2012 Premios Sur (Argentinian film awards) – winners

The Academia de las Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de la Argentina (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina Awards) held the ceremony their 7th annual Premios Sur (South Awards) for Argentinian film at the Centro Cultural San Martín. The event was hosted by Ronnie Arias.

Benjamín Ávila's Infancia clandestina (Clandestine Childhood) dominated the night with ten wins from its leading 16 nominations. Its wins were for Best Film, Director, Actress (Natalia Oreiro), Supporting Actress (Cristina Banegas), Actor (Ernesto Alterio), Supporting Actor (César Troncoso), Original Screenplay, Editing, Costume Design, and a tie for Sound.

Next with six awards was Armando Bo's El último Elvis (The Last Elvis). It won for Best New Actor (John McInerny), Cinematography, Art Direction, Makeup, Original Music and also tied for Sound.

2013 Grammy Awards – nominations

Nominations for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards were announced tonight by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the fifth year, nominations for the annual Grammy Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night," a one-hour CBS entertainment special broadcast live for the first time ever from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Fun., Jay-Z, Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, and Kanye West top the nominations with six each; the Black Keys, Chick Corea and Miguel each garner five nods; and producer Jeff Bhasker, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig and Nas are each up for four awards.

2012 National Board of Review Awards – winners

The National Board of Review has announced the winners for its 2012 NBR Awards for the best films of the year.

Their choice for Best Film of the year was Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty. It was also winner for Best Director and Best Actress (Jessica Chastain).

“Zero Dark Thirty is a masterful film,” said Annie Schulhof, NBR President. “Kathryn Bigelow takes the viewer inside a definitive moment of our time in a visceral and unique way. It is exciting, provocative and deeply emotional.”

A select group of knowledgeable film enthusiasts and professionals, academics, young filmmakers and students, the National Board of Review viewed over 250 films this year including studio, independent, foreign-language, animated and documentary selections.  These screenings were frequently followed by in-depth discussions with filmmakers, directors, actors, producers, and screenwriters. Voting ballots were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz & Carr, LLP.

Time Magazine's top ten Best and Worst films of 2012

Time Magazine has published its list of top 10 best and worst films of the year. Topping the list of best films was Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner Amour. This is a sensible and unsurprising choice as it has won numerous other awards since its triumph at Cannes. The top ten selection was made by Richard Corliss.

The number one worst film, however, has proven controversial. Taking the top spot for worst film of 2012 was Cloud Atlas, the adaptation of the David Mitchell novel by Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski.

I personally had issues with it, not least of which was the yellow-face casting and acting. Sure, many actors cross races in the movie, but none in a main role in the story as Jim Sturgess does as a Korean. Nonetheless, it has good intentions, I suppose. But it has other flaws as well as strengths. I didn't find it confusing as many did, but I did find it muddled.

Canada's Top Ten films of 2012

CANADA’S TOP TEN TOASTS THE NATION’S BEST FILMS OF 2012 – CRONENBERG, POLLEY, NGUYEN AND MEHTA AMONG FILMMAKERS RECOGNIZED

TORONTO — TIFF^® tipped its hat to the cream of the Canadian film crop at tonight’s 12^th annual Canada’s Top Ten^™ industry event, with hosts Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis, A Dangerous Method) and Don McKellar (Blindness, Trigger) announcing the year’s top 10 best features and top 10 best short films, as selected by a panel of industry professionals. Established in 2001, Canada’s Top Ten celebrates excellence in Canadian cinema and raises global awareness of Canadian achievements in film. This festival of Canadian works runs from January 4 to 13, 2013 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, featuring public screenings accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers, and a special onstage Mavericks conversation with director Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell, Take This Waltz). Select films from the lineup will tour major cities across the country, including Vancouver’s Pacific Cinematheque, Edmonton’s Metro Cinema and Montreal’s PHI Centre. Tickets and packages for TIFF Bell Lightbox dates go on sale December 5 for TIFF Members and December 12 for non-members.

2013 Sundance Film Festival announces Short Films

Sundance Institute announced today the program of short films selected to screen at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The 2013 Short Film program is comprised of 65 short films selected from a record 8,102 submissions (427 more than for the 2012 Festival).

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Short Film section of our 2013 Festival is comprised of bold works by adventurous filmmakers who have mastered creative ways to embody their unique perspectives in the short form onscreen. The selections represent the immensely varied and dynamic approaches to storytelling that will inspire audiences with their huge accomplishments within a limited timeframe.”

The Short Film program is presented by YouTube.

