Innovative Movie Talent Shines Once Again With The Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

In case you somehow missed it, the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees, presented by Lily Collins and Tessa Thompson, an event growing in stature and significance each year. Not only is the roll-out of such exceptional work from the indie film scene an integrated part of the Academy Awards build-up, it is also an exciting, essential recognition of the diverse, unique talent on show.

Oscarologists are likely to get their knickers in a twist over both the films hitting big in many categories, as well as those missing out on several, or not showing up at all. In the meantime, though, let’s continue to celebrate and embrace the innovative work of independent cinema, with these nominations and beyond. 

BEST FEATURE

Call Me By Your Name
Lady Bird
Get Out
The Florida Project
The Rider

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Columbus
Ingrid Goes West
Menashe
Oh Lucy!
Patti Cake$

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Dayveon
A Ghost Story
Life and nothing more
Most Beautiful Island
The Transfiguration

BEST DIRECTOR

Sean Baker (The Florida Project)
Jonas Carpignano (A Ciambra)
Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie (Good Time)
Chloé Zhao (The Rider)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Azazel Jacobs (The Lovers)
Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Mike White (Beatriz at Dinner)

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Kris Avedis, Kyle Espeleta, Jesse Wakeman (Donald Cried)
Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick)
Ingrid Jungermann (Women Who Kill)
Kogonada (Columbus)
David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer (Ingrid Goes West)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Thimios Bakatakis (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Elisha Christian (Columbus)
Hélène Louvart (Beach Rats)
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Call Me by Your Name)
Joshua James Richards (The Rider)

BEST EDITING

Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie (Good Time)
Walter Fasano (Call Me by Your Name)
Alex O’Flinn (The Rider)
Gregory Plotkin (Get Out)
Tatiana S. Riegel (I, Tonya)

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Salma Hayek (Beatriz at Dinner)
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
Shinobu Terajima (Oh Lucy!)
Regina Williams (Life and nothing more)

BEST MALE LEAD

Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats)
James Franco (The Disaster Artist)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Robert Pattinson (Good Time) 

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Holly Hunter (The Big Sick)
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime)
Taliah Lennice Webster (Good Time)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Nnamdi Asomugha (Crown Heights)
Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name)
Barry Keoghan (The Killing of a Sacred Deer)
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Bennie Safdie (Good Time)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Mudbound (Director: Dee Rees; Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram; Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BPM (Beats Per Minute), France (Robin Campillo)
A Fantastic Woman, Chile (Sebastián Lelio)
I Am Not a Witch, Zambia (Rungano Nyoni)
Lady Macbeth, U.K. (William Oldroyd)
Loveless, Russia (Andrey Zvyagintsev)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Departure (Lana Wilson)
Faces Places (Agnés Varda, JR; Rosalie Varda)
Last Men in Aleppo (Feras Fayyad; Kareem Abeed, Søeren Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos)
Motherland (Ramona S. Diaz; Rey Cuerdo)
Quest (Jonathan Olshefski; Sabrina Schmidt Gordon)

BONNIE AWARD – recognizes mid-career female directors with a $50,000 unrestricted grant.

So Yong Kim
Lynn Shelton
Chloé Zhao

JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by the Jeep brand.

Shevaun Mizrahi (director of Distant Constellation)
Jonathan Olshefski (director of Quest)
Jeff Unay (director of The Cage Fighter)

KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

Amman Abbasi (director of Dayveon)
Justin Chon (director of Gook)
Kevin Phillips (director of Super Dark Times)

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim
Ben LeClair
Summer Shelton

Cannes Winners Among The European Film Nominations

The European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the 30th European Film Awards on 4th November 2017. A few familiar films currently making the awards circuit that premiered in Cannes show up multiple times here, including the big winners at the festival. Here are the nominations:

