Awards: 2015 Independent Spirit Award Nominees!

Lav Diaz' "Norte, The End of History" lands a Spirit nomination!!! 

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night", "Birdman", "Boyhood", "Whiplash" all nominated!

NOMINEES

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer, Executive Producers are not awarded.)

BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
PRODUCERS: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

BOYHOOD - Predicted Winner
PRODUCERS: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland

LOVE IS STRANGE
PRODUCERS: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy

SELMA
PRODUCERS: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey

WHIPLASH
PRODUCERS: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT - Predicted Winner
DIRECTOR: Ana Lily Amirpour
PRODUCERS: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Justin Simien
PRODUCERS: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe

NIGHTCRAWLER
DIRECTOR: Dan Gilroy
PRODUCERS: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

OBVIOUS CHILD
DIRECTOR: Gillian Robespierre
PRODUCER: Elisabeth Holm

SHE’S LOST CONTROL
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Anja Marquardt
PRODUCERS: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

BLUE RUIN
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jeremy Saulnier
PRODUCERS: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

IT FELT LIKE LOVE
WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Eliza Hittman
PRODUCERS: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner

LAND HO!
WRITERS/DIRECTORS: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens
PRODUCERS: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

MAN FROM RENO - Predicted Winner
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Dave Boyle
WRITERS: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
PRODUCER: Ko Mori

TEST
WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Chris Mason Johnson
PRODUCER: Chris Martin

BEST DIRECTOR
DAMIEN CHAZELLE – Whiplash
AVA DUVERNAY – Selma
ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
RICHARD LINKLATER – Boyhood - Predicted Winner
DAVID ZELLNER – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY
SCOTT ALEXANDER, LARRY KARASZEWSKI – Big Eyes
J.C. CHANDOR – A Most Violent Year
DAN GILROY – Nightcrawler - Predicted Winner
JIM JARMUSCH – Only Lovers Left Alive
IRA SACHS, MAURICIO ZACHARIAS – Love is Strange

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
DESIREE AKHAVAN – Appropriate Behavior
SARA COLANGELO – Little Accidents
JUSTIN LADER – The One I Love
ANJA MARQUARDT – She’s Lost Control
JUSTIN SIMIEN – Dear White People - Predicted Winner

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
DARIUS KHONDJI – The Immigrant
EMMANUEL LUBEZKI – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
SEAN PORTER – It Felt Like Love
LYLE VINCENT – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night - Predicted Winner
BRADFORD YOUNG – Selma

BEST EDITING
SANDRA ADAIR – Boyhood - Predicted Winner
TOM CROSS – Whiplash
JOHN GILROY – Nightcrawler
RON PATANE – A Most Violent Year
ADAM WINGARD – The Guest

BEST MALE LEAD
ANDRÉ BENJAMIN – Jimi: All Is By My Side
JAKE GYLLENHAAL – Nightcrawler
MICHAEL KEATON - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Predicted Winner
JOHN LITHGOW – Love is Strange
DAVID OYELOWO – Selma

BEST FEMALE LEAD
MARION COTILLARD – The Immigrant
RINKO KIKUCHI – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
JULIANNE MOORE – Still Alice - Predicted Winner
JENNY SLATE – Obvious Child
TILDA SWINTON – Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
RIZ AHMED – Nightcrawler
ETHAN HAWKE – Boyhood
ALFRED MOLINA – Love is Strange
EDWARD NORTON – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Predicted Winner
J.K. SIMMONS – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
PATRICIA ARQUETTE – Boyhood
JESSICA CHASTAIN – A Most Violent Year - Predicted Winner
CARMEN EJOGO – Selma
ANDREA SUAREZ PAZ - Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
EMMA STONE – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
FORCE MAJEURE (Sweden) - DIRECTOR: Ruben Östlund
IDA (Poland) - DIRECTOR: Pawel Pawlikowski
LEVIATHAN (Russia) - DIRECTOR: Andrey Zvyagintsev
MOMMY (Canada) - DIRECTOR: Xavier Dolan - Predicted Winner
NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY (Philippines) - DIRECTOR: Lav Diaz
UNDER THE SKIN (United Kingdom) - DIRECTOR: Jonathan Glazer

