The Decade List: Awards (2008)

I've likely spoken at some length on the majority of these awards, seeing as how most of them were given out this year... which means this will be the last installment of the Awards section of The Decade List, as I hope to will finish this all up by the end of the year. The "national film prizes" sounded really great in theory, but it's actually been more of a hassle than anything else. I'm not absolutely sure that the awards I've associated with the particular country are considered to be their top prize or not. And, like the European Film Awards, every country seems to have different cut-off periods for eligibility. Regardless, 2008 was the year where that damn crowd pleaser Slumdog Millionaire took home all the big prizes... and I'm still not sure why. For the Oscars, who always use peculiar logic, it may have been in their minds to follow up one of Oscar's bleakest Best Picture winners, No Country for Old Men, with one to get the crowds' cheering (although Slumdog is the only film I know of that can be both a crowd-pleaser and contain a scene where a child's eye gets scooped out with a spoon... there are probably other rousers that have featured their hero falling into a pool of excrement).

But, hey, at least it ended with a dance number! I wonder if I would hate Paul Haggis' Crash as much as I do if Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton and company broke out into a choreographed dance routine, or at least locked arms and swayed to "Lean on Me." Three of the other films that made repeat appearances, Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah, Steve McQueen's Hunger and Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, made their first stop at Cannes, while James Marsh's Man on Wire, which seemed to monopolize the Documentary categories, debuted at Sundance. Enjoy the final round of the Decade List's Award round-up, as I doubt I'll go back and revamp the previous years; I have too much to catch up on.

Film Festival Awards

Cannes, held 14-25 May 2008

Palme d’Or: Entre les murs (The Class) [d. Laurent Cantet]
Grand Prix: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
Prix du jury: Il divo [d. Paolo Sorrentino]
Best Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Üç maymun (Three Monkeys)
Best Actor: Benicio del Toro – Che
Best Actress: Sandra Corveloni – Linha de Passe
Best Screenplay: Jean Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne – Le silence de Lorna (Lorna’s Silence)

Caméra d’Or: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
- Special Mention: Everybody Dies But Me [d. Valeriya Gai Germanika]
Un Certain Regard Award: Tulpan [d. Sergei Dvortsevoy]
- Special Jury Prize: Tôkyô sonata [d. Kiyoshi Kuroawa]
Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique: Snijeg (Snow) [d. Aida Begić]
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Delta [d. Kornél Mundruczó]


Venice, held 27 August-6 September 2008

Golden Lion: The Wrestler [d. Darren Aronofsky]
Silver Lion
- for Best Director: Aleksei German MI. – Paper Soldier
Grand Special Jury Prize: Teza [d. Haile Gerima]
Volpi Cup
- Best Actor: Silvio Orlando – Il papa di Giovanna (Giovanna’s Father)
- Best Actress: Dominique Blanc – L’autre (The Other One)
Marcello Mastroianni Award (for Best Young Actor): Jennifer Lawrence – The Burning Plain
Golden Osella
- for Best Screenplay: Haile Gerima – Teza
- for Best Cinematography: Alisher Khamidkhodjaev, Maksim Drozdov – Paper Soldier
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Gabbla (Inland) [d. Tariq Teguia]
- Horizons and International Critics’ Week: Goodbye Solo [d. Ramin Bahrani]
Critics’ Week Award: L’apprenti (The Apprentice) [d. Samuel Collardey]
Queer Lion: Un altro pianeta (One Day in a Life) [d. Stefano Tummolini]


Toronto, held 4-13 September 2008

People’s Choice Award: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Discovery Award: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
Best Canadian Feature: Lost Song [d. Rodrigue Jean]
- Special Jury Citation: Adoration [d. Ang Lee]
Best Canadian First Feature: Le jour avant le lendemain (Before Tomorrow) [d. Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Ivalu]
- Special Jury Citation: Borderline [d. Lyne Charlebois]
FIPRESCI Award
- Special Presentations: Disgrace [d. Steve Jacobs]
- Discovery: Lymelife [d. Derick Martini]


