How to Make-Up? Oscars’ Artists & Hairstylists Show How

“How to make-up” at the movies? Make-up artist Conor O’Sullivan shows how it was done in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster The Dark Knight. John Caglione Jr. was Heath Ledger’s make-up artist; O’Sullivan was the prosthetic supervisor. Both have been nominated for the 2009 Academy Awards. Conor O’Sullivan photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

How to make-up? Check out Academy’s make-up artist & hairstylist symposium

“How to make-up” at the movies?

Focusing on the achievements of the 2009 Oscar nominees (see below), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Make-Up Artist and Hairstylist Symposium will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Moderated by make-up artist and Academy governor Leonard Engelman (The Island of Dr. Moreau, Batman & Robin), the symposium will include a discussion of the nominees’ creative process and the presentation of film clips, photographs, and models of their work.

The 2009 Best Make-Up Oscar nominees are:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Greg Cannom, special make-up creator and applicator.
• The Dark Knight. John Caglione Jr., Heath Ledger’s make-up artist; Conor O’Sullivan, prosthetic supervisor.
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Mike Elizalde, creative and make-up effects designer; Thom Floutz, Abe Sapien make-up artist. (See also: Hellboy II: The Golden Army make-up feats.)

Make-up artist & hairstylist symposium info

Admission to the Make-Up Artist and Hairstylist Symposium is free, but advance tickets are required; they will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets can be obtained online at the Academy’s website (www.oscars.org), by mail, or at the box office during regular business hours beginning Monday, Feb. 2, at 9 a.m.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard. For more information, call the Academy at (310) 247-3600 or visit its website.

Casual Day with Javier Ríos and Estíbaliz Gabilondo. Starring Juan Diego, Javier Ríos, Luis Tosar, and Estíbaliz Gabilondo, Max Lemcke’s Cinema Film Writers Circle-winning socially conscious comedy Casual Day had its official debut at the 2007 San Sebastian Film Festival; it opened at Spanish movie houses in May 2008. This year’s Best Actor winner, four years ago Juan Diego was the Cinema Film Writers’ Best Supporting Actor for Carlos Saura’s The 7th Day / El 7º día.

Anything but casual ‘Casual Day’ tops Spanish critics’ awards

From the Academy’s “how to make-up” symposium to world cinema awards: Spain’s Cinema Film Writers Circle has gone all in for Max Lemcke’s second feature, Casual Day. The socially conscious comedy topped the Spanish critics’ Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Daniel and Pablo Remón), and Best Actor (Juan Diego) categories.

In Casual Day, a twenty-something nonconformist (Javier Ríos) is hired by his prospective father-in-law (Juan Diego) to a key position in the older man’s company. Later on, a “casual day” – a (compulsory) company trip to the countryside – turns out to be a make-or-break event for the reluctant new employee. Also in the cast: Luis Tosar, Alberto San Juan, Estíbaliz Gabilondo, and Marta Etura.

And for the record, despite having been up for this year’s Best Newcomer award Lemcke’s feature film debut was Fantastic World / Mundo fantástico back in 2003.

Ariadna Gil named Best Actress while Penélope Cruz is also-ran

In the Best Actress category, the Cinema Writers Circle’s winner was Ariadna Gil for Agustín Díaz Yanes’ Walking Vengeance / Sólo quiero caminar, a mostly female-centered crime drama with Gil as an ex-con who joins forces with Elena Anaya, Victoria Abril, and Pilar López de Ayala to rob clean a Mexican drug trafficker (José María Yazpik) who also happens to be Anaya’s abusive husband. Y Tu Mamá También co-star Diego Luna plays the drug lord’s childhood pal and right-hand man.

Of note, likely 2009 Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Penélope Cruz (for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona) lost in that category to Esperanza Pedreño, who plays a Madrid trash handler returning to her village so as to bury her dead cat in Ángeles González-Sinde’s One Word from You / Una palabra tuya.