BEST DOCUMENTARY
(Award given to the director and producer)

20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
DIRECTORS: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
PRODUCERS: Dan Bowen, James Wilson

CITIZENFOUR
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Laura Poitras
PRODUCERS: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky

STRAY DOG
DIRECTOR: Debra Granik
PRODUCER: Anne Rosellini

THE SALT OF THE EARTH - Predicted Winner
DIRECTORS: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders
PRODUCER: David Rosier

VIRUNGA
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Orlando von Einsiedel
PRODUCER: Joanna Natasegara

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

INHERENT VICE
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson
CASTING DIRECTOR: Cassandra Kulukundis
ENSEMBLE CAST: Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

FOXCATCHER
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Bennett Miller
WRITERS: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
PRODUCER: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
CAST: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

Winners will be announced February 21, 2015, one day before the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

AFIFest 2014: "From What is Before"

Lav Diaz's award-winning film "FROM WHAT IS BEFORE" finally had its US premiere today at the AFIFest. There were about 40 in attendance. By the 2 hour mark, about 5 left the screening. By the 4th hour, a third of the audience were gone.

When the film ended, a handful politely applauded the movie. A few left in a hurry. And my eyewitness source? She was disappointed with the film but praised the cinematography.

Her final text: "Very few clapped. Bitin ang ending." That's something for a movie that lasted nearly six hours!

The audience were provided with free refreshments and chips. Someone asked if there would be an intermission. The festival programmer introduced the film as "One-of-a-kind" --- literally, I guess.

The movie will have another screening tomorrow, November 13.

XXX
Raymond Lo

AFIFest2014: "Haemoo", "From What is Before", "Wild Tales" in World Cinema Selections

Melanie Laurent "Breathe"

The American Film Institute announced today the 29 films selected for the World Cinema Section of this year's AFIFest.

The second directorial film of acclaimed French actress Melanie Laurent, "Breathe", is in the lineup along with the new film, "'71", starring the sensational Irish actor (and this generation's Daniel Day-Lewis) Jack O'Connel and the Locarno-winning film, "From What is Before", from Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz.

Other titles in the selection are films competing for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar this year: "Leviathan" (Russia), "Wild Tales" (Argentina), "GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem" (Israel), "Timbuktu" (Mauritania), "Haemoo" (South Korea) and "Human Capital" (Italy).

AFIFest 2014 runs from November 6-13.

WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS

'71 - A rookie British soldier (rising star Jack O’Connell) must survive one night in war-torn Belfast at the height of the Troubles in this taut thriller.  DIR Yann Demange.  SCR Gregory Burke.  CAST Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann, Charlie Murphy, Sam Reid.   UK.

THE ABSENT (LOS AUSENTES) – When an elderly man loses his isolated cabin deep in the Mexican woods, he also loses his grip on reality.  DIR Nicolás Pereda.  SCR Alejandro Mendoza.  CAST Guadalupe Cárdenas, Eduard Fernández, Gabino Rodríguez.  Mexico.  U.S. Premiere.

AUGUST WINDS (VENTOS DE AGOSTO) – When a young Brazilian couple makes a discovery in the ocean waters off their small village, they must confront the realities of life and death.  DIR Gabriel Mascaro.  SCR Gabriel Mascaro & Rachel Ellis.  CAST Dandara de Morais, Geová Manoel dos Santos, Maria Salvino dos Santos, Gabriel Mascaro.  Brazil.

BLACK COAL, THIN ICE (BAI RI YAN HUO) – In this Berlin Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, a down-and-out former detective is lured back to an old murder case when the brutal killer re-emerges.  DIR Diao Yinan.  SCR Diao Yinan.  CAST Liao Fan, Gwei Lun Mei, Wang Xuebing, Wang Jingchun, Yu Ailei, Ni Jingyang.  China, Hong Kong.   This screening is co-presented by the China Onscreen Biennial 2014 and is the closing night screening of their Los Angeles series.

BREATHE (RESPIRE) – High school student Charlie is sent reeling after her intense friendship with Sarah falls apart in Mélanie Laurent’s sophomore feature.  DIR Mélanie Laurent.  SCR Mélanie Laurent & Julien Lambroschini.  CAST Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré, Claire Keim.  France.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY – An amateur butterfly collector and her housekeeper can’t get enough of their sadomasochistic games in this phantasmic tale.  DIR Peter Strickland.  SCR Peter Strickland.  CAST Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D'anna.  UK.