Berlin, held 7-17 February 2008

Golden Bear: Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) [d. José Padilha]
Silver Bear
- for Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
- for Best Actor: Mohammad Amir Naji – The Song of Sparrows
- for Best Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
- for Best Screenplay: Wang Xiaoshuai – In Love We Trust
- Jury Grand Prix: Standard Operating Procedure [d. Errol Morris]
- Outstanding Artistic Achievement: Jonny Greenwood, composer – There Will Be Blood
Panorama Audience Award: Lemon Tree [d. Eran Riklis]
Teddy
- Feature: The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela [d. Olaf de Fleur Jóhannesson]
- Documentary: Football Under Cover [d. David Assmann, Ayat Najafi]
- Jury Award: Be Like Others [d. Tanaz Eshaghian]
- Audience Award: Football Under Cover
- Special Teddy: Kevin Collins, Simon Fisher-Turner, Isaac Julien, James Mackay, Tilda Swinton (To those who as a ‘family,’ as combatants and allies of British filmmaker Derek Jarman have looked after his heritage); Hans Stempel, Martin Ripkens (for their activities and achievements as film critics, film scouts and filmmakers)
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Lake Tahoe [d. Fernando Eimbcke]
- Forum of New Cinema: Shahida [d. Natalie Assouline]
- Panorama: Mermaid [d. Anna Melikyan]


Sundance, held 17-27 January 2008

Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Frozen River [d. Courtney Hunt]
- Director: Lance Hammer – Ballast
- Special Jury Prize: (tie) Chusy Haney-Jardine – Anywhere, USA; Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, Brad William Henke, ensemble cast – Choke
- Cinematography: Lol Crawley – Ballast
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Alex Rivera, David Riker – Sleep Dealer
- Audience Award: The Wackness [d. Jonathan Levine]

Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Trouble the Water [d. Tia Lessin, Carl Deal]
- Director: Nanette Burstein – American Teen
- Special Jury Prize: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo [d. Lisa F. Jackson]
- Cinematography: Phillip Hunt, Steven Sebring – Patti Smith: Dream of Life
- Documentary Film Editing Award: Joe Bini – Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
- Audience Award: Fields of Fuel [d. Joshua Tickell]

World Cinema, Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Ping-pongkingen (King of Ping Pong) [d. Jens Jonsson]
- Director: Ana Melikyan – Mermaid
- Special Jury Prize: Párpados azules (Blue Eyelids) [d. Ernesto Contreras]
- Cinematography: Askild Edvardsen – Ping-pongkingen
- Screenwriting Award: Samuel Benchetrit – J’ai toujours rêvé d’être un gangster (I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster)
- Audience Award: Captain Abu Raed [d. Amin Matalqa]

World Cinema, Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
- Director: Nino Kirtadze – Durakovo: Le village des fous (Durakovo: Village of Fools)
- Cinematography: Mahmoud al Massad – Recycle
- Documentary Film Editing Award: Irena Dol – The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins
- Audience Award: Man on Wire

Other Festivals of Note

Locarno International Film Festival, held 6-16 August 2008
- Golden Leopard: Parque vía [d. Enrique Rivero]

San Sebastián International Film Festival, held 18-27 September 2008
- Golden Seashell: Pandora’nin kutusu (Pandra’s Box) [d. Yeşim Ustaoğlu]

Tokyo International Film Festival, held 18-26 October 2008
- Tokyo Grand Prix: Tulpan [d. Sergei Dvortsevoy]

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, held 4-12 July 2008
- Crystal Globe: Frygtelig lykkelig (Terribly Happy) [d. Henrik Ruben Genz]

Montréal World Film Festival, held 21 August-1 September 2008
- Grand Prix des Amériques: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita]

SXSW Film Festival, held 7-15 March 2008
- Best Film: Wellness [d. Jake Mahaffy]
- Best Documentary: They Killed Sister Dorothy [d. Daniel Junge]

Industry Awards

Academy Awards, held 22 February 2009

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Best Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Film: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita], Japan
Best Documentary: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
Best Animated Feature: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]


BAFTAS, held 8 February 2009

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Film Not in the English Language: Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long) [d. Philippe Claudel], France
Best Animated Feature: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]

Outstanding British Film: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
David Lean Award for Direction: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer: Steve McQueen, writer/director – Hunger
Rising Star Award: Noel Clarke


