatively idle chit-chat. Though the first few occupants content themselves with simply soaking in the surrounding scenery from their novel vantage point, guarded commentary soon gives way to enthusiastic conversation as the silent single occupants are replaced with increasingly vibrant groups. By the time...
- 6/19/2014
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Highlights include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Abel Ferrara’s controversial Dsk feature Welcome To New York.
The full line-up of the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been revealed this morning by artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.
This year’s festival, which runs from June 18-29, will comprise 156 features from 47 countries, including 11 world premieres, eight international premieres, seven European premieres and 95 UK premieres.
New titles announced today include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances that was first shown at Sundance in January.
Straight from its lively premiere in Cannes is Abel Ferrara’s controversial title Welcome To New York, inspired by the case of former Imf managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, starring Gérard Depardieu, which will receive its UK premiere at Eiff.
Other new titles added to the line-up include [link=nm...
The full line-up of the 68th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been revealed this morning by artistic director Chris Fujiwara at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse.
This year’s festival, which runs from June 18-29, will comprise 156 features from 47 countries, including 11 world premieres, eight international premieres, seven European premieres and 95 UK premieres.
New titles announced today include Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final performances that was first shown at Sundance in January.
Straight from its lively premiere in Cannes is Abel Ferrara’s controversial title Welcome To New York, inspired by the case of former Imf managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, starring Gérard Depardieu, which will receive its UK premiere at Eiff.
Other new titles added to the line-up include [link=nm...
- 5/28/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Above: just in time for the 700th issue of Cahiers du Cinéma, Stéphane Delorme, the current editor in chief, chats with Nicholas Elliott for Bomb Magazine:
"Delorme: ...That’s why we write manifestos, because this cinema we would like to see does not exist. So we’re not just saying we want to see it, we’re saying we need it. I wonder what sadistic urge has driven so many filmmakers to bask in either an ample, dark vision of existence or, more often, pathetic little stories that wind up with pathetic little fights. There’s a real indulgence in defeat and cowardice and in dealing with exclusively negative feelings. I wrote about lyricism to ask filmmakers to show us they believe in something, that there’s some hope. If people love other people, if they love actors or places, why don’t they film what they love? Another possible life?...
"Delorme: ...That’s why we write manifestos, because this cinema we would like to see does not exist. So we’re not just saying we want to see it, we’re saying we need it. I wonder what sadistic urge has driven so many filmmakers to bask in either an ample, dark vision of existence or, more often, pathetic little stories that wind up with pathetic little fights. There’s a real indulgence in defeat and cowardice and in dealing with exclusively negative feelings. I wrote about lyricism to ask filmmakers to show us they believe in something, that there’s some hope. If people love other people, if they love actors or places, why don’t they film what they love? Another possible life?...
- 5/7/2014
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Depending on the type of viewer you are, the premise of Manakamana will sound either fascinating or deadly. Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s experimental documentary consists entirely of fixed long takes inside a cable car as it goes up and down a Nepalese mountain. For nearly two hours. The passengers, who change every ten or so minutes (roughly the length of time it takes the cable car to go up or down the mountain), are a diverse bunch, though we know very little about them — an older man and what appears to be his young grandson, gabby young headbangers with a stray kitten, a solemn woman carrying flowers, a gaggle of goats, two musicians tuning and practicing on their instruments, an American tourist and her friend, etc. Here’s some additional context, which you do not really need: Manakamana is a Hindu temple that lies at the top of...
- 4/17/2014
- by Bilge Ebiri
- Vulture
The Case Against 8 won the top jury and audience documentary awards, while Ida prevailed in the narrative feature, screenplay and actress honours as the 16th annual RiverRun International Film Festival came to a close (13) in North Carolina.
“Films showcased at our festival this year reflected diverse stories from around the world, immense talent from directors and a host of passionate projects that are jewels of the independent filmmaking community,” said RiverRun executive director Andrew Rodgers.
All in all the festival screened 144 films from 33 countries and ran from April 4-13.
The winners are as follows:
Audience Awards
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Philippe Muyl’s Nightingale (China-France).
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Ben Cotner’s The Case Against 8 (Us).
Altered States Award for Best Indie: James E Duff’s Hank And Asha (Us-Czech Republic).
Jury Awards – Narrative Competition
The Best Narrative Feature...
“Films showcased at our festival this year reflected diverse stories from around the world, immense talent from directors and a host of passionate projects that are jewels of the independent filmmaking community,” said RiverRun executive director Andrew Rodgers.
All in all the festival screened 144 films from 33 countries and ran from April 4-13.
The winners are as follows:
Audience Awards
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Philippe Muyl’s Nightingale (China-France).
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Ben Cotner’s The Case Against 8 (Us).
Altered States Award for Best Indie: James E Duff’s Hank And Asha (Us-Czech Republic).
