The Global Film Village

It was a Precious Spirit Awards Gala

// March 6th, 2010 // Comments Off // Awards

by Marla Lewin

Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey celebrate with Lee Daniels at Spirit Awards

Lee Daniels’ Precious swept the 25th anniversary of the Film Independent Spirit Awards taking home the Best Feature, Best Director, Best First Screenplay, Best Female Lead and Best Supporting Female awards. Precious won in every category for which it was nominated taking 5 awards. The other winners were lucky that Precious didn’t have any male actors nominated and Lee Daniels wasn’t a first time filmmaker.

Fox Searchlight was the other big winner with three awards, two for Crazy Heart,  Best First Feature, and Best Male Lead for Jeff Bridges; and one for (500) Days of Summer, for Best Screenplay. (more…)

OSCAR NOMINEES TO BE HONORED AT ACADEMY LUNCHEON

// February 12th, 2010 // Comments Off // Awards

Monday is the the annual Academy Awards Luncheon and the Academy reports that nearly 3/4 of the actors nominated will attend along with all of the directors. From the Leading Actor and Actress categories, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Meryl Streep are expected to attend. Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Woody Harrelson and Christoph Waltz will represent the Supporting Actress and Actor categories. Many of  those planning to attend have just been to the 25th Santa Barabara International Film Festival where they were honored.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

AFI Awards Luncheon Honors 2009 Nominees

// January 15th, 2010 // Comments Off // Industry Event

The American Film Institute held its annual awards luncheon today in Los Angeles. The tenth annual event remained an honoree-only affair, with no press and no public in attendance. For each of the honored films and television programs, Hewlett-Packard, the event sponsor creates a scholarship to the world-renowned AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles.

Because 2009 marked the 50^th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST, AFI acknowledged this landmark by offering the event’s final word to Eva Marie Saint, who shared stories about the making of the film and raised a glass to the work of artists today. (more…)

DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

// January 7th, 2010 // Comments Off // Industry Event

Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009.

The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)

James Cameron Avatar (Twentieth Century Fox)

Lee Daniels Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (Lionsgate)

Jason Reitman Up In The Air (Paramount Pictures)

Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company and Universal Pictures)

“The DGA Award is especially meaningful to directors because it is decided solely by their peers – the men and women who have been in the same trenches and know exactly what goes into the crafting of a unique motion picture,” said Hackford.  “The five nominees for this year have each expressed an indelible vision that transported audiences to vivid vistas of cinematic art.  My heartiest congratulations to all of the nominees”, said Taylor Hackford. (more…)