#Oscars2025 International Feature Film Shortlist

Yesterday The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlist for the International Feature Film category and even when there are some expected films, there are others that surprised me. Sigh.

Was hoping for Emilia Pérez to be in the list because believe it's a great innovative film and Jaques Audiard, one of my favorite contemporary directors deserve all the accolades for this movie. What I was not expecting is the list to contain a film by another of my favorite directors, Baltasar Kormákur with his film Touch that still have just because is his film.

Somehow knew The Seed of the Sacred Fig was going to be on the list and unfortunately the other non-English film with strong buzz All We Imagine as Light cannot make the list as another film was submitted by India. Other films expected to be on the list are I'm Still Here, Kneecap, The Girl with the Needle and Vermiglio. Wasn't sure if Flow would make it to this list as was hoping that film gets a nomination in the Animation category; still hope Flow gets a nomination in Animation category, as here there are too-many extremely good films competing for a spot in the nominations.

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40th Annual Artios Awards

As we all know Casting will soon become a category to be honored by AMPAS with Oscar recognition therefore now is good time to start monitoring the category.

First a brief background history of the once known as Casting Society of America (CSA) and since 1982 is known as Casting Society -dropped "of America" but kept the initials CSA- that nowadays is a global organization of casting professionals.

As I find some milestones interesting, will share them, like this one that talks about the first time a movie credited casting and movie is none other than the original Thomas Crown Affair. Pioneers like Marion Dougherty in New York and Lynn Stalmaster in Los Angeles open the first independent casting offices, breaking away from the studio system and changing the landscape of casting forever. In 1968, Lynn Stalmaster receives the first single card credit in the main title for The Thomas Crown Affair,recognizing the importance of casting directors in the industry.

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27th Costume Designers Guild Awards

On Friday, December 13, the guild announced nominations for the 27th CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards), celebrating excellence in film, television, short form costume design and costume illustration. As film categories define different film genres there is no film leading and nominated films include films like Conclave and Emilia Pérez in Contemporary Film, Maria and Saturday Night for Period Film, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film.

Only costume designers are listed in the initial release. Assistant costume designers will be announced at a later date, pending vetting and approval by the awards team.

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30th Prix Lumières

On Thursday, December 12th the Académie des Lumières announced the nominations for the 30th edition of the Prix Lumières given by international press correspondents from 38 countries which conform the Academy.

Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard leads with 6 nominations followed by L’Histoire de Souleymane (Souleymane's Story) by Boris Lojkine and Miséricorde (Misericordia by Alain Guiraudie with 5 nominations each, and with 4 nominations each, Quand vient l’automne (When Fall Is Coming) by François Ozon and Les Fantômes (Ghost Trail) by Jonathan Millet.

The awards ceremony will be on Monday, January 20, 2025 at Forum des Images. Thirteen categories will be honored with one Lumière trophy, creation of Monnaie de Paris by Joaquín Jiménez.

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75th Annual ACE Eddie Awards Nominations

A few days back the American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced the nominations for the awards that recognize outstanding editing in eleven categories of film, television, documentaries and more.

Since 1951, American Cinema Editors has celebrated the best in television and feature film editing which makes them one of the longest-running awards shows in the entertainment industry.

A prelude to the Oscars, the Eddies are considered a barometer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Best Picture and Best Editing categories. Since the last 24 years, the Eddie winner for theatrical drama has gone win the Academy Award for Best Editing 14 of 24 times. Nevertheless in the last four years only once have coincide.

The ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year, which recognizes distiguished achievent in art and business of film, will go to Jon M. Chu; Career Achievement Awards will be presented to Paul Hirsch and Maysie Hoy.

The Awards ceremony will be on January 18, 2025 at Royce Hall in Los Angeles.

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30th Annual Critics Choice Awards

Yesterday the Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced their nominations but before getting into them have to share the changes the organization suffered while I was in silence mode.

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) is a group of broadcast, radio and online critics as well as entertainment journalists who review films and documentaries as well as scripted and unscripted television.

Founded 28 years ago as the Broadcast Film Critics Association by Joey Berlin, Rod Lurie and 42 founding members, the CCA is now the largest critics organization in the USA and Canada with more than 580 members.

The CCA was officially formed in 2019 with the merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and its sister organization, the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. So, this means there is no longer a Broadcast Film Critics Association and now is the Critics Choice Association the one that presents the CCMovie Awards, CCSuper Awards, CCReal TV Awards, CCTelevision Awards, and CCDocumentary Awards plus Celebrations event of BlacK Cinema and Television, Latino Cinema and TV, and Asian Pacific Cinema and TV.

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12th Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards

Yesterday Julie Socash, IATSE Local 706 President, announced the nominations for the 12th Annual MUAHS Guild Awards.

The MUAHS Awards represent a spectrum of outstanding achievements in 23 categories of make-up and hair styling artistry in motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and live theater, including Broadway and international productions. In the industry the guild is known as IATSE Local 706.

As previously announced, Todd McIntosh, Emmy-winning make-up artist, known for his work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and Peter Tothpal, award-winning hair stylist known for his work on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards. The Distinguished Artisan honoree will be announced shortly.

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36th Producers Guild Awards

Yesterday, December 10th, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the 2025 Documentary Motion Picture nominees that will advance to the final round of voting to define a winner of Saturday, February 8th, 2025 at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

As organizers noted, below films are in the process of being vetted for individual producer eligibility which gives me clue to remind all that in this blog the film director is always listed after the movie name.

It is a big surprise to not find No Other Land, an awards season favorite, in the nominees and I'm not sure the reason why. Went to read trade articles but all I could find is that was an omission and nothing about being disqualified. So, went to the official site to read the Rules and Procedures Mark Eligibility - Documentary Motion Pictures (to read them go here) and according to rules, No Other Land qualified. Seems was an omission. Sigh.