European Film

120 battements par minute / BPM (Beats per Minute) (Robin Campillo) France
Nelyubov / Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev) Russia, Belgium, Germany, France
Teströl és lélekröl / On Body and Soul (Ildikó Enyedi) Hungary
Toivon tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki) Finland, Germany
The Square (Ruben Östlund) Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark

European Comedy

King of the Belgians (Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth) Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria
The Square (Ruben Östlund) Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark
Vincent (Christophe van Rompaey) Belgium, France
Willkommen bei den Hartmanns / Welcome to Germany (Simon Verhoeven) Germany

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI

Petit paysan / Bloody Milk (Hubert Charuel) France
Bezbog / Godless (Ralitza Petrova) Bulgaria, Denmark, France
Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd) United Kingdom
Estiu 1993 / Summer 1993 (Carla Simón) Spain
Die Einsiedler / The Eremites (Ronny Trocker) Germany, Austria

European Documentary

Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa) Germany
Komunia / Communion (Anna Zamecka) Poland
La Chana (Lucija Stojevic) Spain, Iceland, United States
Stranger in Paradise (Guido Hendrikx) Netherlands
Hyvä postimies / The Good Postman (Tonislav Hristov) Finland, Bulgaria

European Animated Feature

(nominees were announced on 24th October 2017)

Ethel & Ernest (Roger Mainwood) United Kingdom
Louise by the Shore (Jean-François Laguionie) France, Canada
Loving Vincent (Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman) Poland, United Kingdom
Zombillenium (Arthur de Pins, Alexis Ducord) France, Belgium

European Short Film

Copa-Loca (Greece) 14 min
En La Boca (Switzerland, Argentina) 26 min
Fight on a Swedish Beach!! (Sweden) 15 min
Information Skies (The Netherlands, South Korea) 24 min
Love (Hungary, France) 14 min
Os Humores Artificiais / The Atifical Humors (Portugal) 29 min
Heverk / The Circle (Turkey) 14 min
Los Desheredados / The Disinherited (Spain) 19 min
The Party (Ireland) 14 min
Time-Code (Spain) 15 min
Ugly (Germany) 12 min
Wannabe (Austria, Germany) 30 min
Scris/Nescris / Written/Unwritten (Romania) 20 min
Gros Chagrin / You Will Be Fine France (15 min)
Jeunes Hommes a La Fenetre / Young Men at Their Window France (18 min)

European Director

Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary) Teströl és lélekröl / On Body and Soul
Aki Kaurismäki (Finland) Toivon tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope
Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece) The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Ruben Östlund (Sweden) The Square
Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia) Nelyubov / Loveless

European Actress

Paula Beer (Germany) Frantz
Juliette Binoche (France) Un beau soleil intérieur / Bright Sunshine In
Alexandra Borbély (Hungary) Teströl és lélekröl / On Body and Soul
Isabelle Huppert (France) Happy End
Florence Pugh (United Kingdom) Lady Macbeth

European Actor

Claes Bang (Denmark) The Square
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (Argentina) 120 battements par minute / BPM (Beats per Minute)
Colin Farrell (Ireland) The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Josef Hader (Austria) Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe
Jean-Louis Trintignant (France) Happy End

European Screenwriter

Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary) Teströl és lélekröl / On Body and Soul
Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou (Greece) The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia) Nelyubov / Loveless
Ruben Östlund (Sweden) The Square
François Ozon (France) Frantz

People’s Choice Award

(nominees were announced on 1st September 2017)

A Monster Calls (J. A. Bayona) Spain
Bridget Jones’s Baby (Sharon Maguire) Ireland, United Kingdom, France, United States
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (David Yates) United Kingdom, United States
Frantz (François Ozon) France, Germany
Bacalaureat / Graduation (Cristian Mungiu) Romania, France, Belgium
La pazza gioia / Like Crazy (Paolo Virzì) Italy, France
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (Maria Schrader) Germany, Austria, France
Kollektivet / The Commune (Thomas Vinterberg) Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands
Toivon tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki) Finland, Germany

University Award

(nominees were announced on 10th October 10 2017)

Hjartasteinn / Heartstone (Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsso) Iceland, Denmark
Home (Fien Troch) Belgium
Nelyubov / Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev) Russia, Belgium, Germany, France
Toivon tuolla puolen / The Other Side of Hope (Aki Kaurismäki) Finland, Germany
The War Show (Andreas Dalsgaard, Obaidah Zytoon) Denmark, Syria, Finland

The winners who will be presented during the awards ceremony on 9 December in Berlin.

