Call for submissions: Worldwide Short Film Festival's Screenplay Giveaway

The Worldwide Short Film Festival is open for submissions for its next Screenplay Giveaway, a short film screenwriting contest with a prize package of goods and services worth over $60,000. If you buy at least one industry panel ticket ($20), you may submit a screenplay of no more than 40 pages that will be read by an industry jury.

This contest is open to all Canadian residents. The winner will be announced during the Awards ceremony on the last day of the festival.

The Worldwide Short Film Festival is the largest short film festival in North America. It generally takes place in early June. It also runs a symposium which provides filmmakers and those in the industry an excellent opportunity to learn and to network.

Filmmakers should note that Worldwide Shorts has extended its deadline for film submissions to February 21, 2011. This is not a postmark deadline, but rather the film must arrive at their Toronto office by that day. They are also hiring in preparation for the coming festival.

25th annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards - winners

The American Society of Cinematographers held their ceremony for the 25th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards tonight at the Hollywood and Highland Grand Ballroom.

The surprise winner in the Film section was Wally Pfister for his work on Inception. He has previously been nominated for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He defeated fellow nominees Matthew Libatique (Black Swan), Danny Cohen (The King’s Speech), Jeff Cronenweth (The Social Network) and Roger Deakins (True Grit). The award was presented by Diane Lane. Unfortunately, Pfister was unable to attend, and Owen Roizman accepted on his behalf.

Deakins was the favourite to win, and had already won the BAFTA Award earlier in the night. He was awarded the 2011 American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by half of the Coen brothers, Joel Coen. He has previously won ASC Awards for The Shawshank Redemption and The Man Who Wasn't There but hasn't yet won an Oscar.

All of the film nominees are also nominated for the 83rd Academy Awards for Cinematography. Last year's winner was also a surprise, Christian Berger of Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon).

2011 Grammy Awards - winners

The 2011 Grammy Awards were held tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The telecast only contained a portion of the 109 categories, yet still ran three-and-a-half hours long. The show was dominated by rappers and country singers. For the most part, it didn't really really come to life. A number of the performers clearly lip-synched their acts. The older performers such as Bob Dylan and Barbara Streisand were simply dull.

Unfortunately, Aretha Franklin wasn't well enough to attend, and was paid a lengthy tribute by singers Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Florence Welch and Yolanda Adams. After her Superbowl fiasco, Christina Aguilera acquitted herself well. She outshone Jennifer Hudson, who had trouble hitting her notes.

The sleep-inducing Lady Antebellum won five of their six nominated categories, but were upset in the Album of the Year category by Montreal-based band Arcade Fire for their album The Suburbs. A surprised lead singer Win Butler said, "I just want to say thank you, merci, to Montreal, Quebec, for taking us and giving us a home and place to be in a band," before launching into an impromptu second number to end the show.

That finale was the lone bright spot in the telecast show for Canadian music fans as Drake and Justin Bieber were big losers. Both were defeated by surprise winner Esperanza Spalding for the Best New Artist award. She becomes the first jazz artist to win the category. In the pre-awards shows, Neil Young managed a single win in the Rock Song category for "Angry World" and Michael Bublé won Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Crazy Love.

25th Premios Goyas (Goya Awards) for Spanish film - winners

The Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science) held their 25th Premios Goyas (Goya Awards) tonight in Madrid's Royal Theatre.  

Pa negre (Black Bread) was the night's big winner with nine awards. Its wins included Best Film, Director and Adapted Screenplay for Agustí Villaronga. It won four acting awards -- Best Actress (Nora Navas), Supporting Actress (Laia Marull), New Actress (Marina Comas) and New Actor (Francesc Colomer).

Two films won three awards. También la lluvia (Even the Rain) won for Production Supervision, Supporting Actor (Karra Elejalde) and Original Score. Buried took prizes for Original Screenplay (Chris Sparling), Editing and Sound.

Balada triste de trompeta (The Last Circus) had led with 15 nominations, but only came away with two awards in the Makeup/Hair and Special Effects categories.

Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) - winners

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held their ceremony tonight for the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFTA Awards. As expected, The King's Speech continued its domination of the industry awards.