Jury Awards – Narrative Competition
The Best Narrative Feature...
- 4/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Manakamana – Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez
NYC Release – April 18th
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
Awards & Fests: Winner of a trio of Locarno Film Fest awards (the Golden Leopard for Special Jury Prize in Filmmakers of the Present, Special Mention for Best First Feature Film and the Independent International Film Critics’ Award for Best First Feature ), this was showcased at Tiff & Nyff.
What the critic’s are saying?: Receiving thumbs up from Variety’s Scott Foundas (“manage to craft a vast and revealing portrait of both their chosen locale and the people who pass through it“) and hailed as an achievement and an audience-testing item via IndieWire’s Eric Kohn (“Manakamana” says as much about the erosion of patience as it does about the value of holding onto it”), decidedly, as Cinema Scope’s Jay Kuehner points out in a lengthy analysis, there is sweet offerings in the “field report from...
NYC Release – April 18th
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
Awards & Fests: Winner of a trio of Locarno Film Fest awards (the Golden Leopard for Special Jury Prize in Filmmakers of the Present, Special Mention for Best First Feature Film and the Independent International Film Critics’ Award for Best First Feature ), this was showcased at Tiff & Nyff.
What the critic’s are saying?: Receiving thumbs up from Variety’s Scott Foundas (“manage to craft a vast and revealing portrait of both their chosen locale and the people who pass through it“) and hailed as an achievement and an audience-testing item via IndieWire’s Eric Kohn (“Manakamana” says as much about the erosion of patience as it does about the value of holding onto it”), decidedly, as Cinema Scope’s Jay Kuehner points out in a lengthy analysis, there is sweet offerings in the “field report from...
- 4/1/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Ahead of its April 18 release at New York’s IFC Center, the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab’s latest outing, Manakamana, now has a proper trailer. Directed by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, the documentary captures several 10-minute tram rides to the titular Nepalese shrine through a fixed camera, mounted before the passengers. Spray spoke about the extended metaphor in a wonderful profile on the Lab in Boston Magazine. In the article, the reticent founder Lucian Castaing-Taylor also talks his plans to make a narrative-doc hybrid about sex and cannibalism. If it looks anything like Leviathan, it should be interesting.
- 3/28/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Ahead of its April 18 release at New York’s IFC Center, the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab’s latest outing, Manakamana, now has a proper trailer. Directed by Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez, the documentary captures several 10-minute tram rides to the titular Nepalese shrine through a fixed camera, mounted before the passengers. Spray spoke about the extended metaphor in a wonderful profile on the Lab in Boston Magazine. In the article, the reticent founder Lucian Castaing-Taylor also talks his plans to make a narrative-doc hybrid about sex and cannibalism. If it looks anything like Leviathan, it should be interesting.
- 3/28/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
With few credits under their belts, directors Stephanie Spray and Pablo Velez bring us "Manakamana," a documentary feature that follows a group of Nepalese pilgrims who make their way to the sacred Hindu temple. In this riveting trailer we see groups of people -- some dressed in traditional garb, others in modern clothing -- as they make their way by cable car to "Manakamana." The clip gives way to the journey thousands upon thousands of people make yearly as tribute to the Hindu Goddess Bhagwatione, who grants wishes to those who make the trip. In a glowing review at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won best first feature, Indiewire's Eric Kohn called "Manakamana" "one of the most engrossing cinematic achievements to come along." The film is produced by the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard University (who also helmed the acclaimed 2012 documentary "Leviathan") and opens at IFC on April 18. Check...
- 3/26/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
High above a jungle in Nepal, pilgrims make an ancient journey by cable car to worship Manakamana.
Among the treasured items presented at last year’s Tiff (Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s debut also surfaced at Locarno and the gondola sprinkled Telluride), Manakamana is positioning itself for an April 18th release via the The Cinema Guild folks. Dissolve got their ice-cream sticky hands on the poster one sheet which feature one among the many “pairings”. We’ll have tons of coverage including our interview with the directing tandem.
Among the treasured items presented at last year’s Tiff (Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s debut also surfaced at Locarno and the gondola sprinkled Telluride), Manakamana is positioning itself for an April 18th release via the The Cinema Guild folks. Dissolve got their ice-cream sticky hands on the poster one sheet which feature one among the many “pairings”. We’ll have tons of coverage including our interview with the directing tandem.
- 3/21/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 52nd annual Ann Arbor Film Festival will be a jam-packed experimental feature and short film screening event running for six days and nights, this time on March 25-30.
Opening Night will feature a reception and an after-party, and stuffed between those will be a block of nine short films, including new ones by Bryan Boyce, Michael Robinson, Jennifer Reeder and Martha Colburn, as well as a never-before-released work by the legendary Bruce Baillie called Little Girl in which Baillie captured scenes of natural beauty.