NZIFF: Christchurch Closes Its Film Festival Curtain

The curtain has fallen on NZIFF’s Christchurch leg for 2017, and it has been a remarkable Festival. Every year, NZIFF goes above and beyond to provide cinephiles with the best New Zealand and the world has to offer cinematically. Better yet, the Festival is not just in a single location, but across New Zealand, with dates and selections varying. One of the benefits of this is that there tends to be a bit of a ‘trickle down’ in terms of reviews, features and film fan recommendations.

For instance, someone in Auckland can rave about a film and it piques the interest of those (like myself) in Christchurch who are awaiting the start of the Festival in Christchurch. One thing’s for certain- the NZIFF is a great way to meet new people as well. Sit next to a stranger for a screening and you’re instant besties (and they’ve offered you tickets to a screening they can’t attend as well- true story! It happened to me at The Lost City of Z).

For me, the New Zealand International Film Festival is a place where memories are made. I must confess, I had put off attending the Festival on a regular basis until 2013. Before then, it was something I’d put on hold. I’m not entirely sure why, as it provides three weeks of utter cinematic bliss- why would anyone deny themselves that?

Interestingly, I recall being at the cinema with my best friend in 2012, just about to watch the film that would cause me to ‘wake up’ and pursue my career goals, poring over the 2013 NZIFF brochure. I mentioned that one day I’d love to volunteer, perhaps as a Publicity Assistant. Fast forward to Closing Night 2013, and Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive. Bill Gosden, NZIFF Director, was there to speak prior to the film. I looked at my partner and wished I’d had my resume with me, although it might have been quite a sight, Mr Gosden leaving the theatre with a short, chubby blonde waving a resume around!

Fortuitously, however, I was the Publicity Assistant for Christchurch’s NZIFF in 2014, a thoroughly enjoyable experience and something I treasure to this day. This was in the fledgling days of building Film Sprites PR, my freelance publicity and digital marketing consultancy for independent film. I think the films you view at NZIFF tend to serve as markers of memory and passages of time, just as certain songs are etched in your memory due to certain events, or certain smells evoke moods and reminders. In my case, I will always think fondly of the films Locke, We Are the Best! and CitizenFour due to their association with my stint as Publicity Assistant for NZIFF in 2014. They’re like little charms on a charm bracelet, talismans of memory.

Now Christchurch has the utterly majestic Isaac Theatre Royal as the jewel in the crown- a magnificent place which has risen like a phoenix, rebuilt and refurbished after the devastating Christchurch earthquake of 2011. Fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, the Isaac Theatre Royal is a truly wonderful place to experience NZIFF screenings. There’s nothing like venturing out on a frosty Christchurch evening and walking towards the Isaac Theatre Royal for an NZIFF screening; the front of the building lit up resplendently and acting as a beacon to cinephiles: “come forward- magic awaits you.”

This year, I attended what was for me a record number of screenings. I would have liked to have attended screenings into multiple figures, but unfortunately my schedule didn’t allow it. Nevertheless, when the Box Office opened online for the Festival, I was there with my credit card, hands shaking slightly (yes, really!), ready to purchase my tickets and update my diary. The beauty of the NZIFF website is that when you register with the site, you can build a Wishlist of films. The benefit of this is that it will show you if there are any clashes in your scheduling. From there, when the Box Office is open, you can purchase tickets for your chosen films. It’s a feature which makes things so much easier, and stops the potential for scheduling clashes.

