The Decade List: Bug (2006)

Bug – dir. William Friedkin

Mistreated by Lionsgate, who apparently thought they could market William Friedkin’s adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Off Broadway play to the Hostel and Saw crowd by throwing “From the director of The Exorcist” on the poster, Bug was an utterly unnerving and bleak examination of a woman’s (a brilliant Ashley Judd) descent into complete obsessive terror with the help of a stranger in town (Michael Shannon). It was, basically, the alternative to the sort of cheap gore-fests that seemed so popular at the time (I hope we’re past that now).

William Friedkin walks Bug along a dangerous line between sheer horror and over-the-top mayhem, and to those without patience (mainly the people who bought into Lionsgate’s misleading promotion), it didn’t work. It takes a certain kind of delicacy to pull something like Bug off on the big screen, and for Friedkin, Judd and Shannon, it was the perfect amount, even if too many of the wrong people saw it. For the rest of us, Bug unsettled to the point of cringing and total personal disruption. I was literally shaken and stirred, and formed a return appreciation for Freidkin’s dying brand of terror.

With: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Brian F. O’Byrne, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins
Screenplay: Tracy Letts, based on his play
Cinematography: Michael Grady
Music: Brian Tyler
Country of Origin: USA
US Distributor: Lionsgate

Premiere: 19 May 2006 (Cannes Film Festival)
US Premiere: 11 November 2006 (AFI Film Festival)

Awards: FIPRESCI Prize: Quinzaine des réalisateurs (Cannes Film Festival)

The Decade List: Once (2006)

Once – dir. John Carney

A small film doesn’t always have to be a slight one, and being slight doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Once is small, and it’s slight… and really, that’s okay. Ireland-based musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová play slight variations on their actual selves, and despite their well-rounded personalities in the film, they’re never given names (one of the irksome moments in the film happens near the end when Hansard goes to Irglová’s apartment and asks, “is herself in?” It’s the only time in the film where their namelessness feels contrived).

Once is the sort of musical that people who don’t like musicals generally get into, and as you know, I’m not one of those people. There’s not a single dance number or a bit of choreography, and that’s an unjustified gripe as its music never lends itself to such grandeur. Only once does the film turn music video-ish (as Irglová walks the streets singing “If You Want Me”) while most of the other songs drift into the following scene. It’s not, like all of the great musicals made outside of Hollywood in recent years, a cinematic twist on the genre’s easily recognized attributes, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t smart. It sincerely avoids a lot of self-congratulation which pays off in one of its sweetest moments, as Hansard plays the record for his father (Bill Hodnet). Throughout the film, Hansard and Irglová spark a radiant chemistry (one which resulted in a real-life romance that I read has since ended), and that shows in Once’s most important facet: its music.

While it seems to matter very little, the music in Once is better than the film itself. As the film falls under that category of the pleasantly slight, I’m easy to forgive some of its more “magical,” scripted elements, which otherwise don’t work in a stripped-down film like this. The instantaneous musical harmony between the two leads in the music store where they first perform “Falling Slowly” isn’t as believable as their swift chemistry, nor is their last minute enlisting of a backing band for their recording session. But when a moment as effulgent as the “Falling Slowly” scene is the result of such manipulations, I will gladly allow a little suspension of disbelief.

Hansard and Irglová’s Academy Award win for Best Original Song for “Falling Slowly” wasn’t the first time the Oscars got it right (Barbra Streisand announcing Eminem as the winner in 2003 was one of Oscar’s great moments of unintentional hilarity), but the first time in years they awarded a song that I’d actually listen to on my own. You might remember Aimee Mann’s “Save Me” from Magnolia and Elliott Smith’s “Miss Misery” from Good Will Hunting both lost. The latter was never going to win going up against the schmaltz queen of the ‘90s, “My Heart Will Go On,” and Mann’s votes were probably canceled out by the other younger voters who chose South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut’s brilliant “Blame Canada,” giving the prize to, embarrassingly, the song Phil Collins wrote for Disney’s Tarzan.