European Film Awards, held 6 December 2008

Best Film: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
Best Director: Matteo Garrone - Gomorra
Best Actor: Toni Servillo – Il divo; Gomorra
Best Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas – Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Best Cinematography: Marco Onorato – Gomorra
Best Screenplay: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano – Gomorra
Prix d’excellence: Magdalena Biedrzycka, costume designer – Katyń
Best Documentary: René [d. Helena Trestikova]
Discovery: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
FIPRESCI Prize: La graine et le mulet (The Secret of the Grain) [d. Abdel Kechiche]
Audience Award (Film): Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [d. David Yates]


Independent Spirit Awards, held 21 February 2009

Best Feature: The Wrestler [d. Darren Aronofsky]
Best First Feature: Synecdoche, New York [d. Charlie Kaufman]
Best Director: Thomas McCarthy – The Visitor
Best Male Lead: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Female Lead: Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Best Supporting Male: James Franco – Milk
Best Supporting Female: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Screenplay: Woody Allen – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best First Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti – The Wrestler
Best Documentary: Man on Wire [d. James Marsh]
Best Foreign Film: Entre les murs (The Class) [d. Laurent Cantet]

John Cassavetes Award (for features made for under $500,000): In Search of a Midnight Kiss [d. Alex Holdridge]
Truer Than Fiction Award: The Order of Myths [d. Margaret Brown]
Someone to Watch Award: Lynne Shelton – My Effortless Brilliance
Producers Award: Heather Rae – Frozen River; Ibid


Golden Globes, held 11 January 2009

Drama
- Picture: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle]
- Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
- Actress: Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Musical or Comedy
- Picture: Vicky Cristina Barcelona [d. Woody Allen]
- Actor: Colin Farrell – In Bruges
- Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Foreign Film: Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman], Israel
Animated Film: WALL·E [d. Andrew Stanton]


César Awards, held 27 February 2009

Best Film (Meilleur film): Séraphine [d. Martin Provost]
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Jean-François Richet – Mesrine
Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): Vincent Cassel – Mesrine
Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Yolande Moreau – Séraphine
Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle): Jean-Paul Roussillon – Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale)
Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle): Elsa Zylberstein – Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Marc-André Grondin – Le premier jour du reste de ta vie (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life)
Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Déborah François – Le premier jour du reste de ta vie
Best Original Screenplay (Meilleur scénario original): Marc Abdelnour, Martin Provost – Séraphine
Best Adapted Screenplay (Meilleur scénario adaptation): François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet – Entre les murs (The Class)
Best Cinematography (Meilleure photographie): Laurent Brunet – Séraphine
Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman], Israel
Best Documentary (Meilleur film documentaire): Les plages d’Agnès (The Beaches of Agnès) – d. Agnès Varda
Best First Film (Meilleur premier film): Il y a longtemps que je t’aime [d. Philippe Claudel]


Directors Guild of America, given 31 January 2009

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Ari Folman – Waltz with Bashir


Screen Actors Guild of America, held 25 January 2009

Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn – Milk
Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep – Doubt
Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet – The Reader
Outstanding Performance by the Case of a Theatrical Motion Picture: Slumdog Millionaire, awarded to Rubina Ali, Tanay Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Madhur Mittal, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto


Razzies, given 21 February 2009

Worst Film: The Love Guru [d. Marco Schnabel]
Worst Director: Uwe Boll – Tunnel Rats; In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale; Postal
Worst Actor: Mike Myers – The Love Guru
Worst Actress: Paris Hilton – The Hottie & the Nottie
Worst Supporting Actor: Pierce Brosnan – Mamma Mia!
Worst Supporting Actress: Paris Hilton – Repo! The Genetic Opera
Worst Screenplay: Mike Myers, Graham Gordy – The Love Guru
Worst Remake/Sequel: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [d. Steven Spielberg]

National Industry Awards

Argentina, Clarín Awards
- Film: Aniceto [d. Leonardo Favio]
Australia, Australian Film Awards
- Film: The Black Balloon [d. Tristram Miall]
Austria, Diagnole Grand Prize
- Film: Revanche [d. Götz Spielmann]
Brazil, Cinema Brazil Awards
- Film: Estômago [d. Marcos Jorge]
- Foreign Film: Vicky Cristina Barcelona [d. Woody Allen], Spain/USA
Canada, Genie Awards
- Film: Passchendaele [d. Paul Gross]

