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2009 David di Donatello Winners

Matteo Garrone’s organized crime drama Gomorrah (above, top photo), based on Roberto Saviano’s polemical book, took top honors at the 2009 David di Donatello awards. The Italian Film Academy voted Gomorrah the best Italian film of the year and Garrone the best director, in addition to handing the film five other awards, including best screenplay and best producer.
Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo (above, lower photo), which also deals (however indirectly) with the mafia, also received a total of seven statues (out of 16 nominations), including the best actor trophy for star Toni Servillo’s brilliant caricature of former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, and a best supporting actress win for Piera Degli Espositi.
Last year, Gomorrah won the Cannes [...]

David di Donatello 2009

2009 David di Donatello Awards
2009 David di Donatello Award nominations: April 9, 2009
2009 David di Donatello Award winners: May 8, 2009
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah (top photo); Toni Servillo in Il Divo (lower photo)
 

Best Film / miglior film
Il divo
produced by Andrea Occhipinti, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Maurizio Coppolecchia
directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Ex
produced by Fulvio Lucisano, Federica Lucisano
directed by Fausto Brizzi
* Gomorra
produced by Domenico Procacci
directed by Matteo Garrone
Si può fare
produced by Angelo Rizzoli
directed by Giulio Manfredonia
Tutta la vita davanti
produced by Motorino Amaranto – Medusa
directed by Paolo Virzì
Best Film from the European Union / miglior film dell’Unione Europea
Entre les murs, by Laurent [...]

2009 David di Donatello Nominations

Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo, a biopic of former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, and Matteo Garrone’s organized crime thriller Gomorrah, both starring Toni Servillo, were the top nominees for the Italian Academy’s 2009 David di Donatello awards.
Il Divo led the field with 16 nominations, followed by Gomorrah with 11. Both films, which are in the running in the best picture category, have already won several international awards: Il Divo received the Special Jury Award at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and a European Film Award for best actor Toni Servillo (also for Gomorrah); Gomorrah won Cannes’ Grand Prix and five European Film Awards, including best film and Servillo’s shared best actor prize. Gomorrah was also Italy’s submission [...]

Oscar 2009: Best Foreign-Language Film Semi-Finalists

Wide acclaim and a handful of top European Film Awards didn’t help Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah land a spot in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ list of best foreign-language film semi-finalists.
And in case you’re looking for Let the Right One In among the nine films still in the running, you won’t find it there. Although the Swedish vampire drama was chosen the best foreign-language film of the year by numerous US-based critics’ groups, it was ineligible for the Oscars simply because each country can submit only one film per year: Sweden’s choice for 2008 was Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments.
The nine semi-finalists — out of 65 (accepted) foreign-language film submissions — are (listed in [...]

Golden Globes 2009: Foreign-Language Nominees Screenings

The American Cinematheque and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will be screening all five Golden Globe nominees in the best foreign-language film category from Jan. 7-9 at the Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
The nominated films are: The Baader-Meinhof Complex (Germany), National Society of Film Critics‘ winner Waltz with Bashir (Israel), European Film Academy Award winner Gomorrah (Italy), Swedish Film Institute’s Guldbagge nominee Everlasting Moments (Sweden), and I’ve Loved You So Long (France), starring European Academy Award best actress winner Kristin Scott Thomas.
On Sunday, Jan. 10, the Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will present a panel discussion featuring the directors of the five nominated films. Screen International’s Mike Goodridge’s will act as moderator for Uli Edel, Jan Troell, Ari [...]

Matteo Garrone, GOMORRAH, and the Camorra

In Agence France Presse, European Film Award winner Matteo Garrone discusses real-life issues related to Gomorrah (above, with Toni Servillo), his mafia thriller that is a likely contender for the 2009 best foreign-language film Oscar:
"The idea of bringing the army to fight them is, for me, superficial. It’s good for the image of the Italian government, but it won’t do anything to fix the problem.
"You have to work from the inside, to create a relationship between citizens and the institutions of power. The Camorra is very strong because they live there, they grew up there, they are close to people.
"If you don’t work from the inside it will be very difficult. [...]

Satellite Awards 2008

2008 Satellite Awards
2008 International Press Academy’s Satellite Award nominations: November 30, 2008
2008 Satellite Award winners: December 14, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire
 

Motion Picture, Drama
The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Frozen River
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
* Happy-Go-Lucky
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder
In Bruges
Choke
Motion Picture, Foreign Language Film
Let the Right One In, Sweden
The Class, France
Sangre de mi Sangre, Argentina
Reprise, Norway
* Gomorrah, Italy
Caramel, Lebanon / France
Motion Picture, Animated Or Mixed Media
The Tale of Despereaux
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
* WALL-E
Bolt
Waltz with Bashir
The Sky Crawlers
Motion Picture, Documentary (tie)
* Man on Wire
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Encounters at the End of the World
Religulous
* Anita O’Day The Life of a Jazz Singer
Waltz with Bashir
Director
Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van [...]

GOMORRAH Wins 2008 European Film Award

A chronicle of the workings of the Neapolitan underworld, Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah — based on Roberto Saviano’s non-fiction book — was the big winner at the 2008 European Film Awards, receiving honors for best European film, best director, best actor (Toni Servillo, also for Il Divo), best screenplay (Garrone, Saviano, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso), and best cinematography (Marco Onorato).
Gomorrah, which has been garnering widespread praise at film festivals worldwide (it won the Grand Prix at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival), is Italy’s submission for the best foreign-language film Academy Award.
Curiously, this year’s Palme d’Or winner, The Class, failed to win a single award at the European Film Award ceremony in Copenhagen. Last year’s big [...]

European Film Awards 2008

2008 European Film Awards
2008 European Film Award nominations: Nov 8, 2008
2008 European Film Award winners: Copenhagen on Dec. 6, 2008
Photos: Rune Evensen/ScanPix
Click on the images to enlarge them.
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 
EUROPEAN FILM 2008
IL DIVO, Italy
written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino
produced by Indigofilm, Lucky Red, Parco Film, Babe Films, StudioCanal,
Arte France Cinéma
ENTRE LES MURS (The Class), France
directed by Laurent Cantet
written by Laurent Cantet, François Begaudeau & Robin Campillo after
the novel of François Begaudeau
produced by Haut et Court, France 2 Cinéma
* GOMORRA (Gomorrah), Italy
directed by Matteo Garrone
written by Maurizio Bracci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone,
Massimo Gaudioso & Roberto Saviano
produced by Fandango, RAI Cinema
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, UK
written and directed by Mike Leigh
produced by Thin Man Films Ltd., Summit Entertainment, [...]

The LONDON TIMES’ Top 100 Films of 2008

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (top); Time and Winds by Reha Erdem (bottom)

The London and the Sunday Times critics are apparently quite easy to please. They’ve come up with a list of no less than 100 Best Films for one single year: 2008.
Among the best of the best found in the Times list are masterpieces such as:

Cloverfield ("An hour in I started to sweat. And I nearly threw up trying to make sense of the increasingly chaotic and frightening scenes of the gripping climax" – James Christopher);
Definitely, Maybe ("A romantic comedy with a refreshingly adult sensibility and plot that doesn’t feel that it has been recycled and regurgitated by innumerable Cameron Diaz movies" [...]

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