28th Annual ASC Awards

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) announced the winners of the 28th Annual ASC Awards on February 1st, 2014 with giving away the top prize to EMMANUEL LUBEZKI for GRAVITY.

Last year, Roger Deakins won the ASC award for his photography work in Skyfall, but the Oscar for Best Cinematography went to Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi. Let's see what happens this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

FILM

THEATRICAL RELEASE: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC for Gravity

SPOTLIGHT AWARD: Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski for Ida

TELEVISION

ONE-HOUR EPISODIC TELEVISION SERIES: Jonathan Freeman, ASC for Game of Thrones (“Valar Dohaeris”)

HALF-HOUR EPISODIC SERIES: Blake McClure for Drunk History (“Detroit”)

TELEVISION MOVIE/MINI SERIES: Jeremy Benning CSC for Killing Lincoln

Top 10 Films of 2013

GAME OVER. Here is my list of top 10 films of 2013 along with 20 honorable mentions just like the previous year. I watched a loooot of films in 2013 and making a list like this proved to be a hectic yet entertaining task. Not really a task because I love the cinema. Anyway, below are my top 10 films with a little description and their respective IMDb links in the titles followed by the honorable mentions.

1. Her

2. Gravity

3. The Act of Killing

4. 12 Years a Slave

5. The Wolf of Wall Street

6. Before Midnight

7. Inside Llewyn Davis

8. Blue Is the Warmest Color

9. Short Term 12

10. Rush

Honorable Mentions [in no particular order]:

• The Wind Rises


• The Great Beauty


• The Spectacular Now


• Nebraska


• Wadjda


• The Hunt


• Prisoners


• Captain Phillips


• Stories We Tell


• Pacific Rim


• Fruitvale Station


• Frances Ha


• Frozen


• Man of Steel


• A Band Called Death


• The Conjuring


• Mud


• Much Ado About Nothing


• Dallas Buyers Club


• The World's End

17th Annual Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Awards

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) announced their 17th Annual Sierra awards on December 18th, 2013 with giving away the Best Picture award to 12 Years a Slave, directed and co-produced by Steve McQueen who also won the Best Director award. This is getting easier now. 12 Years a Slave is the strongest contender this season and it's highly likely that it will win the Oscars. None of the wins are surprising or shocking as all of the winners are deserving with the exception of This Is the End, which won the Best Comedy Film award. I strongly believe that Edgar Wright's the World's End should have won it.

Last year, 10 LVFCS winners won the Oscars (you can view the previous year's winners here: 16th Annual Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Awards) which is serious and important as some of the LVFCS winners might win the Oscars this year as well.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress: Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave

Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity

Best Film Editing: Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger, Gravity

Best Costume Design: Patricia Norris, 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction: Andy Nicholson, Gravity

Best Visual Effects: Gravity

Best Foreign Film: Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary: Blackfish

Best Animated Film: Frozen

Best Family Film: Saving Mr. Banks

Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film: Pacific Rim

Best Comedy Film: This is the End

Best Action Film: Lone Survivor

Best Score: Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave

Best Song: Please Mr. Kennedy, Inside Llewyn Davis

Youth in Film: Tye Sheridan, Mud

Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content): Breaking Bad – The Complete Series (Blu-Ray)

The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award: John Goodman

LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2013

1. 12 Years a Slave


2. Dallas Buyers Club


3. Gravity


4. The Wolf of Wall Street


5. American Hustle


6. Inside Llewyn Davis


7. Saving Mr. Banks


8. Nebraska


9. Her


10. Lone Survivor

17th Annual Toronto Film Critics Association Awards

The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) announced their awards on December 17th, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to Inside Llewyn Davis, directed and co-produced by Coen Brothers whereas the Best Director award went to Alfonso Cuarón for his wonderful direction in space drama Gravity.

Last year, only one TFCA winner won the Oscar, i.e. Best Foreign Language Film for Amour. Let's see how this goes this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Canadian Film: Watermark

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Best Actor: Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze (Her)

Best First Feature: Neighboring Sounds

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Foreign Language Film: A Touch of Sin

BMO Allan King Best Documentary: The Act of Killing

10th Annual St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards

The St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association announced their 10th annual awards on December 16th, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to 12 Years a Slave, directed and co-produced by Steve McQueen who also won the Best Director award. 12 years a Slave was the biggest winner winning 7 awards in total and it's not surprising at all. Other winners are completely reasonable as well and most of them would probably winning the Oscar as well.

