News

Coralie Fargeat’s body horror movie The Substance, Jacques Audiard’s Mexican crime musical Emilia Pérez and Magnus von Horn’s Danish period drama The Girl With the Needle are among the first winners of the 2024 European Film Awards, picking up Efa Excellence Awards in the technical categories.

Benjamin Kračun won best cinematography for his lensing of The Substance, a campy feminist fable starring Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, an aging celebrity who takes a dangerous drug that promises to restore her youth. The Efa jury praised Kračun’s use of “highly stylized lens distortions and manipulations” to explore Sparkle’s physical and psychological demise. “It is loud and glossy, but also manages to eke out an unexpected intimacy and vulnerability. The audience is transported through to an unbearably painful, and hilariously raucous ending.”

The Substance also took the Efa for best visual effects for the team of Bryan Jones,...

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance and Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez are among the winners of the European Film Academy’s 2024 Excellence Awards, celebrating arts and crafts achievements in eight categories.

The winners, which are decided by a specialist eight-member jury, will receive their trophies at the European Film Awards ceremony in the Swiss city of Lucerne on December 7.

The UK’s Benjamin Kračun won best European Cinematography for his work on The Substance with the jury praising the way he captured the demise of protagonist Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore).

“He playfully explores her physical and psychological demise with highly stylised lens distortions and manipulations. It is loud and glossy, but also manages to eke out an unexpected intimacy and vulnerability,” read the jury comments.

|The audience is transported through to an unbearably painful, and hilariously raucous ending, achieved only through collaboration with all departments and is undoubtably a celebration of cinematography and cinema.

Coralie Fargeat’s body horror The Substance and Magnus von Horn’s crime drama The Girl With The Needle have both won two craft prizes each at the European Film Awards.

They are among eight winners of the Excellence Awards for the arts and craft of filmmaking which will be presented at the European Film Awards on December 7 in Lucerne.

For The Substance, Benjamin Kračun won the prize for best European Cinematography. The film also won the best European visual effect award for Bryan Jones, Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky, Chervin Shafaghi and Guillaume Le Gouez.

The Girl With The Needle won the...

The 70th annual Golden Reel Awards were handed out on Sunday night, honoring the best achievements in sound editing across film, television, video games and student work.

The top three film awards were handed to “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Banshees Of Inisherin” and “Elvis” which won for feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature music respectively. All three films are also nominated for the top prize, best picture at the 95th Academy Awards which will be handed out on March 12.

Other winners included “Moonage Daydream,” “Good Night Oppy” and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”

The ceremony was opened by an address from Motion Pictures Sound Editors president Mark Lanza. “Sound editors play a crucial role in bringing films, television shows, and games to life,” he said. “This year, we have seen truly incredible sound editing. From the explosive action of blockbusters to the subtle nuances of character-driven dramas, sound...

The British Independent Film Awards, which took place in London on Sunday, offer early insight into the indie movies that awards voters want to support as we head into the thick of the Academy Awards race. See the full list of this year’s winners below.

The Syrian war portrait “For Sama,” from filmmakers Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, won Best British Independent Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Director. That film also took home Best Editing in London, and stateside is up for the PGA Award for Outstanding Documentary.

Renée Zellweger won Best Actress for her performance as Judy Garland in “Judy,” and remains at the top of the contenders for the Best Actress Oscar. Josh O’Connor won Best Actor for the relationship drama “Only You.” The British actor now seen in Netflix’s “The Crown” broke out with 2017’s gay romance “God’s Own Country,” which also won him a Bifa,...

‘Beats’ scores two prizes.

Armando Iannucci’s Charles Dickens adaptation The Personal History Of David Copperfield has picked up three awards from the nine British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) craft winners, announced today (November 15).

The Film4-backed title won best casting for Sarah Crowe, best costume design for Suzie Harman and Robert Worley, and best production design for Cristina Casali.

Both Crowe and Casali previously won their respective awards in 2017 for their work on Iannucci’s The Death Of Stalin.

David Copperfield led the nominations totals with 11 when they were announced last month; the remaining category winners will be revealed...

Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche has been added as a talent ambassador for the 4th edition of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam), which runs Dec 5-10 this year. Binoche joins Hong Kong star Carina Lau and K-pop performer and actor Kim Junmyeon on the ambassador roster. She will also take part in an ‘in conversation’ event at the festival, and will attend the screening of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Truth, in which she stars. “Iffam’s main mission is to showcase the best of world cinema and there is nobody more representative of what that means than Juliette Binoche,” said Mike Goodridge, artistic director of Iffam. Despite the current troubles in nearby Hong Kong, organizers said Iffam was presently unaffected and would be going ahead as planned.

Streaming service Mubi has officially set up shop in India, launching today with two channels, Mubi India and Mubi World. Subscriptions will cost $7 per month,...

Turner Prize-nominated artist Richard Billingham turns his hand to filmmaking with an overwhelmingly personal, intricately observed depiction of his troubled upbringing and neglectful parents. This remarkably assured debut feature was born out of Billingham’s single-screen video artwork Ray and his acclaimed 1996 photography book Ray’s a Laugh, which captured his poverty-stricken domestic life with uncompromising honesty. Shot beautifully on 16mm, Ray & Liz proves just as candid and heralds Billingham as a unique cinematic voice.

The narrative unfurls through several vignettes and snapshots of Billingham’s childhood. We begin on an act that frames the other two set pieces – Ray (Patrick Romer) is a bedridden, old man whiling away the reminder of his life by staring out the window of his council flat and getting drunk by 9am on home-brewed beer. We then flashback to the early 80s where a younger Ray (Justin Salinger) and chain smoking Liz (Ella Smith...

The 2016 British Independent Film Award nominations have been announced, with Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or–winning “I, Daniel Blake” leading the pack with seven nominations. Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” Babak Anvari’s “Under the Shadow” and Rachel Tunnard’s “Adult Life Skills” all landed six nods apiece. More than 130 British films were submitted for consideration, and 32 British features have been nominated. Full list:

Best British Independent Film

“American Honey”

“Couple in a Hole”

“I, Daniel Blake”

“Notes on Blindness”

“Under the Shadow”

Best International Independent Film

“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”

“Manchester by the Sea”

“Moonlight”

“Mustang”

“Toni Erdmann”

Best Director

Andrea Arnold, “American Honey”

Babak Anvari, “Under the Shadow”

Ben Wheatley, “Free Fire”

Ken Loach, “I, Daniel Blake”

Peter Middleton and James Spinney, “Notes on Blindness”

Best Screenplay

Andrea Arnold, “American Honey”

Babak Anvari, “Under the Shadow”

Billy O’Brien and Christopher Hyde, “I Am Not a Serial Killer”

Paul Laverty,...

Notes on Blindness is the kind of documentary that aims to be formally distinct — something I wish was standard for the art. The film does more than simply tell an interesting true story which the filmmakers stumbled upon. It uses that story as a jumping-off point to explore actual ideas — in this case, dealing with the loss of a sense, and how the experience of lacking this sense can be expressed cinematically.

When English theologian John Hull began losing his sight in middle age, he started narrating his life via tape recorder. Writers-directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney have edited these diaries, as well as interviews with Hull and his wife Marilyn, into an autobiography of sorts. (They initially created a short film, now been expanded into this feature.) In a manner similar to that of Clio Barnard’s masterpiece The Arbor, the audio is illustrated via extensive reenactment, with actors lip-synching the original dialogue.

Update: Pawlikowski is only third Polish director to win Efa’s top prize; Steve McQueen pays tribute to Jean Vigo; Ukrainian diector Oleg Sentsov gets an empty seat at the awards in Riga.

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida was the big winner at this year’s European Film Awards in Riga, picking up five awards, including the top honour of European Film 2014 as well as the People’s Choice Award

“It’s been a fantastic night for us and a great night for Poland,” Pawlikowski said as he went up onto the stage of Latvia’s National Opera House for the fourth time on Saturday evening (December 13).

Earlier, when receiving the European Director 2014 trophy, the UK-based director explained that two of the film-makers competing for this honour — Turkey’s Nure Bilge Ceylan and Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev — are his favourite directors working today. “Thank you for being losers — this time,” he quipped...

