‘Nomadland’ stakes early Oscar claim with top Toronto prizeAFP -
September 21, 2020 5:22 PM
US actress Frances McDormand. (AFP pic)
LOS ANGELES: The pandemic-delayed Oscars are still seven months away, but Frances McDormand’s “Nomadland” cemented its early frontrunner status by bagging the Toronto film festival’s top prize Sunday.
The movie about a community of elderly, nomadic idealists who roam across America in worn-out vans had already won Venice’s Golden Lion last weekend for star-and-producer McDormand and Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao.
It has now added the People’s Choice Award voted for by audiences in Toronto – North America’s biggest film festival – which is considered a useful early Oscars bellwether.
The film an ode to American wanderlust and the highs and lows of the open road — has stood out in a sparse year so far, with many top productions halted and theatrical releases delayed due to Covid-19. Academy Awards have been pushed back two months to April 25, partly to allow more movies a chance to compete.
“Nomadland” beat out Toronto’s first runner-up “One Night in Miami,” an adaptation by Regina King (“Watchmen”) of a play imagining a heated 1964 motel room conversation involving Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, singer and activist Sam Cooke and NFL star Jim Brown.
The Toronto People’s Choice Award, determined entirely by the votes of festival attendees, has a fairly strong history of predicting Oscars success.
The last eight winners were all nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, with two of those winning the Oscar, including 2019’s surprise victor “Green Book.”
“12 Years a Slave” (2013), “The King’s Speech” (2010) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) all began their journeys to Oscar glory with the Toronto prize.
“Nomadland” earned rave reviews from critics after its world premiere in Venice, which was followed hours later by drive-in screenings in Toronto and Southern California.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “a unique portrait of outsider existence,” while Variety termed it a “tender ode to American independence.”
“Nomadland” comes from the same studio – Searchlight – as last year’s Toronto winner “Jojo Rabbit.”
That Nazi satire went on to win best adapted screenplay at the Oscars, but was beaten to the top prize by South Korean juggernaut “Parasite.”
The Toronto International Film Festival took place mainly online this year, along with a handful of drive-in and limited-capacity indoor screenings.
At a virtual gala earlier this week it handed career achievement awards to fast-rising Zhao who will oversee next year’s Marvel superhero epic “Eternals” as well as Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.
nomadland pasti dpt nominations best director, best picture, best actress sbb
1. tema citer pun berkait situasi skrg lagi2 org amerika tgh hadapi recession kerana wabak covid-19.
2. wakil propaganda. director dia berasal dr tanah besar China tapi hidup berkiblatkan western, skrg plak tgh berperang ekonomi antara america-china.
acik Glenn so far mcm tak de saingan lagi kecuali kalau dia tetibe kalah dgn olvia colman lagi sekali. persaingan best actress jek agak sukar sket sebab nama2 yg bakal masuk spt Frances Mcdomand (Nomadland), Elizabeth Moss (Shirley), Kate Winslet (Ammonite), Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit).
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Michelle Pfeiffer (“French Exit”)
Kate Winslet (“Ammonite”)
Elisabeth Moss (“Shirley”)
mengharap tercalon:
Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”)
Amy Adams (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
The longest awards season ever kicks off today with the announcement for the 2020 Gotham Awards nominees. The awards ceremony, backed by the Independent Film Project (IFP), is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. As always, the Gothams are the first stop on the awards season journey, which this year will last until the Oscars ceremony all the way on April 25. The 2020 Gotham Awards are set to take place January 11, 2021, over a month delay from when the ceremony’s usually held, on the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
While the Gotham Awards don’t always overlap with the Oscars, they often play a key role in elevating films into the overall awards conversation since the ceremony is the first of the season. Past acting winners like Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Awkwafina (“The Farewell”), Ethan Hawke (“First Reformed”), and Toni Collette (“Hereditary”) all had Oscar momentum following the Gothams, with Driver nabbing an Oscar nom for Best Actor. Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” won last year’s Gotham Award for Best Feature on its way to a Best Picture nom at the Oscars. The Gotham Best Documentary winner “American Factory” repeated at the Oscars.
The eligibility period for the 2020 Gotham Awards ends February 28, 2021, meaning films that have yet to be released in theaters or PVOD such as A24’s “Minari” and Searchlight’s “Nomadland” are eligible for prizes. Films with budgets exceeding $35 million were automatically disqualified from Gotham Awards consideration. Major Oscar contenders from Netflix such as Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” David Fincher’s “Mank,” George Clooney’s “The Midnight Sky,” and Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom” were not eligible.
As Variety reported earlier this month: “For the narrative feature categories, 154 films were submitted to the 2020 Gotham Awards, up from 138 in 2019. There was no change in the number of documentaries at 128. For television series, 166 series (both long and short) represents a big jump compared to 122 in 2019 and 144 in 2018. The combined total submissions received by the IFP was 505 over all its categories. Even factoring in the newly created international feature, which had 57 films entries, it’s still a net increase from 388 in 2019.”
Check out the full list of nominees for the 2020 Gotham Awards below. Nominees are selected by committees made up of film critics and industry professionals. IndieWire’s own Eric Kohn, Kate Erbland, and David Ehrlich served on nomination committees for the 2020 Gotham Awards.
Best Feature
“The Assistant”
“First Cow”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Nomadland”
“Relic”
Best Documentary
“76 Days”
“City Hall”
“Our Time Machine”
“A Thousand Cuts”
“Time”
Best International Feature
“Bacurau”
“Beanpole”
“Cuties (Mignonnes)”
“Identifying Features”
“Martin Eden”
“Wolfwalkers”
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Carlo Mirabella-Davis, “Swallow”
Rhada Blank, “The Forty Year Old Version”
Andrew Patterson, “Vast of Night”
Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth”
Alex Thompson, “Saint Frances”
Best Screenplay
“Bad Education,” Mike Makowsky
“First Cow,” Jon Raymond and Kelly Reichardt
“The Forty-Year-Old Version,” Radha Blank
“Fourteen,” Dan Sallitt
“The Vast of Night,” James Montague and Craig Sanger
Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Jude Law, “The Nest”
John Magaro, “First Cow”
Jesse Plemons, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
Best Actress
Nicole Beharie, “Miss Juneteenth”
Jessie Buckley, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari”
Carrie Coon, “The Nest”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Breakthrough Actor
Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Jasmine Batchelor, “The Surrogate”
Kelly O’Sullivan, “Saint Frances”
Orion Lee, “First Cow”
Kingsley Ben-Adir, “One Night in Miami”
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
“The Great”
“Immigration Nation”
“P-Valley”
“Unorthodox”
“Watchmen”
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
“Betty”
“Dave”
“I May Destroy You”
“Taste the Nation”
“Work in Progress”
Post time 5-9-2020 09:16 PM
Author
US actress Frances McDormand. (AFP pic)