Last year, only 5 St. Louis winners won the Oscars, i.e. Best Film for Argo, Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actor for Christoph Waltz, Best Documentary for Searching for Sugar Man and Best Visual Effects for Life of Pi. Let's see if the same happens this year or not.

Here is the complete list of winners along with runners-up and nominations.

Best Film:

• Winner: 12 Years a Slave


• Runner-up: American Hustle


• Gravity


• Her


• Nebraska

Best Director:

• Runner-up: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)


• Spike Jonze (Her)


• Winner: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)


• Alexander Payne (Nebraska)


• David O. Russell (American Hustle)

Best Actor:

• Christian Bale (American Hustle)


• Bruce Dern (Nebraska)


• Winner: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)


• Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)


• Runner-up: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress:

• Amy Adams (American Hustle)


• Winner: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)


• Sandra Bullock (Gravity)


• Judi Dench (Philomena)


• Runner-up: Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)


• Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

Best Supporting Actor:

• Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)


• Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)


• Harrison Ford (42)


• Runner-up: Will Forte (Nebraska)


• Winner: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress:

• Scarlett Johansson (Her)


• Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)


• Winner: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)


• Lea Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Colour)


• Runner-up: June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Original Screenplay:

• Runner-up: American Hustle


• Enough Said


• Winner: Her


• Nebraska


• Saving Mr. Banks

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Winner: 12 Years a Slave


• Before Midnight


• Captain Phillips


• Runner-up: Philomena


• Short Term 12


• The Spectacular Now

Best Cinematography:

• Winner (tie): 12 Years a Slave


• The Grandmaster


• The Great Gatsby


• Winner (tie): Gravity


• Inside Llewyn Davis


• Nebraska

Best Visual Special Effects:

• Winner: Gravity


• Runner-up: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug


• Iron Man 3


• Pacific Rim


• Star Trek Into Darkness


• Thor: The Dark World

Best Musical Score:

• 12 Years a Slave


• Runner-up: Gravity


• Winner: Her


• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug


• Runner-up: Nebraska


• Saving Mr. Banks

Best Soundtrack:

• American Hustle


• Despicable Me 2


• Runner-up: Frozen


• The Great Gatsby


• Winner: Inside Llewyn Davis


• Muscle Shoals

Best Art Direction:

• 12 Years A Slave


• The Grandmaster


• Winner: The Great Gatsby


• Runner-up: Her


• Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Documentary:

• 20 Feet from Stardom


• Runner-up: The Act of Killing


• Winner: Blackfish


• Muscle Shoals


• Runner-up: Stories We Tell

Best Non-English Language Film:

• Winner: Blue Is the Warmest Colour


• A Hijacking


• The Hunt


• No


• Runner-up: Wadjda

Best Comedy:

• Winner (tie): Enough Said


• The Heat


• Nebraska


• The Way Way Back


• Winner (tie): The World’s End

Best Animated Feature:

• The Croods


• Despicable Me 2


• Winner: Frozen


• Monsters University


• Runner-up: The Wind Rises

Best Art-House or Festival Film (for artistic excellence in independent, international or smaller-budget films that played at film festivals, film series or had a limited-release run in St. Louis, playing one to three cinemas):

• Ain't Them Bodies Saints


• Before Midnight


• Runner-up: Blue Is the Warmest Colour


• Runner-up: Frances Ha


• In a World…


• Winner: Short Term 12

Best Scene (a favorite movie scene or sequence):

• Winner: 12 Years a Slave – The hanging scene


• Captain Phillips – The scene near the end of the film where Tom Hanks is being checked out by military medical personnel and he breaks down.


• Runner-up: Gravity – he opening tracking shot.


• Her – Off-screen OS sex scene


• The Place Beyond the Pines – The opening scene where Ryan Gosling is walking through the carnival.

18th Annual San Diego Film Critics Society Awards

The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) announced their awards on December 11th, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to Her, written, directed and co-produced by Spike Jonze, whereas the Best Director award went to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity. There are 2 most surprising wins, i.e. Oscar Isaac winning the Best Actor award and Drug War winning the Best Foreign Language Film award. I wouldn't call either of them unfair because every actor and filmmaker works hard and also I'd say it's very bold of SDFCS to choose different winners.