EDEN – Mia Hansen-Løve’s 20-year journey through the electronic dance music scene follows DJ Paul, whose love for the turntables stays strong even after the craze has ended.  DIR Mia Hansen-Løve.  SCR Mia Hansen-Løve & Sven Hansen-Løve.  CAST Felix De Givry, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne, Greta Gerwig, Golshifteh Farahani, Laura Smet, Vincent Lacoste.  France.

THE FOOL (DURAK) – A small-town plumber must evacuate a building before its occupants are put in a deadly situation, but citywide corruption makes it nearly impossible to find help.  DIR Yury Bykov.  SCR Yury Bykov.  CAST Artem Bystrov, Natalia Surkova, Dmitry Kulichkov, Ilya Isaev, Maxim Pinsker, Lyubov Rudenko.  Russia.

Lav Diaz "From What is Before"

FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (MULA SA KUNG ANO ANG NOON) – Filipino arthouse sensation Lav Diaz’s latest epic centers on a coastal village haunted by strange and supernatural occurrences.  DIR Lav Diaz.  SCR Lav Diaz.  CAST Perry Dizon, Roeder Camañag, Hazel Orencio, Karenina Haniel, Joel Saracho, Reynan Abcede, Ching Valdes-Aran, Mailes Kanapi, Ian Lomongo, Noel Sto. Domingo, Evelyn Vargas, Bambi Beltran, Teng Mangansakan.  Philippines.  U.S. Premiere.

"Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem"

GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM – Unfolding entirely in a small courtroom, this edge-of-your-seat film follows Viviane Amsalem’s tense battle for a divorce in Israel’s strict rabbinical court.  DIR Ronit Elkabetz & Shlomi Elkabetz.  SCR Ronit Elkabetz & Shlomi Elkabetz.  CAST Ronit Elkabetz, Menashe Noy, Simon Abkarian, Sasson Gabay , Eli Gorstein, Rami Danon, Roberto Pollack.  Israel.

GIRLHOOD (BANDE DE FILLES) – Teenager Marieme drops out of school and finds acceptance with a gang of free-spirited girls, while taking on a new feminine identity.  DIR Céline Sciamma.  SCR Céline Sciamma.  CAST Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré.  France.

GOODNIGHT MOMMY (ICH SEH, ICH SEH) – Twin boys fear that their mother, whose face is masked with bandages after plastic surgery, has been subsumed by an evil being.  DIR Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala.  SCR Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala.  CAST Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz.  Austria.

"Haemoo"

HAEMOO – Amid a shroud of sea fog, the voyage of a South Korean boat smuggling a group of illegal immigrants turns into a catastrophe.  DIR Shim Sung-bo.  SCR Shim Sung-bo & Bong Joon-ho.  CAST Kim Yoon-seok, Park Yu-chun, Han Ye-ri.  South Korea.

HUMAN CAPITAL (IL CAPITALE UMANO) – The fates of two seemingly unrelated families become increasingly intertwined in this stylish Italian murder mystery.  DIR Paolo Virzì.  SCR Paolo Virzì, Francesco Bruni and Francesco Piccolo.  CAST Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Golino, Fabrizio Gifuni, Luigi Lo Cascio.  Italy.

THE IRON MINISTRY – Three years spent on China’s vast train system are distilled into a one-of-a-kind sensory experience in this immersive, formally daring documentary.  DIR J.P. Sniadecki.  China, USA.

JAUJA - Viggo Mortensen stars as a 19th-century Danish general who must search the unforgiving Patagonian wilderness for his runaway daughter.  DIR Lisandro Alonso.  SCR Lisandro Alonso & Fabián Casas.  CAST Viggo Mortensen, Viilbjork Malling Agger, Ghita Nørby. Argentina, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico.

LEVIATHAN – In the latest work from Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, a small-town auto mechanic becomes embroiled in a property dispute with devastating consequences.  DIR Andrey Zvyagintsev.  SCR Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev.  CAST Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Roman Madyanov, Anna Ukolova, Alexey Rozin, Sergey Pokhodaev. Russia.