Timothy Spall and Marion Cotillard have both won at the European Film Awards.

The pair took home the European Actor and Actress awards, while Polish film Ida dominated the night and won five awards.

Ida won best European Film, as well as screenplay and cinematography awards. Its director Paweł Pawlikowski was also awarded, and the film won the Efa's People's Choice Award as well.

Steve McQueen picked up the European Achievement in World Cinema award, while Agnès Varda took home the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The ceremony, which takes place in a different European city each year, was hosted at the Latvian National Opera House in Riga on Saturday (December 13).

A full list of winners is presented below:

European Film - Ida

European Comedy - The Mafia Kills Only in the Summer

European Director - Paweł Pawlikowski, Ida

European Actress - Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

European Actor - Timothy Spall,...

Update, 12:55 Pm Pt: Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish drama Ida took the Best European Film prize at the European Film Awards tonight in Riga, Latvia. The movie also won for Best Director, Cinematographer and Screenwriter, as well as being the People’s Choice honoree; missing out only in the Best Actress category. The European Film Awards have become something of a harbinger for what’s to come later in the season. The last two years’ winners — The Great Beauty and Amour — went on to scoop the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It’s undeniable that Ida has a lot of heat on it, but tonight’s wins don’t make Academy glory a foregone conclusion — there are also a lot of other contenders from outside Europe.

Pawlikowski’s black-and-white shot Ida follows a young woman who is about to take her holy orders to become a nun when she...

Force Majeure, Leviathan and Nymphomaniac among nominees.

The nominations for the 27th European Film Awards have been announced at the Seville European Film Festival.

More than 3,000 European Film Academy members will now vote for the winners, who will be presented during the awards ceremony on Dec 13 in Riga.

Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Director’s Cut - Volume I & II and Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep will compete for European Film, with every director - apart from von Trier - up for European Director alongside Steven Knight for Locke and Paolo Virzi for Human Capital.

Roger Michell’s Le Week-End is up for European Comedy, alongside Paco León’s Carmina & Amen and Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer.

The full list of nominations is as follows:

European Film 2014

Force Majeure (Sweden/Denmark/France/Norway)

Written & Directed By: [link...

Rufus Norris's directorial debut also won best film and best supporting actor for performance by Rory Kinnear

Family drama Broken, the feature-film debut from award-winning theatre and opera director Rufus Norris, has been named best film of 2012 at the British independent film awards.

Starring Tim Roth as a father looking after an 11-year-old daughter (newcomer Eloise Laurence) after his wife leaves him, the film also won best supporting actor for Rory Kinnear. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw criticised the film as "strained, desperately self-conscious and replete with unconvincing and unearned emotional crises" at Cannes in May but praised Laurence for her turn as the likeable Skunk.

The other big winner at the Bifas was Peter Strickland's period psychological thriller Berberian Sound Studio, which won best director, best actor (for Toby Jones), best achievement in production and best technical achievement for Joakim Sundström and Stevie Haywood's sound design. The...

The stars turned out in force last night for the 15th Moët British Independent Film Awards at Old Billingsgate in London.

Last night's glittering event was a who's who of British cinema and was hosted by actor James Nesbitt fresh off the set of The Hobbit.

Attending the star-studded event was Jude Law who received the Variety Award, and acting legend Michael Gambon who won the coveted Richard Harris Award.

Other guests included Terence Stamp, Billy Connolly, Tom Hiddleston, Terry Gilliam, Peter Capaldi, Olivia Coleman, Idris Elba, John Hurt, Tom Felton, Andrea Riseborough, Elle Fanning, Ruth Wilson, Felicity Jones, Holliday Grainger, Edith Bowman and Noomi Rapace.

Past nominees, patrons and supporters of Bifa celebrated the 15th birthday of the awards by posing for a group picture (see above) taken by official photographer Idil Sukan.

Berberian Sound Studio triumphed at the British Independent Film Awards, picking up four trophies for Best Director,...

Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio picked up the most wins at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards over the weekend. The film won four Moët British Independent Film Awards in the following categories: Best Director (Peter Strickland), Best Actor (Toby Jones) Best Achievement in Production and Best Technical Achievement (Joakim Sundström, Stevie Haywood Amps Ips - Sound Design).

Commenting on the wins Philip Knatchbull, CEO of Curzon Artificial Eye said, “Artificial Eye are delighted that Berberian Sound Studio has been honoured with four awards at this year's British Independent Film Awards and are proud to continue supporting outstanding British film talent."

Read more...

The British Independent Film Awards celebrated its fifteenth year tonight, with James Nesbitt returning to host, and Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) making up part of the jury.

The awards continue to celebrate the finest films in the British independent industry, and after another year of brilliant productions from our shores, it can’t have been easy to choose between them.

But of course, decisions must be made, and the results are now in.

Coming away with the top prize of the night is Rufus Norris’ Broken, starring Cillian Murphy, Tim Roth, and Rory Kinnear, winning the Best British Independent Film Award, as well as the Best Supporting Actor Award for Kinnear.

Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, and Amy Jump’s writing earned them the Best Screenplay Award for Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, following months of critical acclaim since its debut at Cannes back in May. The film will be getting its...

If you want to play a fun game, spent tomorrow morning walking through London's Soho playing a trumpet and a kettle drum. That's because this evening saw this year's British Independent Film Awards being given out at what's become, over the years, one of the drunkest and most debauched evenings in the awards season in the calendar (last year, including the host, Chris O'Dowd, who was hammered from pretty much minute one). It's not been a year with a lot to celebrate in British films, but to the BIFAs' credit they picked out most of the films that were worth calling out. The big winner of the evening was "Berberian Sound Studio," the giallo-homaging, Lynchian psychological thriller that picked up Best Director for Peter Strickland, Best Actor for Toby Jones, Best Achievement in Production and Best Technical Achievement for sound designers Joakim Sundström and Stevie Haywood. But it missed out on the top prize,...

The nominations for the 15th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards have been unveiled in London.

They were announced by patron Adrian Lester (above), the Birmingham-born actor whose credits include The Day After Tomorrow and TV series Being Human, Bonekickers, Merlin and Hustle.

In a statement, joint directors of the awards Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: "In this our 15th year, we are delighted to welcome back six-time former host James Nesbitt.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated Pre-Selection Committee who watched over 200 films in order to produce the 2012 nominations, which once again reflect the diverse range of British film talent, and also welcome this year's appointed independent jury who will now spend the next month considering the nominated films."

The highest number of nominations this year goes to Broken with 9 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Debut Director for Rufus Norris,...

Rufus Norris's drama about an 11-year-old diabetic leads the pack in a year otherwise devoted to honouring older stars

Broken, the feature-film debut of award-winning theatre and opera director Rufus Norris, has emerged as the surprise frontrunner at this year's Bifas, the British independent film awards, with nine nominations. This year's judges have also doffed their caps to the elder generation of British acting talent, with Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith and Terence Stamp among the notable nominees.

A coming-of-age drama, adapted from Daniel Clay's 2008 novel, about a young girl living in a British suburb, which premiered to mixed reviews at the Cannes film festival in May but went on to win the Golden Eye award for best international film at the Zurich film festival, Broken stars Eloise Laurence as 11-year-old diabetic Skunk, along with Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy and Roy Kinnear. Critics have praised its acting...

Celebrating its fifteenth year, The Moët British Independent Film Awards have now been announced, honouring some of the finest independent films released in Britain this year.

This year’s awards will be held on 9th December, and you can be sure we’ll be bringing you the results on the night as they come in. It’s been another excellent year for British cinema, and it’s always nice to see films like these get the recognition they deserve.

Last year, Paddy Considine’s powerful directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, swept the top awards, taking Best Film, Best Directorial Debut, and Best Actress; Lynne Ramsay took home the Best Director award for We Need to Talk About Kevin; and Michael Fassbender’s remarkable performance in Steve McQueen’s Shame was rightfully honoured with Best Actor (whereas the film was sadly absent from the Oscars at the start of the year).

James Nesbitt...