Release the Awards Hounds!
Awards season picked up a little steam today with a batch of nominations from the International Documentary Association and the British Independent Film Awards.
The 2008 IDA Documentary Award nominees are:
- Kassim the Dream - the story of Ugandan child soldier turned World Champion boxer Kassim “The Dream” Ouima (Coming to AFI Fest).
- Man on Wire - this documentary about Philippe Petit, the man who walked a tightrope between the towers of New York’s World Trade Center in 1974 is simply one of the best movies of the year. Review
- Stranded - Recently released into theaters, this is the infamous story of the 1972 Andes plane crash as told by the survivors.
- Waltz with Bashir - Ari Folman’s animated Cannes favorite about the 1982 conflict between Lebanon and Israel (Coming to AFI Fest).
- Young@Heart - If you’re not moved by this look at a chorus of senior citizens who resist the inevitable by channeling modern pop music in their own defiant style, you have soul cancer. Review.
Source: Joel, via SpoutBlog by way of IndieWIRE.
Man on Wire struck again on the other side of the Atlantic today with 3 British Independent Film Award nominations including Best Picture. Other BIFA Best picture nominees include Steve McQueen’s IRA prison drama Hunger (7 total nominations) and the Brendan Gleeson/Colin Farrell/Ralph Fiennes starring In Bruges (7 nominations), Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire (6 nominations) and Shane Meadows’ Somers Town (4 nominations).
Other multiple nominees include Garth Jennings’ Son of Rambow and The Duchess starring Keira Knightley. Both films received 4 nominations while Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky received 3.
See a full list of nominees here.
Filed under: Awards
Tags: Ari Folman, BIFA, Brendan Gleeson, British Independent Film Awards, Colin Farrell, Danny Boyle, Garth Jennings, Happy-Go-Lucky, Hunger, IDA, In Bruges, International Documentary Association, Kassim the Dream, Keira Knightley, Man on Wire, Mike Leigh, Philippe Petit, Ralph Fiennes, Shane Meadows, Slumdog Millionaire, Somers Town, Son of Rambow, Steve McQueen, Stranded, The Duchess, Waltz with Bashir, Young@Heart
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I’m a little surprised by some of the selections here, considering I’ve never heard of Kassim the Dream, but then again last year’s Oscar featured three nominees that didn’t open nationally for months after the awards were handed out. I suppose as far as International goes, this isn’t a bad line-up but I really have to wonder…
Where’s Up the Yangtze?
Man on Wire! Man on Wire! Man on Wire!
As insane as the documentaries were this year (including Nerakhoon/The Betrayal, which has yet to be released), there are going to be a whole bunch of them that are for some reason going to be ineligible. Maybe Yangtze is one of them. I don’t feel like reading the rules and it doesn’t really matter anyway cuz they’re not changing.
I conceded the Oscar for Best Doc Feature to Man on Wire by the end of August, although it wouldn’t have received my first place vote this year. The critical and commercial response is just too much for anything else to overcome, especially considering it’s been sweeping awards since Sundance in January.
Dang you for being able to see Kassim and Bashir next week!
Good point, Daniel. I forgot that the Oscars aren’t necessarily the only organization with a potentially byzantine rules system. Not that I know that to be the case here. It’s entirely possible that IDA has a very inclusive policy and Up the Yangtze wasn’t submitted or technically came out last year, but it’s important to remember in this season of noms and awards that not all of them are created equal or are all-inclusive.
I really hate the rules shrouding the documentary selection at the Oscars and (apparently) at other institutions. When Herzog was snubbed for Grizzly Man, I was livid. but when King of Kong got shafted last year, it was one of the last nails in the coffin of my love for the Oscars. The snafus surrounding the nominees for Best Foreign film are a bit more understandable to me (although disqualifying The Band’s Visit just makes you look like scum), but the method behind selecting Best Doc is utterly corrupt. I have zero - ZERO - respect for the Academy’s documentary committee.
That said, nice to see Man On Wire get some love, as well as Young@Heart, although I agree with Daniel - there have been better docs this year.
Good point about the eligibility, Daniel. There’s already been some talk here at LiC that both Young@Heart and Man on Wire may be ineligible. The first has the video segment which may disqualify it, and the second has the reenactment by actors part which the Academy may take issue with. That would be unfortunate, however.
Y@H is definitely disqualified because it played on the BBC before it played in US theaters. Man on Wire I’m not sure about.