35th The Gotham Film Awards Winners

Yesterday at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City the 2025 awards ceremony for The Gotham Film Awards took place and perhaps what was most covered in the news is the many A-Listers in one place at the same time.

Actors, directors and even singers (Rihanna was there), came to honor or to get honored in the name of independent cinema and yes, not often you can see in one place Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Nina Hoss, Renate Reinsve, Jessie Buckley, Riley Keough, Chloe Sevigny, Julia Roberts, Naomi Watts, Jacob Elordi, Ethan Hawke, Stellan Skarsgard, Alexander Skarsgard, Hugh Jackman, Joel Edgerton, Adam Sandler, Wagner Moura, Luca Guadagnino, Guillermo del Toro, Noah Baumbach, Chloe Zhao, Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, Park Chan-wook, and many more. Sigh! Not even at the Oscars. Wonder how many of those that were there last night will make it to Oscar night. Phew.

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28th British Independent Film Awards Winners

Yesterday comedians Lou Sanders and Harriet Kemsley hosted the BIFA awards ceremony which took place at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, and Pillion by Harry Lighton became the biggest winner with 4 awards, including top award: Best British Independent Film.

The awards were spread as Pillion is followed by three films with 3 awards each, documentary A Want In Her by Myrid Carten, including Best Documentary, The Ballad of Wallis Island by James Griffiths, including Best Screenplay, and Warfare by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. Best Director went to Akinola Davis Jr for My Father's Shadow and Best International Independent Film to Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier.

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18th Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

It's been a while since the last time I did an APSA winners post and couldn't help but noticing it was the year Parasite won top APSA honors and also the Oscar for Best Film smashing the category crystal ceiling and opening opportunities for other non-American non-English films to vie for Oscars in other categories besides International Feature Film.

Could it happen again? Who knows; but, this year APSA's top honor went to Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident and this Cannes Palm d'Or winner according to industry pundits has also chances to go for top Oscar in 2026.

So, yesterday APSA's awards ceremony took place at The Langham Hotel in the infamous Australia's Gold Coast honoring the most powerful and resonant filmmaking from across the world's most diverse and prolific screen region. Drawn from 24 countries and regions with this years entries, the 2025 APSA winners reflect the artistic depth, cultural breadth and exceptional craft that defines cinema in the Asia Pacific.

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38th European Film Awards Nominations

Update November 26 - Today the European Film Academy announced the nominees in eight (8) craft categories with Bugonia, Sirāt, and Sound of Falling leading the pack with five (5) nominations each. When we consider all categories pack leader is Sirāt with nine (9) nominations followed by Sentimental Value and Sound of Falling with (8) eight each, and Bugonia with six (6) nominations.

The craft nominations are based on votes from EFA's members in the respective chapters, who have viewed all films included in the Feature Film Selection.

With these nominations the post becomes final as now all the nominees are known. Now all Academy members will vote to determine winners to be announced at the awards ceremony on January 17, 2026 at the Haus de Kulturen der Welt in Berling, Germany.

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2025 Film Critics Awards - In Progress

Today is a good day to start the annual film critics awards compilation as even do critics groups start to announce their awards in December there is some information regarding awards. Also, there is the annual task of learning which groups are still alive, which are not, and welcome the new ones to the list.

As you recall this post is done to get an idea of what film critics are liking and the possible Oscar nominations/winners. But remember that by trade, film critics are NOT Academy members and consequently cannot vote in the Oscars. Still, they are influencers by trade especially those in the largest groups New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association as well as those with in groups with high reputation like the National Board of Review.

Post works as mainly American film critics preferences tally for the current award season. Furthermore, usually film critics' winners data is different to what audiences like and nowadays less and less similar to what AMPAS members prefer.

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28th British Independent Film Awards Nominations

Yesterday November 3, 2025 organizers, assisted by Ben Hardy and Saura Lightfoot-Leon, announced the nominations for the award that celebrates British (and beyond) independent films.