With: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Bill Hodnett, Danuse Ktrestova, Geoff Minogue
Screenplay: John Carney
Cinematography: Tim Fleming
Music: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Country of Origin: Ireland
US Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Premiere: 15 June 2006, as a work in progress (Galway Film Fleadh)
US Premiere: 20 January 2007 (Sundance Film Festival)

Awards: Best Original Song: “Falling Slowly” – Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová (Academy Awards); Audience Award: Dramatic World Cinema (Sundance Film Festival); Best Foreign Film (Independent Spirit Awards); Audience Award (Dublin International Film Festival); Youth Jury Award (Flanders International Film Festival)

The Decade List: Bugcrush (2006)

Bugcrush – dir. Carter Smith

The eerie, disturbing short Bugcrush may have lead writer/director Carter Smith to bigger things by directing Scott B. Smith’s adaptation of The Ruins (they both fall under the category of “nature horror”), but the latter couldn’t begin to compare to the dread, mystery and alarm Smith mastered in Bugcrush. At once, a tale of high school cruelty and gay first crushes quickly turns into one of the most genuinely unsettling horror films I’ve seen in a long while.

Against the advice of his best friend Amber (Elénore Hendricks of The Pleasure of Being Robbed), nerdish teen Ben (Josh Caras) pursues his sexual attraction to the sketchy new boy in school Grant (Donald Cumming, lead singer of The Virgins, frequent model for Ryan McGinley) in the way any high school homo would, by acting “cooler” than he is and hoping to move a “friendship” into something a bit more exciting (not to mention spying on him in the locker room). When Grant, whom Ben sees hanging out with a pair of local “tweakers” (including Billy from Billy the Kid), appears to be more receptive to Ben’s transparent attempts than Amber would have guessed, things start to get creepy.

More than simply a “Your mother told you to stay away from the bad kids” lesson, Bugcrush throttles the viewer with an unshakeable, consternating atmosphere. The sort of mood-oriented tension Smith creates is the kind that’s woefully missing from most of the horror coming out of Hollywood, which makes the fact that his Hollywood follow-up was only passably good the more unfortunate. Available as part of Strand’s short collection Boys Life 6.

With: Josh Caras, Donald Cumming, Eléonore Hendricks, David Tennent, Alex Toumayan, Billy Price, Harlan Baker
Screenplay: Carter Smith, based on the short story by Scott Treleaven
Cinematography: Darren Lew
Country of Origin: USA
US Distributor: Strand Releasing

Premiere: 20 January 2006 (Sundance)

Awards: Short Filmmaking Award (Sundance)

The Decade List: Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men – dir. Alfonso Cuarón

Sometimes a bit of technical prowess is all a film needs to assert itself as a classic. It worked for Battleship Potemkin, and it may as well do the same for Alfonso Cuarón’s marvel of an apocalyptic thriller Children of Men. If you happened to have missed the film in the theatre, you missed quite a lot. The collective efforts of Cuarón, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, the production designers and sound department could never dazzle as much as they should on your home theatre, because what they’ve given us is a pure, exhilarating work of cinema. And the big screen is the only outlet to accommodate their brilliant work.

Based on the dystopian novel by P.D. James, Children of Men opens with news of the murder of the youngest living person in a world where women have mysteriously become infertile. London, and presumably the rest of the world, has become a crippled state of anarchy, fanaticism, terrorism and martial law. As the ordinary hero of the film, Theo (Clive Owen), a former political activist, deals with the impending end of days with a bottle of whiskey before being summoned by his ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore), still fighting the good fight, to escort a young African immigrant named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to something called The Human Project, a group of scientists working in the shadows to find a way to save the human race (which may or may not be just a legend). Kee, of course, has miraculously become pregnant, and Julian’s misgivings toward nearly all of the divisions of power within the country makes her call upon Theo, a politically neutral, generally trustworthy figure to get Kee to The Human Project.

As succinct, intelligent and provocative as the screenplay for Children of Men may be, it functions mainly as a roadmap to its landmarks of mechanical brilliance. Composing much of the film in long takes, Cuarón and Lubezki shape some of the most powerful, invigorating scenes in the history of film. As turgid as that may sound, I don’t think I’m alone in this thought. Children of Men accelerates from the single-take wonder of its opening scene to, at least, five sequences of head-shakingly gallant virtuosity. While the car ambush scene and Clive Owen and Julianne Moore’s ping pong ball trick mid-way through the film will be remembered fondest, Theo and Kee’s descent down the staircase of the dilapidated building in the refugee camp as the Uprising begins brings the technical gusto and narrative excellence to a gut-wrenching conjunction. Again, I pity those of you who only got to experience Children of Men at home; it’s just magical.