Kate Winslet among London Film Critics’ winners & losers

From awards season in Spain to the United Kingdom: At the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, the top choices were Darren Aronofsky’s boxing drama The Wrestler and Danny Boyle’s Mumbai-set Slumdog Millionaire; the former topped the Best Film and Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) categories; the latter topped Best British Film, Best British Director, and Best Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy). The Best Director was David Fincher for the fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Curiously, Kate Winslet was named Best Actress for two movies, Stephen Daldry’s The Reader and Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road – while losing out in the Best British Actress category to Kristin Scott Thomas for Philippe Claudel’s French-made I’ve Loved You So Long / Il y a longtemps que je t’aime. Go figure.

Michael Fassbender was the Best British Actor for his performance as Irish National Liberation Army member and hunger-striking political prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen’s Hunger, about the last six weeks in Sands’ life, during which time he was elected to the British Parliament. He died at age 27 on May 5, 1981.

It should be noted that McQueen’s generally well-regarded psychological/political drama has been all but ignored by American critics and the various U.S.-based awards-season groups.

Single loser Michael Fassbender

Ironically, Michael Fassbender was the sole Best Actor loser at the Evening Standard British (& Irish) Film Awards: his two competitors, Patt Short for Lenny Abrahamson’s Garage and Michael Sheen for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, jointly topped that category.

But if the Evening Standard Award voters didn’t find Fassbender worthy of their Best Actor honor, they at least did find his film – Hunger – the best British release of the year.

Slumdog Millionaire, which has been the critics’ and everybody else’s darling on the western side of the North Atlantic, wasn’t even in contention for Best Film. (Though it’s no less a “British production” than Best Film nominee Frost/Nixon.) Danny Boyle, however, was shortlisted for Best Director, ultimately losing to Stephen Daldry for The Reader.

The Best Actress was Tilda Swinton for her troubled extortionist in Erick Zonca’s Julia.

Also from the U.K.: The BCC World Cinema winner’s jury – headlined by John Hurt – selected Cristian Mungiu’s Romanian abortion drama 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days / 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile as their pick among five non-English-language contenders. The nominees – every single one a European production or co-production – had been chosen by 200 or so U.K.-based film critics.

The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma / A Woman in Berlin with Nina Hoss. Directed by Max Färberböck, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Catharina Schuchmann, The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma is based on a(n anonymous) journalist’s diary first published in Switzerland in 1959, and in which the author discussed the mass rapes of German women perpetrated by Soviet forces. Färberböck is no stranger to the plight of women during World War II, as can be attested by his 1999 lesbian romantic drama Aimee & Jaguar, toplining Maria Schrader and Juliane Köhler.

Rotterdam & Santa Barbara winners

More early 2009 international film news: From Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to Santa Barbara, California.

The (as usual) three winners at the 2009 International Film Festival Rotterdam, which focuses on film debuts and sophomore efforts, were the following:

• Yang Ik-June’s Breathless / Ddongpari, in which a nasty extortionist (played by Yang) has his life drastically altered after meeting a determined schoolgirl.
• Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s Istanbul-set Wrong Rosary / Uzak ihtimal, about the problems encountered by a muezzin (the person who leads the call to Friday service at the mosque) after he falls in love with his neighbor, a Catholic nurse.
• Set in Iran’s southern islands, Ramtin Lavafipour’s Be Calm and Count to Seven / Aram bash va ta haft beshmar, a chronicle of the day-to-day struggles of a family whose chief source of income is smuggling.

At the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the Best International Film Award went to Max Färberböck’s The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma / A Woman in Berlin / Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin, the tale of a nameless woman (Nina Hoss) attempting to survive in Berlin in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation of that city.

Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Awards

Best Film
* Casual Day.
Sangre de mayo.
Walking Vengeance / Sólo quiero caminar.
One Word from You / Una palabra tuya.

Best Foreign Film
* WALL-E, Andrew Stanton (U.S.).
4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Cristian Mungiu (Romania).
My Blueberry Nights, Wong Kar-Wai (China / France / Hong Kong).
The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan (U.S.).

Best Director
José Luis Garci, Sangre de mayo.
Mario Camus, El prado de las estrellas.
* Max Lemcke, Casual Day.
Agustín Díaz Yanes, Walking Vengeance.

Best Actress
Maribel Verdú, The Blind Sunflowers / Los girasoles ciegos.
Verónica Echegui, My Prison Yard / El patio de mi cárcel.
* Ariadna Gil, Walking Vengeance.
Bárbara Goenaga, La buena nueva.