My Father's Shadow by Akinola Davies Jr leads the pack with 12 nominations followed by Pillion with 10, I Swear by Kirk Jones with 9, Harris Dickinson's Urchin with 6, and James Griffiths' The Ballad of Wallis Island with 5.

One award has been awarded already, Best Ensemble Performance to the cast of Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza;s Warfare. Still to be announce is The Richard Harris Award that recognizes outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor.

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35th Annual Gotham Film Awards Nominations

The American Awards Season starts with with these nominations that represent 40 feature films and 25 perfromances in ten award categories. New this year, the Best Feature category is expanded to include 10 nominees, up from five.

Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another becomes a front runner for current award season as leads the pack with six (6) nominations, even when, surprise, surprise, Leonardo DiCaprio gets snubbed in the top acting category. (LOL) Mary Bronstein's If I Had Legs I'd Kick You follows with four (4) nominations, Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident and Park Chan-wook No Other Choice with three (3) each.

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82nd Venice International Film Festival Award Winners

So, it's over. Another year another festival that ends with unremarkable winners BUT during the festival audiences, industry pundits and film critics reactions to films were undoubtedly quite interesting and highlighted films that should get our attention. I know Jarmusch is a great filmmaker and surely the award is well-deserved; but let's be clear, American cinema does not need the buzz and noise that come as consequence of winning the top award, or any other award, at any of the three main film festivals. It's the World Cinema the one that needs all the noise that could be "free" generated by winning awards as then, and only then, film could become top-of-mind of industry buyers, distributors, and more important, audiences.

Truth is that 2025 Venice fest had many films that rose to my top-of-mind and I'm looking forward to have the opportunity of watching them, I just wish some of them could have gotten some recognition, sigh.

Ci vediamo nell prossimo anno!!!

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19th Queer Lion Award Winner

Update September 5: The 19th Queer Lion Award has been awarded to En El Camino by David Pablos, presented in Orizzonti.

Motivation: For the courage of producer Inna Payán in endorsing a project set within a world dominated by a machista subculture marked by violence and homophobia.
For the audacity of director David Pablos in his portrayal of a carnal, explicit, authentic, and unfiltered sexuality.
For the moving depiction of a pure love that unites two men, two solitudes, and two vulnerabilities that discover one another, embrace one another, and ultimately redeem one another: Queer Lion Award 2025 to En el camino by David Pablos.

David Pablos: “My film portrays a romantic relationship between two men within a hostile, violent setting — the world of truck drivers and highways — governed by the rules of heteronormativity and hypermasculinity. The story delves into the emotional limitations of the main characters, shaped by the machismo that dictates how they are expected to behave both socially and intimately.”

Queer Lion Award winner will be crowned during the award ceremony of the Venice International Film Critics’ Week, on Friday, September 5th, at 7PM, at Casa I Wonder, Lido di Venezia.

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22nd Giornate degli Autori Award Winners

So it is over and winners have been uncover and recognized for the unique qualities that make them go to the top of the best of the world filmmakers. This edition films from Iran, Greece, Italy, Portugal and more countries got honored in this Venice Film Festival autonomous section. Here are some of the reasons why films were highlighted.

Top Award winner: Inside Amir by Amir Azizi
“The film we will honor tonight is a meditation on everyday life. It reminds us of how daily routines, movements, and conversations with friends provide both security and freedom. With a framing that little by little reveals a complex life marked by loss and grief against a backdrop of exile and social upheaval, the film asks fundamental questions about what it means to belong and the existential doubts that follow in the wake of such thoughts. It is a film that takes time to listen, and that shows how unexpected, spontaneous encounters build a rich life. The film’s precise dialogue and staging give a strong sense of presence, and as a viewer you feel a generosity in the way you are invited in among a group of friends and get to take part of both intimate, profound, and trivial conversations. Another thing that gives great pleasure when watching this film is the subtle use of different time periods, often in the same frame, and often during the same bike ride. It is an honor to give the Giornate degli Autori award to Daroon-E Amir (Inside Amir) by Amir Azizi.”  Jury statement.

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40th Venice International Film Critics' Week Award Winners

It is over and section was closed with the following words from Beatrice Fiorentino, the Artistic Director of la Settimana Internazionale della Critica.

