Awards: 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners!

Top honors went to Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Whiplash and Nightcrawler

Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA, handed out top honors to Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Whiplash and Nightcrawler at yesterday afternoon’s 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards. Still Alice, Dear White People, Ida, Land Ho! and CITIZENFOUR also received awards at the ceremony, which was held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. Inherent Vice received the Robert Altman Award and Foxcatcher received a Special Distinction Award. In addition to being the celebration that honors artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody independence and originality, the Spirit Awards is the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs.

Over the past 30 years, the Film Independent Spirit Awards has made a name for itself as the premiere awards show for the independent film community. Artists who have received industry recognition first at the Spirit Awards include Joel and Ethan Coen, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Ashley Judd, Robert Rodriguez, David O. Russell, Edward Burns, Aaron Eckhart, Neil LaBute, Darren Aronofsky, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Hilary Swank, Marc Forster, Todd Field, Christopher Nolan, Zach Braff, Amy Adams, Lena Dunham and many more.

This year’s major category winners were Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance); which won Best Feature, Best Male Lead and Best Cinematography, Boyhood; which won Best Director and Best Supporting Female, Nightcrawler; which won Best First Feature and Best Screenplay and Whiplash; which won Best Supporting Male and Best Editing; Still Alice, which won Best Female Lead;Dear White People, which won Best First Screenplay; Land Ho!, which won the John Cassavetes Award; Ida, which won Best International Film and CITIZENFOUR, which won Best Documentary.

The 8th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice received this award, along with casting director Cassandra Kulukundis and ensemble cast members Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon and Michael Kenneth Williams.

The Special Distinction Award, given to a film for its uniqueness of vision, honesty of direction and screenwriting, superb acting and overall filmmaking achievement, was given to Foxcatcher. The award was given to director/producer Bennett Miller, producers Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik, writers E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, actors Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum.

The 2015 Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship which includes a cash grant of $10,000 was awarded to Christina Choe. This annual award is given to a filmmaker currently participating in a Film Independent Artist Development program with the mission of diversity in mind. Choe, a participant in the 2015 Directing Lab, is currently in active pre-production on her first narrative feature film, Nancy.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are sponsored by Premier Sponsors Piaget, The Lincoln Motor Company, Bank of America, Heineken, American Airlines and IFC. T-Mobile® is the Official Arrivals Show Sponsor, Sauza 901 Tequila is the Official Spirit and FIJI Water is the Official Water of the 2015 Spirit Awards. WireImage is the Official Photographer of Film Independent.

The production team for this year’s Spirit Awards includes executive producer and director Joel Gallen, producers Shawn Davis and Rick Austin.

The following is a complete list of the winners:

Best Feature: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

Best Director: Richard Linklater (IFC Films)

Best Screenplay: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)

Best First Feature: Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)
Director: Dan Gilroy, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

Best First Screenplay: Justin Simien, Dear White People (Roadside Attractions/ Lionsgate)

John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Land Ho! (Sony Pictures Classics)
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens, Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

Best Supporting Female: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood (IFC Films)

Best Supporting Male: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Female Lead: Julianne Moore, Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Male Lead: Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Robert Altman Award: Inherent Vice (Warner Bros.)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis, Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams.

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Editing: Tom Cross, Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best International Film: Ida (Poland – Music Box Films)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Best Documentary: CITIZENFOUR (RADiUS-TWC / HBO Documentary Films / Participant Media)
Director: Laura Poitras; Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky

Special Distinction Award: Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics)
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller, Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik, Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

For more information or to become a member, visit filmindependent.org.

PSIFF 2015: 50 Must-see films!

"Concrete Night","Cowboys",  "Human Capital", "Wild Tales", "Mommy" and 45 other Oscar titles are in the official Awards Buzz selection!


Films from 50 countries are part of the Awards Buzz section of the 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival which begins January 2, 2015.

Buzzy titles from Argentina (Wild Tales), Denmark (Force Majeure), Belgium (Two Days, One Night), Poland (Ida), Russia (Leviathan), Finland (Concrete Night), Croatia (Cowboys), Canada (Mommy), Turkey (Winter Sleep) are among the films to be screened.

Full list below. I highlighted those that I have already seen with their respective ratings.