With: Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine, Pam Ferris, Peter Mullan, Danny Huston, Charlie Hunnam, Oana Pellea, Ed Westwick
Screenplay: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, based on the novel by P.D. James
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Music: John Tavener
Country of Origin: UK/USA/Japan
US Distributor: Universal Studios

Premiere: 3 September 2006 (Venice Film Festival)
US Premiere: 25 December 2006

Awards: Golden Osella for Outstanding Technical Contribution – Emmanuel Lubezki (Venice Film Festival); Best Cinematography, Best Production Design – Geoffrey Kirkland, Jim Clay, Jennifer Williams (BAFTAs)

The Decade List: Fay Grim (2006)

Fay Grim – d. Hal Hartley

I have such a love/hate relationship with Hal Hartley. The man has made at least one film that’s rocked my world (Trust), one that I always think I like even though I’m pretty sure I don’t (Amateur), one that I may be the only person who enjoyed (No Such Thing) and several that have driven me mad (Henry Fool, Flirt, The Book of Life). He has a certain advantage of using some of my favorite women in his films, from Parker Posey in Fool and Fay Grim, Isabelle Huppert as an ex-nun who writes pornographic novels in Amateur, Adrienne Shelly in a most of his early works to PJ Harvey as Mary Magdalene in The Book of Life. I’m still a bit floored at how much I liked Fay Grim, a weirdo sequel to Henry Fool which follows Posey’s character ten years later.

Instead of following in its predecessor’s footsteps, a deadpan satire, Hartley turns Fay Grim into an espionage thriller, which I guess could be best described as Hartley doing his own Jason Bourne film. He shoots the film (almost) entirely in Dutch angles, an absurd idea that works only as a result of the overall ludicrousness of the film itself. For those familiar with Hartley, easing into Fay Grim’s breed of humor is a fairly simple transition. For others, I’d imagine plenty of difficulty in letting one’s self laugh at the folly of it all. I was never able to follow the laugh cues of Henry Fool, but in Fay Grim, I got it, at least as much as someone with a general aversion to Hartley can.

To sum up the plot, Fay and her now fourteen-year-old son Ned (Liam Aiken) live off the royalty checks from her brother Simon Grim’s (James Urbaniak) poetry, as he sits in jail for aiding and abiding Henry’s illegal fleeing of the country. The mess of international intrigue and espionage comes when the head of the C.I.A., played by Jeff Goldblum, starts interrogating Fay about Henry’s confessionals, once thought (in Henry Fool) to be dense gibberish, now believed to contain secrets of US involvement in South American coups and other highly confidential information. Goldblum sends Fay to Paris to retrieve selected notebooks of Henry’s confessionals as it’s believed Henry has died and, as his wife, Fay is the only person who can legally obtain these documents. The C.I.A. isn’t the only one who wants these documents, Fay soon learns, as she encounters, among others, a British spy played by Saffron Burrows and Henry’s partner and accomplice Bebe (Elina Löwensohn, a regular of Hartley’s). Danger ensues.

In a tactic used best in some of his earlier films, Hartley places Parker Posey in direct opposition to the film she’s playing in. Posey appears oblivious as to what’s going on throughout the entire film, a sentiment likely mirrored by the audience of the film. Instead, she appears ripped out of the frames of a delusional melodrama directed by John Waters. Her delivery is perfectly deadpan, and she’s brilliantly misplaced within the Dutch-angled frame of Fay Grim. Hartley has said himself that the premise of Fay Grim was an ongoing joke between him and the cast of Henry Fool as the idea itself is so absurd you almost expect Posey to wake up from a dream at any minute during the film. For its first hour, Fay Grim is a wickedly amusing farce dressed up, just as impeccably as Posey is in her couture attire, as an espionage thriller. Many reviewers have noted, accurately, that, unfortunately, as Fay’s journey takes her to the streets of Istanbul, Hartley forgets the joke. Once it becomes clear that Henry isn’t dead, the film loses nearly all of its magic, not the least of which as a result of Posey not being onscreen once Henry’s whereabouts become evident. Hartley has a gift for his brand of comedy and has found no greater muse than Posey since he stopped working with Adrienne Shelley in the mid-90s. Even when Hartley missteps, as he does painfully in the last half hour of Fay Grim, we can always count on the gameness of Posey, a radiant and woefully underappreciated comedic actress at the top of her game.