Last year, 6 SDFCS winners won the Oscars (you can view the previous year's winners here: 17th Annual San Diego Film Critics Society Awards). Let's see how many win this time!

Here is the complete list of winners along with the nominations:

BEST FILM:

• 12 YEARS A SLAVE


• GRAVITY


• WINNER: HER


• INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS


• SHORT TERM 12

BEST DIRECTOR:

• WINNER: Alfonso Cuarón (GRAVITY)


• Destin Cretton (SHORT TERM 12)


• Joel and Ethan Coen (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)


• Spike Jonze (HER)


• Steve McQueen (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST ACTRESS:

• Adèle Exarchopoulos (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR)


• Brie Larson (SHORT TERM 12)


• WINNER: Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE)


• Emma Thompson (SAVING MR. BANKS)


• Sandra Bullock (GRAVITY)

BEST ACTOR:

• Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• Joaquin Phoenix (HER)


• Matthew McConaughey (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB)


• WINNER: Oscar Isaac (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)


• Tom Hanks (CAPTAIN PHILLIPS)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

• Elizabeth Banks (THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE)


• Jennifer Lawrence (AMERICAN HUSTLE)


• Lupita Nyong'o (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• Sally Hawkins (BLUE JASMINE)


• WINNER: Shailene Woodley (THE SPECTACULAR NOW)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

• Daniel Bruhl (RUSH)


• James Gandolfini (ENOUGH SAID)


• WINNER: Jared Leto (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB)


• Michael Fassbender (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• Sam Rockwell (THE WAY, WAY BACK)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• Aaron Guzikowski (PRISONERS)


• Joel and Ethan Coen (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)


• Nicole Holofcener (ENOUGH SAID)


• WINNER: Spike Jonze (HER)


• Woody Allen (BLUE JASMINE)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• Billy Ray (CAPTAIN PHILLIPS)


• Destin Cretton (SHORT TERM 12)


• John Ridley (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• WINNER: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke (BEFORE MIDNIGHT)


• Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (THE SPECTACULAR NOW)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

• BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR


• WINNER: DRUG WAR


• NO


• THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN


• THE HUNT

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

• 20 FEET FROM STARDOM


• BLACKFISH


• LET THE FIRE BURN


• STORIES WE TELL


• WINNER: THE ACT OF KILLING

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

• Bruno Delbonnel (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)


• Emmanuel Lubezki (GRAVITY)


• WINNER: Emmanuel Lubezki (TO THE WONDER)


• Roger Deakins (PRISONERS)


• Simon Duggan (THE GREAT GATSBY)

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

• DESPICABLE ME 2


• FROZEN


• GET A HORSE


• THE CROODS


• WINNER: THE WIND RISES

BEST EDITING:

• Alan Edward Ball (THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE)


• Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger (GRAVITY)


• WINNER: Christopher Rouse (CAPTAIN PHILLIPS)


• Eric Zumbrunnen, Jeff Buchanan (HER)


• Joe Walker (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

• Adam Stockhausen (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• Andy Nicholson (GRAVITY)


• WINNER: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy (THE GREAT GATSBY)


• K.K. Barrett (HER)


• Michael Corenblith (SAVING MR. BANKS)

BEST SCORE:

• WINNER: Arcade Fire, HER


• Bjorn Eriksson (BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN)


• Hans Zimmer (12 YEARS A SLAVE)


• Hans Zimmer (RUSH)


• Steven Price (GRAVITY)

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE:

• 12 YEARS A SLAVE


• WINNER: AMERICAN HUSTLE


• PRISONERS


• SHORT TERM 12


• THE WAY, WAY BACK

13th Annual New York Film Critics Online Awards

The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) announced their awards on December, 8th, 2013 with giving away the Best Picture award to 12 Years a Slave, directed and co-produced by Steve McQueen. I think it’s now safe to say that 12 Years a Slave is this year’s Zero Dark Thirty because it also got almost the same appreciation from critics at the beginning of the awards season last year. But still, it’s impossible to say which film is going to win big at the end of the day. Alfonso Cuarón won the Best Director award for his brilliant piece of filmmaking Gravity. (FINALLY!) Cuarón also won the Best Director award at Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

Last year, only 4 NYFCO winners won at the Oscars, i.e. Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway, Best Cinematography for Claudio Miranda and Best Foreign Language Film for Amour. Hoping for the best this year!