So, looking back over the films I attended for NZIFF, and after seeing them all, here are my final thoughts about each film, and with a final star rating for each:

Stalker (4 stars)
Tarkovsky’s Stalker is a film that prompts you to engage with it long after you’ve left with the cinema. What is ostensibly dystopic Russian science fiction also prompts thinking about the nature of human desire: what is it that we’re really searching for? What’s at the root of our desires? Do we desire certain things because we believe it will lead to an end to our suffering, and if so, what if it’s better to acknowledge that suffering and learn how to live with it? For me, Stalker transcended mere cinematic viewing and became an experience. It’s a deeply spiritual and thought-provoking film.

Spookers (3 stars)
Documentary film is my favourite genre by far, and Florian Habicht’s Spookers is a deliciously genre-defying watch. Documentary melds with fanciful fiction to create something truly special. There are some brilliant laughs, but the beauty of Spookers is that your heart will be opened wide to welcome in the people behind the frightful theme park characters. These are real people, with real stories- they have suffered hardships, experienced loss, but have found their place, and a new family. Spookers gets an entire extra half-point for the “Sausages Are Beautiful” song, because there’s nothing more Kiwi than a saussie on a piece of bread with tomato sauce.

6 Days (3 stars)
My experience of viewing 6 Days was further enhanced by the fact I attended the Q&A session with Kate Adie, played by Abbie Cornish in the film. Not only is Kate an engaging and intelligent person, it heightened the experience of the film considerably. This is brilliant filmmaking. It’s tense and tightly scripted, with no extraneous detail or unnecessary dialogue. It’s about the Iran Embassy siege in London, 1980- nothing more, nothing less, and that’s a good thing. It’s such a deliciously tense film and brilliantly effective.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (4 and a half stars)
I was pretty sure after seeing The Killing of a Sacred Deer that it was going to be my favourite film of the year, and that only Herculean effort would top it. I was trying to describe it in a spoiler-free way to a friend last night, and said it was “like Hitchcock on LSD”. If you can get through the first five moments and the opening scene (yes, really), you are ready to face the onslaught of tension and terror. As much as I loved Lanthimos’ The Lobster, I think The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the more satisfying of the two films. I would love to see Lanthimos write and direct a third English-language feature, starring Collin Farrell, in order to have a trilogy of sorts. When Lanthimos’ next film is out, I will be there, front and centre at the first available viewing- he has well and truly gained a fan! The win at Cannes 2017 for Best Screenplay was well and truly deserved.

The Lost City of Z (3 and a half stars)
I had to be ruthless with my rating of this, thus I removed half a star (sorry, James Gray!) because it was the film in the bunch that had me going: “yes…but…”. Don’t get me wrong: I loved this film. I did. But I wanted so much more from the character dynamics. That being said, the performances were utterly delightful and engaging, and as I mentioned in my full review of the film Tom Holland is a scene-stealer in the third half, not in a showy way but with a quiet intensity that some actors twice his age might not have been able to muster.

The Square (5 stars)
This was the Herculean effort that managed to knock The Killing of a Sacred Deer off the top spot amongst my NZIFF films. Clever, funny and with a very deep heart and social conscience, it’s a film that is as quirky as it is accessible, and a true testament to the magic of filmmaking. An absolute winner, and deserving of the Palme d’or.

Lynnaire MacDonald, Publicist and Founder, Film Sprites PR

NZIFF Review: The Killing of a Sacred Deer

 

One of the benefits of film festivals like NZIFF is that cinephiles have the opportunity to sample some very different fare from what is offered on a regular basis, and if you’re looking for something to challenge you cinematically, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer absolutely fits the bill.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the tale of Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell), a cardiothoracic surgeon living with Ophthalmologist wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and their two children, until a teenager (Barry Keoghan) infiltrates their lives and places them in the most difficult moral position imaginable.