With: Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, James Urbaniak, Liam Aiken, Thomas Jay Ryan, Saffron Burrows, Elina Löwensohn, Chuck Montgomery, Leo Fitzpatrick, Miho Nikaido, Peter Benedict, Tim Seyfi, Nikolai Kinski, Robert Seeliger, Anatole Taubman
Screenplay: Hal Hartley
Cinematography: Sarah Cawley
Music: Hal Hartley
Country of Origin: USA/Germany
US Distributor: Magnolia

Premiere: 11 September 2006 (Toronto Film Festival)
US Premiere: 19 January 2007 (Sundance Film Festival)

The Decade List: Nuovomondo (2006)

Nuovomondo [Golden Door] – dir. Emanuele Crialese

When first learning about literature, children are always taught that a good story has a beginning, middle, and an end. What they aren't taught is that, often, stories can be a lot more fascinating if you forego the former and the latter. Presented by longtime champion of world cinema appreciation Martin Scorsese, Emanuele Crialese's Golden Door (or New World, the direct translation from Italian) slights the audience on a traditional opening and closing, focusing with acute detail on a midsection of a tale of Sicilian immigrants on their way to the United States at the turn of the century. It would almost seem fitting that the weaker areas of the film take place when attempting to provide groundwork for the central family before embarking on the trip and that the finest moments focus on the journey. Golden Door is an adventure film without a clear destination in sight. Certainly, there's a literal finishing point (Ellis Island), but Crialese prefers the excitement of the expedition considerably more than the trophy at the end.

Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) is a father of two boys, one a young man on the cusp of sexual awakening (Francesco Casisa), the other a curious mute (Filippo Pucillo). After receiving what they believe to be a sign from God, the three men, along with their witch doctor grandmother (Aurora Quattrocchi) and two other young women, embark on a journey to a mysterious land of opportunity. On the boat, however, they encounter an attractive English woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in search of a husband to allow her admittance into this new world. A widower and single father, Salvatore accepts her proposal, though she speaks little Italian and he, little to no English.

Long considered dead, or at least dormant, after cinema's glorious heyday in the '60s and '70s, Golden Door is probably one of the strongest films to come out of Italy this decade. Instead of depicting the bleak realities of death, famine, and despair on the long oceanic journey to America, Crialese fills his film with jubilation, and with an amusing surrealist touch. Kudos should also go to Agnès Godard, one of the most visionary cinematographers in European cinema today. Her images reach a sublime divinity in composition and clarity. Similar to her work with Claire Denis (Beau travail) and André Téchiné (Strayed), her artistry elevates Golden Door to awe-inspiring heights. With the combined forces of Crialese and Godard, Golden Door is a lush, joyous cinematic experience of a size Italian cinema has been lacking since the days of Antonioni, Fellini, Bertolucci and Pasolini.

With: Vincenzo Amato, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Aurora Quattrocchi, Francesco Casisa, Filippo Pucillo, Federica de Cola, Isabella Ragonese, Vincent Schiavelli, Filippo Luna
Screenplay: Emanuele Crialese
Cinematography: Agnès Godard
Music: Antonio Castrigano
Country of Origin: Italy/France
US Distributor: Miramax

Premiere: 8 September 2006 (Venice Film Festival)
US Premiere: 3 October 2006 (Cinema Italian Style)

Awards: Silver Lion – Revelation (Venice Film Festival); Best Costume Design – Mariano Tufano, Best Production Design – Carlos Conti, Best Visual Effects (David di Donatello Awards, Italy)

The Decade List: Awards (2006)

Things are changing yet again. I've expanded a number of the awards per festival and even included a few others, though in lesser detail. Also, I had begun going through each year and discovering what each of the major film countries around the world had named their Best Film (as in award ceremonies, not their Oscar submissions). But just as I started, the Counting Down the Zeroes project at Film for the Soul took a hiatus. I think I may expand on the previous years' Award lists to include all the new additions, but let me tell you what a pain in the ass finding the Oscar equivalent of most countries has been. There will be plenty of discrepancies in terms of year, as not every country uses the January-to-December model to determine their film calendar (Germany, for one, does not). Also, a number of countries don't exactly have glitzy/annoying ceremonies like we do and often deliver their top national prize during the big film festival held there each year. So, please all of you out there, if I've aligned the incorrect prize as the country's top honor, let me know. And if there are any other countries you'd like to see listed (that give out such awards, of course... I couldn't find any information for Belgium), laisse-moi savoir. In the awards below, you'll find plenty of Helen Mirren, Volver, Little Miss fucking Sunshine and The Lives of Others, which allows me to link to the interview I conducted with Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck the week before he won the Academy Award. He's extremely tall, speaks flawless English and was as floored as anyone that neither Volver nor Black Book were nominated in his category.