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)

Best Debut Director: Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)

Best Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary: The Act of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Use Of Music: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze (Her)

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)

Best Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color)

2nd Annual Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) announced their awards today, on December 7th, 2013, with giving away the Best Picture award to Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave which was the biggest winner of the night, also winning Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing and Best Original Score awards. This is such a remarkable achievement for 12 Years a Slave because it's finally starting to get some critics love which will probably continue until the Oscars.

Other great winner includes Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actress for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. Leto is my most favorite Oscar front-runner at the moment, because whatever he does, he does with extreme passion.

One thing that I completely disliked about the BOFCA awards this year is that instead of Spike Jonze's Her, the stupid Spring Breakers is in the list of top 10 films. Utterly ridiculous!

Last year, only 2 BOFCA winners eventually won the Oscar, i.e. Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis and Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway. Let's see what happens this time.

Here is the complete list of winners:

BEST PICTURE: 12 YEARS A SLAVE

BEST DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST ACTOR: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong'o (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST SCREENPLAY: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, and Richard Linklater (BEFORE MIDNIGHT)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR

BEST DOCUMENTARY: THE ACT OF KILLING

BEST ANIMATED FILM (tie): THE WIND RISES and FROZEN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Bruno Delbonnel (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)

BEST EDITING: Joe Walker (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Hans Zimmer (12 YEARS A SLAVE)

TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. 12 YEARS A SLAVE


2. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS


3. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET


4. GRAVITY


5. BEFORE MIDNIGHT


6. THE SPECTACULAR NOW


7. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR


8. SPRING BREAKERS


9. THE WORLD’S END


10. FRUITVALE STATION

85th Annual National Board of Review Awards

The National Board of Review (NBR) announced their awards on December 4th, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to HER, directed and produced by Spike Jonze who also won the Best Director award. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it at all, especially after yesterday's NYFCC awards. Spike is a talented and innovative filmmaker and it's very nice of the board to appreciate his work.

All the wins are actually kind of amazing especially the Wolf of Wall Street's Adapted Screenplay award and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty (a genuine surprise - I so want to watch this film now) making it to the list of top 10 films. These are the first honors for both of these movies this award season and I'm sure the best is yet to come.

Last year, only 2 out of 11 (not counting those categories that are not recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) NBR winners actually won the Oscar, i.e. Best Documentary for Searching for Sugar Man and Best Foreign Language Film for Amour. Let's see what happens this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film: HER

Best Director: Spike Jonze (HER)

Best Actor: Bruce Dern (NEBRASKA)

Best Actress: Emma Thompson (SAVING MR. BANKS)

Best Supporting Actor: Will Forte (NEBRASKA)

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (FRUITVALE STATION)

Best Original Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen (INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Terence Winter (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET)

Best Animated Feature: THE WIND RISES

Breakthrough Actor: Michael B. Jordan (FRUITVALE STATION)

Breakthrough Actress: Adele Exarchopoulos (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR)

Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler (FRUITVALE STATION)

Best Foreign Language Film: THE PAST

Best Documentary: STORIES WE TELL

William K. Everson Film History Award: George Stevens, Jr.

Best Ensemble: PRISONERS

Spotlight Award: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: WADJDA

Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award: GRAVITY

Top Films (in alphabetical order):

• 12 Years a Slave


• Fruitvale Station


• Gravity


• Inside Llewyn Davis


• Lone Survivor


• Nebraska


• Prisoners


• Saving Mr. Banks


• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty


• The Wolf of Wall Street

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order):

• Beyond the Hills


• Gloria


• The Grandmaster


• A Hijacking


• The Hunt

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):

• 20 Feet from Stardom


• The Act of Killing


• After Tiller


• Casting By


• The Square

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):

• Ain't Them Bodies Saints


• Dallas Buyers Club


• In a World…


• Mother of George


• Much Ado About Nothing


• Mud


• The Place Beyond the Pines


• Short Term 12


• Sightseers


• The Spectacular Now

79th Annual New York Film Critics Circle Awards

The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) started the critics award season and announced the winners on December 3rd, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to American Hustle, whereas Best Director went to Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave.