Best Actor
* Juan Diego, Casual Day.
Diego Luna, Walking Vengeance.
Benicio Del Toro, Che.
Unax Ugalde, La buena nueva.

Best Supporting Actor
* Antonio de la Torre, One Word from You.
Luis Tosar, Casual Day.
José María Yazpik, Walking Vengeance.
Miguel Rellán, Sangre de mayo.

Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Tina Sáinz, Sangre de mayo.
* Esperanza Pedreño, One Word from You.
Estíbaliz Gabilondo, Casual Day.

Best Original Screenplay
* Daniel and Pablo Remón, Casual Day.
Agustín Díaz Yanes, Walking Vengeance.
Nacho Vigalondo, Los cronocrímenes / Timecrimes.
Mario Camus, El prado de las estrellas.

Best Adapted Screenplay
* Ángeles González-Sinde, One Word from You.
Alex de la Iglesia & Jorge Guerricaechevarría, The Oxford Murders / Los crímenes de Oxford.
José Luis Garci & Horacio Valcárcel, Sangre de mayo.
Peter Buchman, Che.
Rafael Azcona & José Luis Cuerda, The Blind Sunflowers.

Best Cinematography
* Félix Monti, Sangre de mayo.
Xavi Giménez, Transsiberian.
Paco Femenia, Walking Vengeance.
Miguel A. Mora, Before the Fall / 3 días.
Hans Burman, The Blind Sunflowers.

Best Editing
Alejandro Lázaro, The Oxford Murders.
José Luis Romeu, Timecrimes.
Jaume Martí, Transsiberian.
* Nacho Ruiz Capillas, Before the Fall.

Best Score
* Roque Baños, The Oxford Murders.
Pablo Cervantes, Sangre de mayo.
Alberto Iglesias, Che.
Ángel Illarramendi, La buena nueva.

Best Documentary
El pollo, el pez y el cangrejo real, José Luis López-Linares.
* El infierno vasco, Iñaki Arteta.
La Osa Mayor menos dos, David Reznak.
La sombra del iceberg, Hugo Doménech & Raúl M. Riebenbahuer.

Best Newcomer
* Director Nacho Vigalondo, Timecrimes.
Actress Nerea Camacho, Camino.
Director Roser Aguilar, Lo mejor de mí.
Director F. Javier Gutiérrez, Before the Fall.
Director Max Lemcke, Casual Day.

Honorary Medal: Fernando Guillén.

Journalism Medal: Ediciones Cátedra.

London Film Critics’ Awards

Best Film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Frost/Nixon.
Milk.
WALL-E.
* The Wrestler.

Best British Film
Happy-Go-Lucky.
Hunger.
In Bruges.
Man on Wire.
* Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Foreign Language Film
Gomorra / Gomorrah.
I’ve Loved You So Long.
The Orphanage / El Orfanato.
Persepolis.
* Waltz with Bashir / Vals Im Bashir.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky – The Wrestler.
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire.
Clint Eastwood – Changeling.
* David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Gus Van Sant – Milk.

Best British Director
* Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire.
Terence Davies – Of Time and the City.
Mike Leigh – Happy-Go-Lucky.
Steve McQueen – Hunger.
Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight.

Best Actress
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married.
Angelina Jolie – Changeling.
Meryl Streep – Doubt.
* Kate Winslet – The Reader & Revolutionary Road.

Best British Actress
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky.
* Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long.
Tilda Swinton – Julia.
Kate Winslet – The Reader & Revolutionary Road.

Best Actor
Josh Brolin – W.
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon.
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight.
Sean Penn – Milk.
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler.

Best British Actor
* Michael Fassbender – Hunger.
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess.
Ben Kingsley – Elegy.
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire.
Michael Sheen – Frost/Nixon.

Best British Supporting Actor
Liam Cunningham – Hunger.
Toby Jones – Frost/Nixon & W.
* Eddie Marsan – Happy-Go-Lucky.
Peter O’Toole – Dean Spanley.
Mark Strong – Body of Lies.

Best British Supporting Actress
Hayley Atwell – The Duchess.
Kristin Scott Thomas – Easy Virtue.
* Tilda Swinton – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Emma Thompson – Brideshead Revisited.
Alexis Zegerman – Happy-Go-Lucky.