Canada (Québec), Jutra Awards
- Film: Borderline [d. Lyne Charlebois]
China, Golden Rooster
- Film: (tie) Assembly [d. Feng Xiaogang]; Forever Enthralled [d. Chen Kaige]
Czech Republic, Czech Lions
- Film: Karamazovi (The Karamazovs) [d. Petr Zelenka]
- Foreign-Language Film: Katyń [d. Andrzej Wajda], Poland
Denmark, Robert Awards
- Film: Frygtelig lykkelig (Terribly Happy) [d. Henrik Ruben Genz]
- Best American Film: No Country for Old Men [d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen]
- Best Non-American Film: Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) [d. Jan Troell], Sweden
Finland, Jussi Awards
- Film: Niko – Lentäjän poika (Niko and the Way to the Stars) [d. Michael Henger, Kari Juusonen]

Germany, Lolas
- Film: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven) [d. Fatih Akin]
Greece, Greek Competition Awards via the Thessaloniki Film Festival
- Film: Exile Island [d. Elias Giannakakis, Evi Karabatsou]
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Film Awards
- Film: Ip Man [d. Wilson Yip]
Hungary, Hungarian Film Week Grand Prize
- Film: Delta [d. Kornél Mundruczó]
Iceland, Edda Awards
- Film: Brúðguminn (White Night Wedding) [d. Baltasar Kormákur]

Iran, Crystal Simorgh
- Film: As Simple As That [d. Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi]
Ireland, Irish Film & Television Awards
- Film: Hunger [d. Steve McQueen]
- Best International Film: In Bruges [d. Martin McDonagh], UK
Israel, Ophir Awards
- Film: Waltz with Bashir [d. Ari Folman]
Italy, David di Donatello Awards
- Film: Gomorra (Gomorrah) [d. Matteo Garrone]
- Best Foreign Film: Gran Torino [d. Clint Eastwood], USA
- Best European Film: Slumdog Millionaire [d. Danny Boyle], UK
Japan, Japanese Academy Awards
- Film: Departures [d. Yôjirô Takita]
- Foreign Language Film: The Dark Knight [d. Christopher Nolan], USA
Mexico, Ariel Awards
- Film: Lake Tahoe [d. Fernando Eimbcke]
- Best Latin-American Film: Leonera (Lion’s Den) [d. Pablo Trapero], Argentina

Netherlands, Golden Calf
- Film: Alles is liefde (Love Is All) [d. Joram Lürsen]
Norway, Amanda Awards
- Film: Mannen som elsket Yngve (The Man Who Loved Yngve) [d. Stian Kristiansen]
- Best Foreign Feature Film: There Will Be Blood [d. Paul Thomas Anderson], USA
Philippines, FAMAS
- Film: Baler [d. Mark Meily]
Portugal, Coimbra Caminhos
- Film: Deus Não Quis (It Wasn’t God’s Will) [d. António Ferreira]
Romania, Gopo Awards
- Film: Restul e tăcere (The Rest Is Silence) [d. Nae Caranfil]
- Best European Film: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (I Served the King of England) [d. Jiří Menzel], Czech Republic
Russia, Nika Awards
- Film: Hipsters [d. Valeriy Todorovskiy]

South Korea, Grand Bell Awards
- Film: The Chaser [d. Na Hong-jin]
Spain, Goya Awards
- Film: Camino [d. Javier Fesser]
- Spanish-Language Foreign Film: La buena vida (The Good Life) [d. Andrés Wood], Chile
- European Film: 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) [d. Cristian Mungiu]
Sweden, Guldbagge Awards
- Film: Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick (Everlasting Moments) [d. Jan Troell]
- Foreign Film: Lust, Caution [d. Ang Lee], Taiwan
Switzerland, Swiss Film Awards
- Film: Home [d. Ursula Meier]
Taiwan, Golden Horse
- Film: Warlords [d. Peter Chan, Yip Wai Man]
Turkey, Golden Orange
- Film: Pazar - Bir ticaret masali (The Market: A Tale of Trade) [d. Ben Hopkins]