MANOS SUCIAS – Brothers Jacobo and Delio agree to transport millions of dollars of cocaine into Panama in this suspenseful portrait of lives forever altered by the drug trade.  DIR Josef Kubota Wladyka.  SCR Alan Blanco & Josef Kubota Wladyka.  CAST Cristian Advincula, Jarlin Martinez, Manuel David Riascos, Hadder Blandon.  Colombia, USA.

OVER YOUR DEAD BODY (KUIME) – Actors rehearsing a classic play find their violent, double-crossing stage roles seeping into real life in a ghost story from Takashi Miike.  DIR Takashi Miike.  SCR Kikumi Yamagishi.  CAST Ebizo Ichikawa, Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Ito, Miho Nakanishi, Maiko, Toshie Negishi, Hiroshi Katsuno, Ikko Furuya.  Japan.

REALITY (RÉALITÉ) – A cameraman for a TV show is offered a chance to direct in this tapestry of dream logic that slides from one brilliantly bizarre situation to the next.  DIR Quentin Dupieux.  SCR Quentin Dupieux.  CAST Alain Chabat, Jonathan Lambert, Elodie Bouchez, Kyla Kenedy, John Glover, Eric Wareheim, Jon Heder.  Belgium, France.  North American Premiere.

RED ARMY – The Cold War plays out with vivid intensity – on the ice – in this vibrant documentary on the history of the Soviet Union’s Red Army hockey team.  DIR Gabe Polsky.  FEATURING Slava Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, Scotty Bowman, Vladimir Pozner.  USA, Russia.

THE SALT OF THE EARTH – This documentary on Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, often referred to as the master of black-and-white photojournalism, is co-directed by filmmaker Wim Wenders and Salgado’s son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.  DIR Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.  SCR Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders and David Rosier.  France.

SONG OF THE SEA – In this Irish animated film, a brother and sister embark on a magical journey to discover their connection to the mythical selkies.  DIR Tomm Moore.  SCR Will Collins.  CAST Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Pat Shortt, Jon Kenny, Liam Hourican, Colm Ó’Snodaigh, Lucy O’Connell, Kevin Swierszcz, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan.  Ireland.  U.S. Premiere.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS (KREUZWEG) – Fourteen masterfully composed single-shot scenes tell the story of adolescent Maria, a girl caught between a secular world and the strict religious teachings of her church.  DIR Dietrich Brüggemann.  SCR Anna Brüggemann & Dietrich Brüggemann.  CAST Lea van Acken, Franziska Weisz, Florian Stetter.  Germany.

"Timbuktu"

TIMBUKTU – Mauritania’s official entry for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar® centers on the 2012 Islamic jihadist takeover of northern Mali, and its toll on the region’s civilians.  DIR Abderrahmane Sissako.  SCR Abderrahmane Sissako & Kessen Tall.  CAST Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara.  France, Mauritania.

TITLI – Young Titli must risk everything to escape his life of abject poverty and intergenerational crime in this assured debut feature.  DIR Kanu Behl.  SCR Sharat Katariya & Kanu Behl.  CAST Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial, Lalit Behl, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Shashank Arora.  India.

TU DORS NICOLE – Nicole trips aimlessly through her post-college summer in this delightfully light and sublime film.  DIR Stéphane Lafleur.  SCR Stéphane Lafleur.  CAST Julianne Côté, Catherine St-Laurent, Francis La Haye, Simon Larouche, Godefroy Reding, Marc-André Grondin.  Canada.

VILLA TOUMA – A teenage Palestinian orphan’s life is turned upside down when she goes to live in the secluded home of her three aristocrat aunts.  DIR Suha Arraf.  SCR Suha Arraf.  CAST Nisreen Faour, Ula Tabri , Cherien Dabis , Maria Zriek.

"Wild Tales"

WILD TALES (RELATOS SALVAJES) – Characters are pushed to delightfully deranged savagery in this anthology of six sublimely absurd short films.  DIR Damián Szifrón.  SCR Damián Szifrón.  CAST Ricardo Darin, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, Dario Grandinetti.  Argentina, Spain.




See you at the festival

XXX
Raymond Lo