Tahar Rahim in A Prophet (Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics)
The London Film Critics’ Circle's 2009 nominations have been announced. The best thing about this year's crop of nominees is their "internationality": As usual, Hollywood productions dominate the nominations, but the London critics have found plenty of room for non-American films as well.
Jacques Audiard's French prison drama A Prophet managed to land five nominations, including best film (or "Film of the Year"), best director, and best actor (Tahar Rahim), while Michael Haneke's German-Austrian psychological-political drama The White Ribbon received four nominations, including best picture and best director. Both were also shortlisted in the best foreign film and best screenplay categories.
Additionally, British talent found its way in the non-British categories as well. Carey Mulligan is one of the Actress of the Year nominees for her schoolgirl in Lone Scherfig's An Education (which leads the pack with 7 nods), while that film's screenwriter, Nick Hornby, is also up for the screenwriting award. The In the Loop screenwriters — Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche — were also shortlisted. And so was Australian actress Abbie Cornish for her performance in Jane Campion's romantic drama Bright Star.
The Hollywood contingent is led by James Cameron's Avatar (above), Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, and Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. All three were nominated in the best picture and best director categories. Curiously, none of the three is up for the screenwriting award.
Another curiosity: performances considered "supporting" in the US are here placed in the Actor/Actress of the Year categories, e.g., Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds, Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air, and Mo'Nique for Precious. (Perhaps that would have been Gabourey Sidibe's spot.)
Photo: Avatar (WETA / 20th Century Fox)