Film Festival Awards

Cannes, held 17-28 May 2006

Palme d'Or: The Wind That Shakes the Barley [d. Ken Loach]
Grand Prix: Flandres (Flanders) [d. Bruno Dumont]
Prix du jury: Red Road [d. Andrea Arnold]
Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu - Babel
Best Actor: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan – Indigènes (Days of Glory)
Best Actress: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave - Volver
Best Screenplay: Pedro Almodóvar - Volver
Technical Grand Prize: Stephen Mirrione, editor - Babel

Un Certain Regard Award: Luxury Car [d. Wang Chao]
- Special Jury Prize: Ten Canoes [d. Rolf de Heer]
- Best Actor: Ángel Tavira - El violin (The Violin)
- Best Actress: Dorotheea Petre - Cum mi-am petrecut sfârşitul lumii (The Way I Spent the End of the World)
- Prize of the Jury President: Meurtrières [d. Patrick Grandperret]
Camera d'Or: A fost sau n-a fost? (12:08 East of Bucharest) [d. Corneliu Porumboiu]
Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique: Les amitiés maléfiques (Poison Friends) [d. Emmanuel Bourdieu]
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Iklimler (Climates) [d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan]
- Quinzaine des réalisateurs: Bug [d. William Friedkin]
- Un Certain Regard: Hamaca paraguaya (Paraguayan Hammock) [d. Paz Encina]


Venice, held 30 August-9 September 2006

Golden Lion: Still Life [d. Jia Zhang-ke]
Silver Lion
- for Best Director: Alain Resnais – Coeurs (Private Fears in Public Places)
- for Revelation: Emanuele Crialese – Nuovomondo (Golden Door)
Grand Special Jury Prize: Daratt [d. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun]
Volpi Cup
- Best Actor: Ben Affleck – Hollywoodland
- Best Actress: Helen Mirren – The Queen
Marcello Mastroianni Award (for Best Young Actor): Isild Le Besco – L’intouchable (The Untouchable)
Golden Osella
- for Best Screenplay: Peter Morgan – The Queen
- for Outstanding Technical Contribution: Emmanuel Lubezki, cinematographer – Children of Men
FIPRESCI Prize: The Queen [d. Stephen Frears]
Critics' Week Award: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints [d. Dito Montiel]


Toronto, held 7-16 September 2006

People's Choice Award: Bella [d. Alejandro Gomez Monteverde]
Discovery Award: Reprise [d. Joachim Trier]
Innovation Award: Takva (Takva: A Man’s Fear of God) [d. Özer Kiziltan]
Best Canadian Feature: Monkey Warfare [d. Reginald Harkema]
Best Canadian First Feature: Sur la trace d’Igor Rizzi (On the Trail of Igor Rizzi) [d. Noël Mitrani]
FIPRESCI Award: Death of a President [d. Gabriel Range]


Berlin, held 9-19 February 2006

Golden Bear: Grbavica (Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams) [d. Jasmila Žbanić]
Silver Bear
- for Best Director: Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross – The Road to Guantanamo
- for Best Actor: Moritz Bleibtreu – Elementarteilchen (Elementary Particles)
- for Best Actress: Sandra Hüller – Requiem
- Jury Grand Prix: (tie) En soap (Soap) [d. Pernille Fischer Christensen]; Offside [d. Jafar Panahi]
- Outstanding Artistic Achievment: Jürgen Vogel, actor, co-screenwriter – Der freie Wille (The Free Will)
Best Debut Film: En soap
Panorama Audience Award: Paper Dolls [d. Tomer Heymann]
Teddy
- Feature: The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros [d. Auraeus Solito]
- Documentary: Au delà de la haine (Beyond Hatred) [d. Olivier Meyrou]
- Jury Award: Combat [d. Patrick Carpentier]
FIPRESCI Prize
- Competition: Requiem [d. Hans-Christian Schmid]
- Forum of New Cinema: In Between Days [d. Kim So Yong]
- Panorama: Knallhart (Tough Enough) [d. Detlev Buck]