It had led with fourteen nominations, and finished with a total of seven awards including Best Film, Outstanding British Film, and Best Screenplay (David Seidler). Colin Firth won Best Actor for the second year in a row, having won last year for his performance in A Single Man. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter also won their respective acting categories, and Alexandre Desplat won for Original Music.

Best Actress was Natalie Portman for her work in Black Swan. 

In a spoiler, however, David Fincher won the Directing category for The Social Network.  It finished the night with three prizes. Inception also won three awards, including Production Design.

My top ten films of 2010

Okay, I know. I'm very late getting to this. Nonetheless, it gave me the opportunity to see everything I could and to reflect on some that have been getting a lot of buzz. For this list, I've excluded films  that I have seen but weren't yet released in 2010. And I've left off films that were released this year, but that I had included on my list from last year (such as A Prophet and White Ribbon).

I think the idea of ranking films is somewhat absurd, since they are all so different and quality in one doesn't negate the quality in another. Lists generally say more about the person making them than the works being ranked. Also, the way one feels about certain works of art can change according to mood and over time. So this is just a snapshot of how I feel at the moment.

For me, the best film of the year had to be the French-Canadian film Incendies. Currently nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, it was a masterful film in which everything came together beautifully. It was both smart and moving. It started slowly and deliberately, but rewarded viewers' patience with a powerful emotional wallop. Although it wasn't released in English Canada until this January, I've included it because it was released in Quebec in the fall of 2010.

8th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA) - winners

The Irish Film and Television Academy held its 8th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards ceremony tonight at the Convention Centre Dublin.

Juanita Wilson’s Bosnian War drama As If I Am Not There won three awards -- Best Film, Director and Screenplay. It had led with six nominations.

The Tudors producer Morgan O'Sullivan was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Industry Award for his achievements and contribution to the Irish film and television community. He is credited with bringing productions such as Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, and Camelot to Ireland.

O'Sullivan's Canada/Ireland co-production The Tudors picked up three awards for Best Drama Series, Costume Design and Make-up/Hair.

Call for submissions: Hothouse 7 - NFB animation program

The National Film Board of Canada has put out a call for submissions for Canadian animators for their latest edition of the Hothouse program. Hothouse is a 12-week paid apprenticeship program for emerging Canadian filmmakers that takes place in Montreal, Quebec. It provides emerging animators a mentorship with industry professionals while developing their projects.

The NFB states, "This program is for emerging creators from across Canada with the imagination, vision, experience and enthusiasm to relish the Hothouse challenge, to flourish in the Hothouse environment and to accomplish the making of a successful project within the program’s parameters."

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's public film producer and distributor. They have created over 13,000 films which have won more than 5,000 awards. They have received 70 Academy Award nominations and 12 wins. They are particularly renowned for their animation and documentaries.

The deadline for submissions is February 25. The program runs from March 14 – June 3.

2011 International Film Music Critics Association Awards - nominations

The International Film Music Critics Association announced the nominations for their 7th Annual IFMCA Awards today. French composer Alexander Desplat led individually with 7 nominations including two for Film Score of the Year for both The King's Speech and The Ghost Writer. He was also nominated for Film Composer of the Year. He also wrote the score for Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1.

The Ghost Writer received four nominations while The King's Speech received three. The other nominees for Film Score of the Year were How to Train Your Dragon (5 nominations), Inception (3 nominations) and TRON Legacy (3 nominations). The nominees with Desplat for Film Composer of the Year were Danny Elfman, James Newton Howard, John Powell and Hans Zimmer.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Golden Globe-winning score for The Social Network received no nominations.

The International Film Music Critics Association is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music. They announce the winners of the 7th Annual IFMCA Awards on February 25, 2011.

Polskich Nagród Filmowych Orły 2011 - Eagle Awards for Polish film - nominations

The Polska Akademia Filmowa (Polish Film Academy) announced the nominees for their Polskich Nagród Filmowych Orły 2011 (Eagle Awards). This is their 13th year of presenting the awards. Wszystko co kocham (All that I Love) led with eight nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Jacek Borcuch), and Best Actor (Mateusz Kościukiewic).

Essential Killing was next with seven nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Jerzy Skolimowski), and Best Actor (Vincent Gallo). Różyczka (Little Rose) also took seven nominations, including Best FIlm, Best Actor (Robert Więckiewicz), and Best Actress (Magdalena Boczarska).