Jem Cohen: We Have An Anchor, Dec 4-5

TIFF and the Images Festival present Jem Cohen: We Have An Anchor, a special co-presentation featuring artist and filmmaker Jem Cohen’s latest film/music project, We Have An Anchor, with performances on December 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

This documentary-based, interdisciplinary hybrid features footage Cohen gathered in Nova Scotia over the past decade, multiple 16mm film and HD projections coupled with texts ranging from poems and folklore to scientific research and newspaper fragments, and a live musical concert performed by accomplished musicians and former Cohen collaborators, including: Guy Picciotto of Fugazi; Jim White of Dirty Three; T. Griffin of The Quavers; Efrim Menuck, founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra; and Jessica Moss of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra along with special guest vocals from Mary Margaret O'Hara.

2012 Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Awards – winners

Tonight, the inaugural Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Awards – also known as the Moas in honour of the extinct New Zealand birds – took place at the Wintergarden at the Civic Theatre in Auckland.

Tusi Tamasese’s The Orator swept the field winning eight of its leading 12 nominations. The first ever film shot entirely in Samoa, in the Samoan language, with a Samoan cast and story, it won the top categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Fa'afiaula Sagote), Best Actress (Tausili Pushparaj), Supporting Actress (Salamasina Mataia) and Screenplay.

Kirstin Marcon's The Most Fun You Can Have Dying was well behind with three wins, for Best Cinematography, Production Design and Score. Two Little Boys by Robert Sarkies won for Best Editing and Best Visual Effects.

Satellite Awards 2012 – nominations

The International Press Academy has announced the nominations for their 17th annual Satellite Awards.

Leading the field with 10 nominations was Tom Hooper's film adaptation of the musical Les Misérables. Its nominations included Best Motion Picture, Best Actor (Hugh Jackman), Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway, Samantha Barks) and Supporting Actor (Eddie Redmayne). It was also declared the recipient of the Best Ensemble Award. However, it didn't receive any recognition for its direction or writing.

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was not far behind with nine nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Director, Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones), and Screenplay.

2013 Sundance announces films in Premieres, Documentary Premieres

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Shortlist of 15 Documentary Features for 2013 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 85th Academy Awards®. One hundred twenty-six pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

2012 New York Film Critics’ Circle Awards – winners

The New York Film Critics’ Circle announced their 78th NYFCC Awards this afternoon.

Zero Dark Thirty earned the top prizes. It won Best Film and Kathryn Bigelow claimed Best Director for the second time after winning in 2009 for The Hurt Locker. The film was also the winner for Best Cinematography.

The other three-time winner was Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln. It won Best Screenplay, Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Supporting Actress (Sally Field). It was Day-Lewis' fifth win at the NYFCC Awards, while Sally Field previously won for Norma Rae.

2012 Annie Awards – nominations

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for the 40th Annual Annie Awards.

Three films shared the lead with 10 nominations each. Pixar's Brave, Disney's Wreck-It Ralph and DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians. Each was nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Also nominated for Best Animated Feature were Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, ParaNorman, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and The Rabbi’s Cat.

The National Film Board of Canada picked up two nominations for their highly-regarded animation work. Bydlo and Kali the Little Vampire received nods in the Best Animated Short Subject category.

2012 AACTA Awards for Australian Film/TV – nominations

Today at The Star in Sydney, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) revealed the nominations for the 2nd annual AACTA Awards.

The musical drama The Sapphires led the field. The story about four Aboriginal girls who form a singing group in the 1960s picked up 12 nominations including Best Film, Best Direction (Wayne Blair), Best Lead Actress (Deborah Mailman), Best Lead Actor (Chris O’Dowd) and Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Mauboy).

It was followed by Jonathan Teplitzky's Burning Man which picked up 10 nominations. Cate Shortland's Lore and Kieran Darcy-Smith's Wish You Were Here each followed with eight nominations. All three were nominated for Best Film and Best Direction.

2012 Governors Awards – Pennebaker, Stevens Jr., Needham, Katzenberg

Many of the movie industry's biggest names came out to pay tribute to an eclectic group of honorees at the Academy's fourth annual Governors Awards held on December 1 at the Hollywood & Highland Center's Ray Dolby Ballroom.

Famous friends and colleagues gathered for an unforgettable evening of laughter, fun, and affection to celebrate the indelible contributions of honorees D.A. Pennebaker, George Stevens Jr., Hal Needham, and Jeffrey Katzenberg to filmmaking and the world.

Attendees were greeted with a gala cocktail reception including performances by a jazz quartet, followed by an official welcome from Academy President Hawk Koch. A video clip saluted the history of the Academy's Honorary Award, which was begun in 1948 to honor achievements outside the categories of the existing Oscars.

This year, three honorees received Honorary Awards for their work, which ranged from Needham's death-defying stunts to Pennebaker's groundbreaking documentaries and Stevens' landmark film preservation, while Katzenberg was recognized for his trailblazing philanthropic efforts.