Special Events scattered throughout the festival include a retrospective of indie filmmaker Penelope Spheeris that will feature her rock ‘n’ roll-based work, including the original The Decline of Western Civilization, plus The Decline of Western Civilization Part III, her influential punk film Suburbia (screening twice) and a collection of short films.
There will also be several films and presentations by filmmaking scholar Thom Andersen, such...
Opening Night will feature a reception and an after-party, and stuffed between those will be a block of nine short films, including new ones by Bryan Boyce, Michael Robinson, Jennifer Reeder and Martha Colburn, as well as a never-before-released work by the legendary Bruce Baillie called Little Girl in which Baillie captured scenes of natural beauty.
Special Events scattered throughout the festival include a retrospective of indie filmmaker Penelope Spheeris that will feature her rock ‘n’ roll-based work, including the original The Decline of Western Civilization, plus The Decline of Western Civilization Part III, her influential punk film Suburbia (screening twice) and a collection of short films.
There will also be several films and presentations by filmmaking scholar Thom Andersen, such...
- 3/18/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" was the big winner at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards taking home 5 trophies including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Female for Lupita N'Yongo, Screenplay for John Ridley, and Cinematography for Sean Bobbitt.
The pair of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto of "Dallas Buyers Club" continued to top their respective categories of Best Actor and Supporting Actor.
Cate Blanchett took home the Best Actress trophy for Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine."
Here's the complete list of winners of the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Feature:
Winner: "12 Years A Slave"
"All Is Lost"
"Frances Ha"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Nebraska"
Best Lead Female:
Winner: Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"
Julie Delpy - "Before Midnight"
Gaby Hoffman - "Crystal Fairy"
Brie Larson - "Short Term 12"
Shailene Woodley - "The Spectacular Now"
Best Lead Male:
Bruce Dern - "Nebraska"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "12 Years A Slave"
Oscar Isaac - "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Michael B.
The pair of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto of "Dallas Buyers Club" continued to top their respective categories of Best Actor and Supporting Actor.
Cate Blanchett took home the Best Actress trophy for Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine."
Here's the complete list of winners of the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Feature:
Winner: "12 Years A Slave"
"All Is Lost"
"Frances Ha"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Nebraska"
Best Lead Female:
Winner: Cate Blanchett - "Blue Jasmine"
Julie Delpy - "Before Midnight"
Gaby Hoffman - "Crystal Fairy"
Brie Larson - "Short Term 12"
Shailene Woodley - "The Spectacular Now"
Best Lead Male:
Bruce Dern - "Nebraska"
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "12 Years A Slave"
Oscar Isaac - "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Michael B.
- 3/2/2014
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The night before the 2014 Oscars was a big one for 12 Years a Slave as it took home five wins at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Picture, Director (Steve McQueen), Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o), Screenplay (John Ridley) and Cinematography (Sean Bobbitt). However, don't take this to mean 12 Years is a lock at the Oscars as its strongest competition in categories such as Picture and Director, those being Gravity and American Hustle, weren't among the "independent" nominees. Some likely Oscar winners were among the list of winners as Dallas Buyers Club co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto took home Best Actor and Supporting Actor respectively. Cate Blanchett took home yet another Best Actress prize for her work in Blue Jasmine and 20 Feet from Stardom won Best Documentary, proving even the Spirit Awards weren't going for The Act of Killing, though that doesn't diminish the impact of Joshua Oppenheimer's film. Some...
- 3/2/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave pulled a five finger discount at the 2014 Indie Spirit Awards grabbing hardware in the Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography categories. Apart from the larceny in the Best Doc category, the winners in the above mention category (excluding Bobbitt’s work) and the double win pairing of Leto and McConaughey along with Cate Blanchett’s perf win in Blue Jasmine will likely repeat itself less than 24 hours later at tomorrow’s Academy Awards celebrations obviously begging many to ponder the following: who needs the 86th Academy Awards when we have the Indie Spirit Awards? While today’s most pleasurable wins come from the truly indie kudos for Best First Feature (Ryan Coogler for Frutivale Station) the John Cassavetes award for Chad Hartigan’s This is Martin Bonner, and the Piaget Producers Award to Ain’t Them Bodies Saints...
- 3/2/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 29th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. are underway with host Patton Oswalt, and we're updating the winners list as the names are announced. Early winners include Jared Leto, for his supporting turn in "Dallas Buyers Club," "Fruitvale Station" for best first feature, and "Nebraska" writer Bob Nelson, who picked up a trophy for best first screenplay. So far, "12 Years a Slave" has picked up four awards, namely supporting actress for Lupita Nyong'o, best director, best screenplay and best cinematography. Here's the list of nominees: Best Feature "All is Lost" "Frances Ha" "Inside Llewyn Davis" "Nebraska" "12 Years a Slave" Best Director J.C. Chandor, "All is Lost" Jeff Nichols, "Mud" Alexander Payne, "Nebraska" Winner: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave" Shane Carruth, "Upstream Color" Best First Feature "Blue Caprice" "Concussion" Winner: "Fruitvale Station" "Una Noche" "Wadjda" Best Screenplay "Before Midnight" "Blue Jasmine" "Enough Said" "The Spectacular Now" Winner:...