Next with six nominations were Joanna and Wenecja (Venice).

Winners will be announced at a ceremony held on March 7 at the Cinema Arts Centre in Warsaw.

London Film Critics' Circle Awards - winners

The London Film Critics' Circle presented their awards for the 31st London Film Critics' Circle Awards today. The Social Network narrowly edged out The King's Speech for Film of the Year. It also claimed the prizes for Director (David Fincher), Screenwriter (Aaron Sorkin) and Supporting Actor (Andrew Garfield). As I've pointed out, critics tend to favour The Social Network, while audiences and film professionals prefer The King's Speech.

The King's Speech won the prizes for British Film of the Year as well as the Actor award for Colin Firth and British Director (Tom Hooper).

British Actor of the Year was Christian Bale for his role in The Fighter. Lesley Manville won the British Actress prize for Another Year.

The Foreign Film prize was given to Of Gods and Men. Gareth Edwards was named Breakthrough British Filmmaker for Monsters.

Call for short films: Mississauga Celebration Square in 2011

The City of Mississauga, the Toronto suburb immediately to the west, opens a new public space later this year called Celebration Square. For this occasion, they have put out a call for silent short films, from one to three minutes in length.

They have three categories -- Celebration Squares, Smiles and Saris; Public Space Moments, Meetings and Monuments; and Wild Card, Show us what you've got. The "saris" may refer to the announcement that Mississauga participates with Toronto in the 2011 Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.

There are three first place prizes. Two will receive $500, while an overall first place winner receives $1000. Honourable mentions receive $100.

There is no entry fee. The deadline is May 2.

Edduverðlaunin 2011 - Edda Awards for Icelandic film - nominations

Íslenska kvikmynda- og sjónvarpsakademían (Icelandic Film and Television Academy) announced the nominations for their Edduverðlaunin 2011 (Edda Awards) for film and television. The film Brim (Undercurrent) led with with 12 nominations, including Best Film and Best Director (Árni Ólafur Ásgeirsson). It received a Screenplay nomination for its 10 credited writers.

Órói (Jitters) and The Good Heart followed closely with 10 nominations each. Both were also nominated for Best Film and Director (Baldvin Z and Dagur Kári respectively).

The Documentary nominations went to Fiðruð fíkn (Feathered Cocaine), Future of Hope, Gnarr (Threat), Höllin (The Palace), and Med hangandi hendi (Pendulous Chances).

The ceremony for the Edduverðlaunin 2011 takes place on February 19th at the Icelandic Opera House.

13th Prix Jutra - Jutra Awards for Quebec film - nominees

Today at a press conference at the Monument-National in Montreal, the nominations were announced for the 13th Prix Jutra (or Jutra Awards) for Quebec film.

As expected, the Academy Award-nominated Incendies by Denis Villeneuve led with 10 nominations, including Best Film and Best Director. Last week, it received also took 10 nominations for the Genie Awards, but was overtaken there by Barney’s Version which received 11 Genie nominations.

The other nominees for Best Film were 10 ½, Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats), Curling, and Les signes vitaux (Vital Signs). Cabotins (Entertainers), La cité (The City) and Les 7 jours du talion (Seven Days) each received five nominations. Barney's Version, 10 ½ and Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) followed closely with four each.

Many of these films will screen at the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois which takes place from February 16-27.

TIFF Lightbox presents In Conversation: Paul Haggis

Tonight, you'll get a chance to hear Oscar-winning writer/director/producer Paul Haggis live in person at the Toronto International Film Festival's Bell Lightbox. He appears tonight in a conversation to be conducted by programmer Noah Cowan.

Recently, he's been in the news because of his humanitarian work for Haiti, and also because of his much-publicized split with Scientology (see The New Yorker's 26-page article). He has a distinguished career in film and television. After writing for series such as The Facts of Life, Due South and thirtysomething, he switched to film and became the first screenwriter to write two Best Picture Oscar-winners back to back, with Million Dollar Baby and Crash. The following year, Letters from Iwo Jima (for which he was a writer) was also a Best Picture nominee. 

He has also written scripts as diverse as Flags of Our Fathers, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and The Last Kiss. He wrote and directed In the Valley of Elah and The Next Three Days in addition to Crash.