There were TWO big surprises:
1) Best Cinematography went to Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis. I was 100% sure that Emmanuel Lubezki would win every cinematography award for Gravity. But I was wrong. Anyway, Lubezki might eventually win the Oscar.
2) Stories We Tell won the Best Documentary instead of the Act of Killing. This isn't a surprise because both of them are amazing in their unique way. I'd be happy if either of them wins the ultimate award.

Plus, I'm really happy that critics appreciated Jared Leto's work and awarded him with Best Supporting Actor for his role as transsexual in Dallas Buyers Club.

Last year, only 2 out of 11 NYFCC winners (not counting First Film and Special Award categories) actually won the Oscar. Gravity didn't win anything tonight. Same happened with Argo and Life of Pi in 2012. But they ended up becoming the big winners at the Oscars. Let's see what happens this year.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film: American Hustle

Best Director: Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)

Best Actor: Robert Redford (All Is Lost)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (America Hustle)

Best Screenplay: David O. Russell, Eric Singer (American Hustle)

Best Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color (France)

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): Stories We Tell

Best Animated Film: The Wind Rises

Best First Film: Fruitvale Station

Special Award: Frederick Wiseman

66th Annual Cannes Film Festival Awards

The 66th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 15th to 26th May 2013 in Cannes, France. The festival opened with Baz Luhrmann's epic romantic drama film THE GREAT GATSBY and closed with Jérôme Salle's crime film ZULU.  THE BLING RING, directed by Sofia Coppola, opened the Un Certain Regard section. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for main competition and along with him, there were Daniel Auteuil (French actor), Vidya Balan, Ang Lee, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Kawase (Japanese film director), Cristian Mungiu (Romanian film director), Christoph Waltz and Lynne Ramsay (Scottish film director) were also the members of the jury for main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and Short Film sections.

The French film BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR directed by Abdellatif Kechiche won the Palme d'Or. In an unprecedented move, the Jury decided to take "the exceptional step" of awarding the film's two main actresses with the Palme d'Or along with the director.

It is completely obvious that I haven't watched any of these films as I didn't attend the festival but I like to keep track of who won which award so it becomes easier for me in the future. There were a lot of brilliant films in the festival and I'm hoping to watch all of them. One film at a time.

Here is the complete list of winners:

In Competition

Palme d'Or: Blue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche

• Honorary Palme d'Or: Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux for Blue Is the Warmest Colour

Grand Prix: Inside Llewyn Davis by Joel & Ethan Coen

Best Director: Amat Escalante for Heli

Best Screenplay: Jia Zhangke for A Touch of Sin

Best Actress:  Bérénice Bejo for The Past

Best Actor: Bruce Dern for Nebraska

Jury Prize: Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda

Un Certain Regard

Prize of Un Certain Regard:  The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh

Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize: Omar by Hany Abu-Assad

Un Certain Regard Best Director: Alain Guiraudie for Stranger by the Lake

Un Certain Regard Best First Film: Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler

A Certain Talent:  Diego Quemada-Diez for The Golden Cage

Parallel sections

Caméra d'Or: Ilo Ilo by Anthony Chen

Directors' Fortnight

• Art Cinema Award:  Me, Myself and Mum by Guillaume Gallienne


• Prix SACD:  Me, Myself and Mum by Guillaume Gallienne


• Europa Cinemas: The Selfish Giant by Clio Barnard


• Premier Prix Illy for Short Filmmaking: A Wild Goose Chase by Joao Nicolau


• Special Mention: About a Month by Andre Novais Oliveira

Independent Awards

FIPRESCI Prize

• In Competition: Blue Is the Warmest Colour by Abdellatif Kechiche


• Un Certain Regard: Manuscripts Don't Burn by Mohammad Rasoulof


• Directors' Fortnight: Blue Ruin by Jeremy Saulnier

Ecumenical Jury

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: The Past by Asghar Farhadi

Commendations:

• Miele by Valeria Golino


• Like Father, Like Son by Hirokazu Koreeda

Queer Palm Jury

Queer Palm Award: Stranger by the Lake by Alain Guiraudie

Palm Dog Jury

Palm Dog Award: Baby Boy in Behind the Candelabra