Best Screenwriter
* Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire.
David Hare – The Reader.
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges.
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon.
Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Young British Performer of the Year
Asa Butterfield – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Georgia Groome – Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.
Bill Milner – Son of Rambow.
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire.
Will Poulter – Son of Rambow.
* Thomas Turgoose – Somers Town & Eden Lake.

Breakthrough British Filmmaker
Joanna Hogg – Unrelated.
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges.
* Steve McQueen – Hunger.
James Watkins – Eden Lake.
Rupert Wyatt – The Escapist.

Dilys Powell Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema
Judi Dench.

‘Evening Standard’ British Film Awards

Best Film
Frost/Nixon.
* Hunger.
Unrelated.

Best Director
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire).
* Stephen Daldry (The Reader).
Lenny Abrahamson (Garage).

Best Actor (tie)
Michael Fassbender (Hunger).
* Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon).
* Pat Shortt (Garage).

Best Actress
Samantha Morton (Mister Lonely).
* Tilda Swinton (Julia).
Kate Winslet (The Reader & Revolutionary Road).

Best Screenplay
* Martin McDonagh (In Bruges).
Mark O’Halloran (Garage).
Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon).

Technical Achievement
Roger Deakins (cinematographer, No Country for Old Men, In the Valley of Elah, The Reader [with Chris Menges]).
* Mark Digby (production designer, Slumdog Millionaire).
Joe Walker (editor, Hunger & The Escapist).

Most Promising Newcomer
* Joanna Hogg (director, Unrelated).
Dev Patel (actor, Slumdog Millionaire).
Rupert Wyatt (writer-director, The Escapist).

Peter Sellers Award for Comedy
* Sally Hawkins for her performance in Happy-Go-Lucky.
Eddie Marsan for his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky.
Chris Waitt for his documentary A Complete History of My Sexual Failures.

Alexander Walker Special Award
Mike Leigh.

BBC4 World Cinema Awards

• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France / U.S.), dir.: Julian Schnabel.
• * 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania), dir.: Cristian Mungiu.
• Gomorrah (Italy), dir.: Matteo Garrone.
• The Orphanage (Spain), dir.: J.A. Bayona.
• Persepolis (France), dir.: Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi.

World Cinema Achievement Award: Werner Herzog.

Film Festival Rotterdam Awards

VPRO Tiger Awards:

• Be Calm and Count to Seven (Iran).
• Breathless
• Wrong Rosary (Turkey).

FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize: Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly / Babi buta yang ingin terbang, dir.: Edwin (Indonesia).

The NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award: The Land / Dadi, dir.: He Jia (China).

Special Mention: Agrarian Utopia, dir.: Uruphong Raksasad (Thailand).

KNF Award: Tony Manero, dir.: Pablo Larraín (Chile / Brazil).

Tiger Awards for Short Film:

• A Necessary Music, dir.: Beatrice Gibson (U.K.).
• Despair / Otchajanie, dir.: Galina Myznikova & Sergey Provorov (Russia).
• Bernadette, dir.: Duncan Campbell (U.K.).

MovieSquad Award (Youth Award): Slumdog Millionaire (U.K.).

Santa Barbara Film Festival Awards

Best International Film Award: The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma / A Woman in Berlin.

Best Spanish-Language Film: Amar a morir, dir.: Fernando Lebrija.

Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema: Poppy Shakespeare, dir.: Benjamin Ross.

Best Eastern Bloc Cinema Award: Tulpan, dir.: Sergei Dvortsevoy.

Best Documentary Award: Yes Madam, Sir, dir.: Megan Doneman.

Best Live Action Short Film Under 30 Minutes: Love You More, dir.: Sam Taylor-Wood.

Best Animation Short Film: This Way Up, dir.: Adam Foulkes & Alan Smith.

The Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award: Yes Madam, Sir.

Audience Award: Skin, dir.: Anthony Fabian.

Javier Ríos and Estíbaliz Gabilondo Casual Day image: Montfort Producciones / Telecinco Cinema.

Nina Hoss The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma image: Constantin Film.

“How to Make-Up? Oscars’ Artists & Hairstylists Show How + Spanish & London Film Critics’ Winners” last updated in October 2018.