- 3/1/2014
- by Dave Lewis
- Hitfix
Steve McQueen's acclaimed drama tops nominations in the annual awards ceremony celebrating lower-budget movies, while Nebraska and Short Term 12 also perform well
Its criteria of a budget less than $15m rules out the likes of Gravity, but it was still always likely 12 Years a Slave - Steve McQueen's acclaimed drama set in 1840s Louisiana - would sweep the board at the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards. The film ended up with seven nominations, including nods for feature, director and actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender.
Coming in second was Alexander Payne's Nebraska, with six, followed by Jc Chandor's All Is Lost with four. Inside Llewyn Davis, Short Term 12, Fruitvale Station and Blue Jasmine all took three.
The lead actor category was expanded to six nominees from the usual five, and James Gandolfini is up for a posthumous supporting prize for Enough Said.
Its criteria of a budget less than $15m rules out the likes of Gravity, but it was still always likely 12 Years a Slave - Steve McQueen's acclaimed drama set in 1840s Louisiana - would sweep the board at the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards. The film ended up with seven nominations, including nods for feature, director and actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender.
Coming in second was Alexander Payne's Nebraska, with six, followed by Jc Chandor's All Is Lost with four. Inside Llewyn Davis, Short Term 12, Fruitvale Station and Blue Jasmine all took three.
The lead actor category was expanded to six nominees from the usual five, and James Gandolfini is up for a posthumous supporting prize for Enough Said.
- 11/27/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Film Independent announced nominations for the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards this morning.
Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at the W Hollywood, with actresses Octavia Spencer and Paula Patton presenting the nominations.
Nominees for Best Feature included 12 Years a Slave, All Is Lost, Frances Ha, Inside Llewyn Davis and Nebraska.
Mud was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
In its commitment to recognizing the importance of below the line contributions to the art of filmmaking, Film Independent has now introduced, for the first year, the Best Editing category in the Spirit Awards.
Winners will be announced at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, March 1, 2014. The awards ceremony will be held as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening...
Film Independent President Josh Welsh presided over the press conference held at the W Hollywood, with actresses Octavia Spencer and Paula Patton presenting the nominations.
Nominees for Best Feature included 12 Years a Slave, All Is Lost, Frances Ha, Inside Llewyn Davis and Nebraska.
Mud was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
In its commitment to recognizing the importance of below the line contributions to the art of filmmaking, Film Independent has now introduced, for the first year, the Best Editing category in the Spirit Awards.
Winners will be announced at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, March 1, 2014. The awards ceremony will be held as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, with the premiere broadcast airing later that evening...
- 11/26/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Adding to the awards show season buzz, the list of hopefuls for 2014 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards was just unveiled.
Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the much-anticipated event is slated to get underway on March 1st in Santa Monica, and there will be plenty of stars to be seen.
Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Redford will all compete in the Best Male Lead Category, while the Best Female Lead nominees are Cate Blanchett, Julie Delpy, Gaby Hoffman, Brie Larson, and Shailene Woodley.
The 29th Spirit Awards contenders are:
Best Feature
12 Years A Slave
All is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director
Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley,...
Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the much-anticipated event is slated to get underway on March 1st in Santa Monica, and there will be plenty of stars to be seen.
Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Matthew McConaughey, and Robert Redford will all compete in the Best Male Lead Category, while the Best Female Lead nominees are Cate Blanchett, Julie Delpy, Gaby Hoffman, Brie Larson, and Shailene Woodley.
The 29th Spirit Awards contenders are:
Best Feature
12 Years A Slave
All is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director
Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley,...
- 11/26/2013
- GossipCenter
Team Fox Searchlight should be returning to the winner’s circle at the next edition of the Indie Spirits awards. After winning with Black Swan three years back, and losing out in the Best Feature category with Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Descendants, Fox Searchlight’s 12 Years a Slave leads all other films with seven nominations Best Feature, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography and three of the four acting categories. Alexander Payne’s Nebraska follows with six noms. Both Sundance (Fruitvale Station) and SXSW (Short Term 12) winners figure among the noms, but they weren’t as plentiful with only three noms a piece. Among our favorite titles for 2013 which were left off the scorecard, David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George Saints got no recognition, while Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love would have got my vote for the Annual Someone To Watch Award.
- 11/26/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
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