Lanthimos’ follow up to the intriguing The Lobster is tense and murky, at some points an exercise in personal endurance thanks to the extreme level of tension…but it works. From the very first confronting frame of the film to the last, there is no relief. Even with moments of humour interspersed, this doesn’t act as a release valve on the tension. In fact, it serves to make such a bleak and tense atmosphere momentarily absurd- it’s something that works better than you’d think. Even in the first half hour when we get a glimpse into the lives of the Murphys and their life of beige respectability there’s a murky underbelly: Steven is a somnophiliac, preferring to engage in sex with Anna in the repose of a person under general anaesthetic, and Anna is sickeningly obsessed with their son, Bob- she coos adoringly at his hair and is effusive with her praise (while simultaneously ignoring daughter Kim).

The Killing of a Sacred Deer has Hitchcockian and Polanskian levels of tension. In fact, it shares cinematic conventions with Polanski’s Repulsion: just as Catherine Deneuve’s character in Repulsion goes from the wide-open spaces outside of her apartment to being isolated by increasing insanity within the confines of the apartment, The Killing of a Sacred Deer goes from having exteriors and scenes outside of the Murphy home to being confined inside the house as the third act ratchets up the tension rapidly towards the denouement.

There’s also an intriguing use of camerawork. There are low-angle shots from behind characters, as if we are lowly voyeurs (especially given the standing of the Murphys in the community)- how dare we watch them? Lanthimos is also unafraid to defy convention. At times, the camera will be tightly focused on the character who isn’t speaking, creating another feeling of unease.

Farrell and Kidman both deliver fantastic performances, but ample praise also needs to be heaped upon the younger members of the cast: Raffey Cassidy as daughter Kim, Sunny Suljic as Bob, and Barry Keoghan’s Martin. Thanks to Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou’s award-winning script (it won Best Screenplay at Cannes 2017), Cassidy and Suljic are not mere decorative pieces in the film, and the script demands a huge amount of intelligence and raw physicality. Barry Keoghan as Martin is by turns quirky and awkward, before delving into chilling and merciless sociopathy. Casting directors should be taking note of these three incredible young performers.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a hugely tense, dark film and utterly compelling. It’s not exactly the sort of viewing you’d pick for a rainy Sunday, but there is so much artistic and emotional payoff that it deserves a massive amount of praise. I’m going out on a limb here and saying that it is not only my pick of NZIFF 2017, but also my personal pick for film of the year.

Lynnaire MacDonald, Publicist and Founder, Film Sprites PR

Cannes Compétition Prospectus – The Killing of a Sacred Deer

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Yorgos Lanthimos

Ireland, United Kingdom, United States

CRITICAL RESPONSE

“As in all his best work, Lanthimos is brilliant at summoning up a whole created world and immersing us in it. But its weirdness has a double meaning: it has a stylised element of absurdism and it is also a plausible expression of denial.” – Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian)

“Lanthimos is one of those filmmakers whose style is so distinctive that even if you watch a few random minutes of one of his films (blindfolded or eyes open) without knowing its maker, you could eventually detect his footprint. A steady rhythm, a contempt for anything ordinary or natural-feeling, hauntingly robotic dialogue delivery… all his filmmaking go-tos are dialed up to maximum effect in his latest.” – Tomris Laffly (Film Journal)

“Fortunately, the filmmaker’s rare gift for brutal absurdity remains intact, and “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” only gets funnier as it grows darker. As with every Lanthimos cast, all of the actors here are totally keyed in to the proper tone.” – David Ehrlich (IndieWire)

PRIZE POTENTIAL

Lanthimos is a Cannes regular now, and winner: Un Certain Regard victor with Dogtooth, and Jury Prize for The Lobster (the awful Chronic somehow won the Screenplay prize – talk about absurd). Coming from a Greek household my bias may hold some ground here, but there is a feeling the streak will continue as Lanthimos reawakens modern cinema with his unique, magnetic vision and story-telling. I’d be both shocked and upset if this does not show up in one of the main three prizes. Or the Screenplay of course.