Sundance, held 19-29 January 2006

Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: Quinceañera [d. Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland]
- Director: Dito Montiel – A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
- Special Jury Prize: (tie) Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Rosario Dawson, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, Channing Tatum, for the ensemble performance – A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints; Kim So Yong, Bradley Rust Gray, for independent vision – In Between Days
- Cinematography: Tom Richmond – Right at Your Door
- Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Hilary Brougher – Stephanie Daley
- Audience Award: Quinceañera

Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan [d. Christopher Dillon Quinn, Tommy Walker]
- Director: James Longley – Iraq in Fragments
- Special Jury Prize: (tie) Ian Inaba – American Blackout; Michael Cain, Matt Radecki – TV Junkie
- Cinematography: James Longley – Iraq in Fragments
- Documentary Film Editing Award: Billy McMillin, Fiona Otway, James Longley – Iraq in Fragments
- Audience Award: God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan

World Cinema, Dramatic Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: 13 Tzameti [d. Géla Babluani]
- Special Jury Prize: Julia Kwan – Eve and the Fire Horse
- Audience Award: No. 2 [d. Toa Fraser]

World Cinema, Documentary Competition
- Grand Jury Prize: En el hoyo (In the Pit) [d. Juan Carlos Rulfo]
- Special Jury Prize: (tie) Yang Yong-hi – Dear Pyongyang; Philip Gröning – Die große Stille (Into Great Silence)
- Audience Award: De nadie [d. Tin Dirdamal]

Other Festivals of Note

Locarno International Film Festival, held 2-13 August 2006
- Golden Leopard: Das Fräulein [d. Andrea Staka]

San Sebastián International Film Festival, held 21-30 September 2006
- Golden Seashell: (tie) Mon fils à moi [d. Martial Fougeron]; Half Moon [d. Bahman Ghobadi]

Tokyo International Film Festival, held 21-29 October 2006
- Tokyo Grand Prix: OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) [d. Michel Hazanavicius]

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, held 30 June-8 July 2006
- Crystal Globe: Sherrybaby [d. Laurie Collyer]

Montréal World Film Festival, held 24 August-4 September
- Grand Prix des Amériques: (tie) A Long Walk [d. Eiji Okuda]; O Maior Amor do Mundo (The Greatest Love of All) [d. Carlos Diegues]

SXSW Film Festival, held 10-18 March 2006
- Best Film: Live Free or Die [d. Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin]
- Best Documentary: Jam [d. Mark Woollen]

Industry Awards

Academy Awards, held 25 February 2007

Best Picture: The Departed [d. Martin Scorsese]
Best Director: Martin Scorsese – The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren – The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Best Original Screenplay: Michael Arndt – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: William Monahan – The Departed
Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro – El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Best Foreign Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth [d. Davis Guggenheim]
Best Animated Feature: Happy Feet [d. George Miller]


BAFTAs, held 11 February 2007

Best Film: The Queen [d. Stephen Frears]
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren – The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Best Original Screenplay: Michael Arndt – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: Peter Morgan, Jeremy Brock – The Last King of Scotland
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki – Children of Men
Best Film Not in the English Language: El labertino del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) [d. Guillermo del Toro]
Best Animated Feature: Happy Feet [d. George Miller]

Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film: The Last King of Scotland [d. Kevin Macdonald]
David Lean Award for Direction: Paul Greengrass – United 93
Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer: Andrea Arnold, director - Red Road
Rising Star Award: Eva Green


European Film Awards, held 2 December 2006

Best Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]
Best Director: Pedro Almodóvar – Volver
Best Actor: Ulrich Mühe – Das Leben der Anderen
Best Actress: Penélope Cruz – Volver
Best Cinematography: (tie) Barry Ackroyd – The Wind That Shakes the Barley; José Luis Alcaine – Volver
Best Screenplay: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck – Das Leben der Anderen
Best Artistic Contribution: Pierre Pell, Stéphane Rosenbaum, for the production design – La science des rêves (The Science of Sleep)
Best Documentary: Die große Stille (Into Great Silence) – d. Philip Gröning
Discovery: 13 Tzameti [d. Géla Babluani]
FIPRESCI Prize: Les amants réguliers (Regular Lovers) [d. Philippe Garrel]
Audience Award (Film): Volver [d. Pedro Almodóvar]