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82nd Golden Globes Nominations

The Golden Globes are not what they used to be but perhaps now they'll start to recuperate their reputation now that they're are back to prime TV as awards ceremony will be broadcasted by CBS and also by their streaming service, Paramount+. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes used to be a very-funny televised show, quite dynamic with many unexpected (and very controversial) moments during the fun-to-watch no matter how long show. Let's hope this year show goes back to be the most entertaining awards show of the season.

As been mentioned in other posts I'm totally biased toward one of my very-favorite film director and yes I'm rooting for his film to win EVERYTHING!!! (LOL). No, seriously, Emilia Pérez is getting many honors from the new award owners (no longer are the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - now is Dick Clark Productions), as got 10 nominations, including two for masterfilmaker Jacques Audiard. Following are The Brutalist with 7, Conclave with 6, and with 5 each Anora and The Substance.

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2024 British Independent Film Awards Winners

Last night the British Independent Film Awards had their awards ceremony at the Roundhouse with host Peter Serafinowicz and star awards presenters including Alicia Vikander, Martin Freeman, Indira Varma, and James Norton who joined nominees and guests to celebrate the wealth of talent across British Independent film and beyond.

As expected -due to high Brit industry buzz- Kneecap was the big winner with 7 awards including Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Screenwriter,  and Best Joint Lead.  Undoubtedly the best quote from an acceptance speech comes from Rich Peppiat when he said: "There is an irony in the Best British film being Irish".  LOL

Best director went to Rungano Nyoni for his second feature after fabulous I Am Not A Witch and perhaps the most interesting award because of the recipients is the Best Ensemble Performance that went to Wicked Little Letters with a fantastic cast that includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eillen Atkins, Timothy Spall and Hugh Skinner. Yes, I have seen Wicked Little Letters and my mini-review goes like this, a very-very-British dry comedy, maybe missing a higher touch of beloved Brit dark humor.

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50th Annual Los Angeles Fim Critics Association Awards

Yesterday the so-called "most powerful" group of American film critics voted their 2024 awards and unlike their east coast counterparts who chose The Brutalist, their top award went to Cannes Palm d'Or winner Anora. Worth mention that The Brutalist was their runner-up and consequently it's becoming clearer that according to critics, The Brutalist and Anora could (or should) become Oscar contenders.

Group opted for performance neutral categories but then gave 2 awards in both lead and supporting performances, including the runners-up. Lead performance has 2 female winners and two female runners-up while supporting performance and runners-up had 2 males each. Sorry, but for these type of results think I prefer gender clarification as tends to give more opportunities to women and men in their own crafts; so please stop, there should be Best Actress and Best Actor in lead and supporting performances. Sigh.

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37th European Film Award Winners

Update December 8, 2024. In general, it was a nice-to-watch awards ceremony, very-European -as always-, with an agreeable polyglot host Fernando Tiberini, and a nice venue KKL Luzern on the shores of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Sigh.

BUT, it was too long. Mainly due to too-long speeches and since it was broadcasted, TV audience could see attendees falling asleep after the more acceptable 2 hours for a non-dynamic show.

Still there were some very exciting, quite funny, and short speeches -mainly by Jacques Audiard- and some serious but impactful speeches -Juliette Binoche, Karla Sofía Gascón and othe presenters or award winners-.

But the most exciting event of the night for me was Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard swept the board by triumphing in almost all top categories. Yes, I know film is divisive with many liking it (perhaps European?) the film and other many not-liking the film (mainly American). First let me explain or remain loyal readers, Jacque Audiard is one of my very favorite film directors and believe this film is as good as his first film I saw: A Prophet. I simply loved the film and stayed in my head for days trying to assimilate the many film layers and most of all, the experience! It's a fantastic and complete cinematic experience and yes, is the very first time I could say those words for a musical film!

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2024 National Board of Review Award Winners

Yesterday the National Board of Review (NBR) announced its honorees and leading the pack is Wicked with 3 awards, Best Film, Best Director, and the Spotlight Award.

The National Board of Review was originally founded to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.’s revocation of moving picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908 and since 1909 the organization has been recognizing excellence in filmmaking. This year, 246 films were viewed by a select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics, and students, many of which were followed by in-depth discussions with directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters. Ballots were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr CPA.

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40th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Today Film Independent, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, announced the nominations for the 40th annual edition of the Spirit Awards and leading the pack with 6 nominations each are Anora and I Saw the TV Glow.

This year the Spirit Awards Film Nominating Committees selected nominees from over 17 different countries with budget ranges between $112,000 to $28 million, applying the following guidelines in determining nominees: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter and economy of means. Of all the 2025 nominees, 46% are women and 30% are BIPOC. Within the nominated writers, directors, producers and technical artists, 43% are women and 24% are BIPOC. The nominated performers are 54% women and 48% BIPOC.

The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees are comprised of writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers and other working film professionals. This year, the Spirit Awards nominating committees are 47% female, 10% Nonbinary, 7% Transgender, and 66% BIPOC; 45% identify as LGBTQ+ and 13% identify as people with disabilities (PWD).

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2024 Film Critics Awards - In Progress

What's New

December 30:  Link to Nominations from Columbus Film Critics Association.

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Three years have pass since the last time I was able to do this compilation and as the first film critics group announced yesterday it's time to try to do this post again to see which film critics group are still alive, which are new and learn what are they liking enough to get their honors.

Worth mentioning is the fact that critics, by trade, are NOT Academy members and consequently cannot vote in the Oscars. 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 like.

There are full list of nominations and winners links to most groups official sites and will add announcements dates when and if they're announced/available.

Post will be in progress until the last group announces its winners which usually happens by the second week of January next year.

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