A Few Cubic Meters of Love (Afghanistan), Director Jamshid Mahmoudi
Wild Tales (Argentina), Director Damián Szifrón (5 Stars)
Charlie’s Country (Australia), Director Rolf de Heer
The Dark Valley (Austria), Director Andreas Prochaska
Nabat (Azerbaijan), Director Elchin Musaoglu                
Two Days, One Night (Belgium/France/Italy), Directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (5 Stars)
The Way He Looks (Brazil), Director Daniel Ribeiro
Mommy (Canada), Director Xavier Dolan
To Kill a Man (Chile), Director Alejandro Fernández Almendras (4 ½ Stars)
The Nightingale (China), Director Philippe Muyl
Mateo (Colombia), Director Maria Gamboa
Cowboys (Croatia), Director Tomislav Mršić (4 ½ Stars)
Behavior (Cuba), Director Ernesto Daranas
Fair Play (Czech Republic), Director Andrea Sedláčková
Sorrow and Joy (Denmark), Director Nils Malmros
Tangerines (Estonia), Director Zaza Urushadze
Concrete Night (Finland), Director Pirjo Honkasalo (5 Stars)
Saint Laurent (France), Director Bertrand Bonello
Corn Island (Georgia), Director George Ovashvili
Beloved Sisters (Germany), Director Dominik Graf
Little England (Greece), Director Pantelis Voulgaris
The Golden Era (Hong Kong), Director Ann Hui (4 Stars)
White God (Hungary), Director Kornél Mundruczó
Life in a Fishbowl (Iceland), Director Baldvin Zophoníasson (3 ½ Stars)
Liar’s Dice (India), Director Geetu Mohandas
Today (Iran), Director Reza Mirkarimi
Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Israel), Directors Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
Human Capital (Italy), Director Paolo Virzì (3 ½ Stars)
The Light Shines Only There (Japan), Director Mipo O
Three Windows and a Hanging (Kosovo), Director Isa Qosja
Kurmanjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains (Kyrgyzstan), Director Sadyk Sher-Niyaz
Rocks in My Pockets (Latvia), Director Signe Baumane
Ghadi (Lebanon), Director Amin Dora
Never Die Young (Luxembourg), Director Pol Cruchten
Timbuktu (Mauritania/France), Director Abderrahmane Sissako
Accused (Netherlands), Director Paula van der Oest
1001 Grams (Norway), Director Bent Hamer (5 Stars)
Dukhtar (Pakistan), Director Afia Nathaniel
Eyes of a Thief (Palestine), Director Najwa Najjar
Norte, the End of History (Philippines), Director Lav Diaz (3 ½ Stars)
Ida (Poland), Director Pawel Pawlikowski (4 ½ Stars)
The Japanese Dog (Romania), Director Tudor Cristian Jurgiu (4 Stars)
Leviathan (Russia), Director Andrey Zvyagintsev
See You in Montevideo (Serbia), Director Dragan Bjelogrlić (3 ½ Stars)
Sea Fog (South Korea), Director Sung-bo Shim
Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed (Spain), Director David Trueba
Force Majeure (Sweden), Director Ruben Ã-stlund (5 Stars)
Winter Sleep (Turkey), Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The Guide (Ukraine), Director Oles Sanin
Mr. Kaplan (Uruguay), Director Álvaro Brechner

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "Concrete Night"

Jari Virman (Ilkka) and Johannes Brotherus (Simo), CONCRETE NIGHT

“Concrete Night” starts with a dream that morphs into a nightmare for Simo, the central character in Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo’s relentlessly depressing film about a boy’s final hours.

The film is shot in gorgeous black-and-white that heightens the dreamlike quality of the storytelling. The story is about Simo and his brother, the prison-bound Ilkka and tracks the final day of freedom for Ilkka before he starts serving his prison sentence. Simo is forced by his mother to spend the day with his brother because she fears Ilkka might harm himself.

Simo, at 14, is as impressionable as any teenager on the verge of puberty. He adores his brother, he hates his mother (who doesn’t seem to have any sense of what proper parenting is) and he regards with suspicion his neighbor – just because he behaves strangely (the film suggests that the neighbor could be gay.)

The film puts the audience into a hypnotic spell as it follows the two brothers around town. The movie is told from Simo’s perspective and from a night spent with his drunken brother he develops this belief that there is no more hope to be had from this world. That hope belongs to the weak.

It’s difficult to place the story in a world that’s familiar to the audience. Yes, it’s about a boy losing his sense of perspective but it seems more than that. Simo’s story seems to mirror society’s disregard of the promise of its youth. From the mother who would consider going on a date with a lover than to spend the day with her son or to a photographer who is misunderstood just because he appears different. The youth here is left to fend for itself. To recognize what is right and wrong. To act on impulse and disregard any consequence of his action until it is too late. And what is really depressing for this writer is how, until the very end, the youth is left to decide for him a fate he did not design, but a fate he thought was intended for him

This is definitely one of the best movies this writer has seen all year. It moves you to think about the story it presents but at the same time it comforts you with the notion that what you are watching is all but a dream and you have the option to wake up anytime. The beautiful cinematography and the strong performances by the cast specially the stunning young actor Johannes Brotherus, who plays Simo, make you all feel that – or, I guess, I am only trying to make me feel good by looking at it with hope versus Simo’s bleak perspective.

For a lover of cinema, the filmmaking here is simply majestic: The filmmaker’s aesthetic choices, her narrative technique and her brave depiction of the recklessness and hopelessness of the characters seem organic and innate – and it makes me so even sadder for Simo and Ilkka now that I am writing this review. Please excuse me, as I cry in sorrow again.

Rating: 5 Stars

xxx
Raymond Lo