Independent Spirit, held 24 February 2007

Best Feature: Little Miss Sunshine [d. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris]
Best First Feature: Sweet Land [d. Ali Selim]
Best Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Male Lead: Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson
Best Female Lead: Shareeka Epps – Half Nelson
Best Supporting Male: Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Female: Frances McDormand – Friends with Money
Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman – Thank You for Smoking
Best First Screenplay: Michael Arndt – Little Miss Sunshine
Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro – El laberinto del fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Best Documentary: The Road to Guantanamo [d. Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross]
Best Foreign Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]

John Cassavetes Award (for features made for under $500,000): Quinceañera [d. Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland]
Truer Than Fiction Award: The Tailenders [d. Adele Horne]
Someone to Watch Award: Julia Loktev – Day Night Day Night
Producers Award: Howard Gertler, Tim Perell – Shortbus; Pizza
Special Distinction Award: David Lynch, Laura Dern, for their collaborative work


Golden Globes, held 15 January 2007

Drama
- Picture: Babel [d. Alejandro González Iñárritu]
- Actor: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
- Actress: Helen Mirren – The Queen
Musical or Comedy
- Picture: Dreamgirls [d. Bill Condon]
- Actor: Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
- Actress: Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada
Director: Martin Scorsese – The Departed
Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Screenplay: Peter Morgan – The Queen
Foreign Film: Letters from Iwo Jima [d. Clint Eastwood]
Animated Film: Cars [d. Joe Lasseter, Joe Ranft]


Césars Awards, held 24 February 2007

Best Film (Meilleur film): Lady Chatterley [d. Pascale Ferran]
Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Guillaume Canet – Ne le dis à personne (Tell No One)
Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): François Cluzet – Ne le dis à personne
Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Marina Hands – Lady Chatterley
Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle): Kad Merad – Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas (Don’t Worry I’m Fine)
Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle): Valérie Lemercier – Fauteuils d’orchestre (Avenue Montaigne)
Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Malik Zidi – Les amitiés maléfiques (Poison Friends)
Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Mélanie Laurent – Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas
Best Original Screenplay (Meilleur scénario original): Olivier Lorelle, Rachid Bouchareb – Indigènes (Days of Glory)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Meilleur scénario adaptation): Pascale Ferran, Roger Bohbot, Pierre Trividic – Lady Chatterley
Best Cinematography (Meilleure photographie): Julien Hirsch – Lady Chatterley
Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Little Miss Sunshine [d. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris]
Best Documentary (Meilleur film documentaire): Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac [d. Michel Royer, Karl Zero]
Best First Film (Meilleur premier film): Je vous trouve très beau (You Are So Beautiful) [d. Isabelle Mergault]


Directors Guild of America, given 3 February 2007

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Martin Scorsese – The Departed
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Arunas Matelis – Before Flying Back to Earth


Screen Actors Guild of America, given 28 January 2007

Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role: Helen Mirren – The Queen
Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls
Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls
Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture: Little Miss Sunshine, awarded to Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear


Razzies, given 24 February 2007

Worst Film: Basic Instinct 2 [d. Michael Caton-Jones]
Worst Director: M. Night Shyamalan – Lady in the Water
Worst Actor: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans – Little Man
Worst Actress: Sharon Stone – Basic Instinct 2
Worst Supporting Actor: M. Night Shyamalan – Lady in the Water
Worst Supporting Actress: Carmen Electra – Date Movie; Scary Movie 4
Worst Screenplay: Leora Barish, Henry Bean – Basic Instinct 2
Worst Remake/Sequel: Basic Instinct 2

National Industry Awards

Argentina, Clarín Awards
- Film: Crónica de una fuga (Chronicle of an Escape) [d. Adrián Caetano]
Australia, Australian Film Awards
- Film: Ten Canoes [d. Rolf de Heer]
Austria, Diagnole Grand Prize
- Film: Caché [d. Michael Haneke]
Brazil, Cinema Brazil Awards
- Film: Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures) [d. Marcelo Gomes]
- Foreign Film: The Constant Gardener [d. Fernando Meirelles], UK
Canada, Genie Awards
- Film: Bon Cop, Bad Cop [d. Erik Canuel]
Canada (Québec), Jutra Awards
- Film: Congorama [d. Philippe Faladeau]