"Forty editions on, we continue believing in cinema that makes bold choices, that takes risks, that speaks to the present with its own voice. This edition has brought to life vivid images, bodies that resist, dreams that claim a space for themselves. And a curious, young, attentive audience has understood the message. The future is not written, but it can be filmed".

To check winners at official site go here.

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July 22, 2025
This morning had a huge surprise when found the complete line up and all press materials for the 2025 edition of la Settimana, so will do post while waiting for the #Venice82 press conference.

In 2025, the Settimana Internazionale della Critica celebrates a double anniversary. Forty years of this wonderful institution, first conceived in 1984 by the Director of the Venice International Film Festival Gian Luigi Rondi and enthusiastically brought to life by the President of the Sindacato Nazionale dei Critici Cinematografici Italiani (SNCCI) Lino Miccichè and film critic Giorgio Tinazzi, who became its first General Delegate.

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82nd Venice International Film Festival Lineup

Today, July 22. A very long press conference with a cascade of films in the Biennale Cinema selection, as a matter of fact it was after an hour and 15 minutes that the competition was finally announced. The selection has not many "surprises" as most films were expected, especially in the main competition.

The best news are the inclusion of Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska with Noomi Rapace playing Mother Teresa, not in #Venezia82 competition but in #Orizzonti2025 competition. Oh! Ozon's L'Etranger is in Competition!!! that's the most pleasant surprise as just a few days back discovered the film and even posted about it. Great! 

Kim Novack and Werner Herzog are being honored with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, a decision made by the Board of Directors of La Biennale upon recommendation of the Artistic Director of the Festival, Alberto Barbera.

The actress and author Emanuela Fanelli will host the opening and closing nights of the Biennale Cinema.

On August 26th two Pre-Opening films, 1929 Queen Kelly by Erich von Stroheim with music performed by the Syntax Ensemble, film will be shown as world premiere in a new version restored incorporating newly discovered materiasls; and Origin, the Venetian Lagoon by Yann Arthus Bertrand, the famous French photographer, director and environmentalists.

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#Venezia82 Rumors

Update July 17 - Toronto Film Festival announced 11 films in the official selection and because some of them are World Premiere it's sure thing that they will not be in #Venezia82. These are the films: The Chorla by Nicholas Hytner, Roofman by Derek Cianfrance, Franz by Agniezka Holland, The Lost Bus by Paul Greengrass, Rental Family by Hikari, Steal Away by Clement Virgo, and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery by Rian Johnson.

The rest of the 11 films are North American premiere because they were in Cannes and/other film festivals. But there is one film, Canadian Premiere, that probably will be in Venice and/or Telluride: Hamnet by Chloé Zhao.

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June 2, 2025

Two weeks before the press conference where Alberto Barbera and Pietranelo Buttafuoco announce the 2025 Biennale Cinema lineup, rumors are abound all over the cinema universe. Here are some of those rumors.

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98th Academy Awards International Feature Film Submissions

Update November 22, 2025. Finally AMPAS published the "Eligible for Consideration in the International Feature Film Category" list and there are eighty-six (86) films that were accepted by the Academy.

Not on final list: Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Tajikistan and Thailand. Out of these countries Thailand and Cambodia usually send an annual film and Thailand  announced the reason why their film is not on the final list, "submission mishap" and Kazakhstan published the letter AMPAS sent to them stating that one member of the committee is also part of the submitted film crew.

The films not in the final list are strikeout and have a green asterisk (*) and are still legible as list is my source of films I should watch, if I haven't seen them; fortunately have seen five, which is not too-many, but my favorite from those five is still Peacock, the Austrian entry.  The films have been deleted on the map, at MOC and Pinterest lists.

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64th Semaine de la Critique Award Winners

Cannes parallel section just came to an end with the awards announced at the closing ceremony yesterday, May 21st, 2025 by jury president Rodrigo Sorogoyen and jury members Jihane Bougrine, Josée Deshaies, Yulina Evina Bhara and Daniel Kaluuya.

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