China, Golden Rooster
- Film: The Knot [d. Yin Li]
Czech Republic, Czech Lions
- Film: Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále (I Served the King of England) [d. Jiří Menzel]
- Foreign-Language Film: Volver [d. Pedro Almodóvar], Spain
Denmark, Robert Awards
- Film: Drømmen (We Shall Overcome) [d. Niels Arden Oplev]
- Best American Film: Babel [d. Alejandro González Iñárritu]
- Best Non-American Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck], Germany
Finland, Jussi Awards
- Film: Laitakaupungin valot (Lights in the Dusk) [d. Aki Kaurismäki]
Germany, Lolas
- Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]


Greece, Greek Competition Awards via the Thessaloniki Film Festival
- Film: Eduart [d. Angeliki Antoniou]
Hong Kong, Hong Kong Film Awards
- Film: After This Our Exile [d. Patrick Tam]
- Best Asian Film: Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles [d. Zhang Yimou, Yasuo Furuhata], China
Hungary, Hungarian Film Week Grand Prize
- Film: Taxidermia [d. György Pálfi]
Iceland, Edda Awards
- Film: Mýrin (Jar City) [d. Baltasar Kormákur]
India, Golden Lotus
- Film: Pulijanmam [d. Priyanandanan]


Iran, Crystal Simorgh
- Film: In the Name of the Father [d. Ebrahim Hatamikia]
Ireland, Irish Film & Television Awards
- Film: The Wind That Shakes the Barley [d. Ken Loach]
- Best International Film: Little Miss Sunshine [d. Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris], USA
Israel, Ophir Awards
- Film: (tie) Aviva, My Love [d. Shemi Zarhin]; Sweet Mud [d. Dror Shaul]
Italy, David di Donatello Awards
- Film: La sconosciuta (The Unknown Woman) [d. Giuseppe Tornatore]
- Best Foreign Film: Babel [d. Alejandro González Iñárritu], USA
- Best European Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck], Germany
Japan, Japanese Academy Awards
- Film: Hula Girls [d. Lee Sang-il]
- Foreign Language Film: Flags of Our Fathers [d. Clint Eastwood], USA


Mexico, Ariel Awards
- Film: El labertino del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) [d. Guillermo del Toro]
- Best Latin-American Film: The Secret Life of Words [d. Isabel Coixet], Spain
Netherlands, Golden Calf
- Film: Zwartboek (Black Book) [d. Paul Verhoeven]
New Zealand, Screen Awards
- Film: The World's Fastest Indian [d. Roger Donaldson]
Norway, Amanda Awards
- Film: Free Jimmy [d. Christopher Nielsen]
- Best Foreign Feature Film: Walk the Line [d. James Mangold], USA
Philippines, FAMAS
- Film: Kasal, kasali, kasalo [d. Jose Javier Reyes]


Poland, Polish Film Awards
- Film: Plac Zbawiciela (Saviour Square) [d. Joanna Kos, Krzysztof Krauze]
- Best European Film: Volver [d. Pedro Almodóvar], Spain
Portugal, Coimbra Caminhos
- Film: (tie) Alice [d. Marco Martins]; Coisa Ruim (Bad Blood) [d. Tiago Guedes, Frederico Serra]
Romania, Gopo Awards (in their inaugural year)
- Film: A fost sau n-a fost? (12:08 East of Bucharest) [d. Corneliu Porumboiu]
- Best European Film: Volver [d. Pedro Almodóvar], Spain
Russia, Nika Awards
- Film: The Island [d. Pavel Lungin]
South Korea, Grand Bell Awards
- Film: Family Ties [d. Kim Tae-Yong]


Spain, Goya Awards
- Film: Volver [d. Pedro Almodóvar]
- Spanish-Language Foreign Film: Las manos (The Hands) [d. Alejandro Doria], Argentina
- European Film: The Queen [d. Stephen Frears], UK
Sweden, Guldbagge Awards
- Film: Förortsungar (Kidz in the Hood) [d. Catti Edfeldt, Ylva Gustavsson]
- Foreign Film: Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) [d. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck], Germany
Switzerland, Swiss Film Awards
- Film: Vitus [d. Fredi M. Murer]
Taiwan, Golden Horse
- Film: After This Our Exile [d. Patrick Tam]
Thailand, Thai National Film Association Awards
- Film: Khan Kluay [d. Kompin Kemgumnird]
Turkey, Golden Orange
- Film: Kader (Destiny) [d. Zeki Demirkubuz]
- Foreign Film: Hîrtia va fi albastrã (The Paper Will Be Blue) [d. Radu Muntean], Romania