buried treasure

Nominations for the 16th annual Chlotrudis Awards were finalized by the film group’s nominating committee on January 30. The strength and breadth of this year’s best eligible films is evident in the extraordinarily even and consistent spread of nominations across the top categories. All five films nominated for Best Picture received 4 nominations, which was the highest number of nominations given any film. In addition, all received at least one lead acting or ensemble nomination, and all but one were nominated for Best Director.

The five films nominated for Best Picture and sharing top billing in most nominations received are: Claire Denis’ 35 SHOTS OF RUM, BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS the latest from Werner Herzog, recent DGA recipient Kathryn Bigelow’s THE HURT LOCKER, STILL WALKING from Japan’s Hirokazu Koreeda and Michael Haneke’s THE WHITE RIBBON. Also joining them as top nomination getter is A SINGLE MAN, Tom Ford’s directorial debut.

In all, 39 films received nominations; 19 countries were represented, with US films making up barely 40%. There were other multiple nominees, among them three-timers AN EDUCATION, IN THE LOOP and PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE; however this year’s nominations were sprinkled far and wide – almost three-quarters of the nominated films received only one nomination. Female directors had a fairly strong showing this year, with 10 films helmed by women among the nominees.

In the Society’s most competitive and prestigious category, the Buried Treasure, the final nominees were CHERRY BLOSSOMS from Germany’s Dorit Dorrie, about a widower honoring his late wife’s lifelong wish to visit Japan; THE NEW YEAR PARADE, set in Philadelphia amid Mummers; and three UK films: BRONSON, with Tom Hardy’s tour de force portrayal of England’s most notorious prisoner; OF TIME AND THE CITY, Terence Davies’ love/hate ode to the Liverpool of his boyhood; and the gritty SOMERS TOWN about the friendship between two rootless boys in London.

The Buried Treasure is the only category with eligibility requirements: nominated films must have earned less than $250,000 in its U.S. theatrical run, and members can submit no more than 3 entries for films they feel strongly were given distributional short shrift and deserve a wider audience. A shortlist is then compiled before the final vote, and those selections are published on the group’s website and in a separate press release. Once the final ballot is set, all members voting in the category must verify that they have watched in full all of the nominated films.

For over a decade, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film has highlighted its commitment to independent and foreign film in style by holding its own black-tie CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS ceremony in early spring. The 2010 edition will be held Sunday March 21st at the historic Brattle Theatre, and the public is invited to join Chlotrudis members, nominees and special guests in the celebration.

In addition to the competitive categories, Chlotrudis also presents special awards that honor individuals or films for particular distinction. Past recipients Ellen Page (Breakthrough Award ‘05), Kerry Washington (Breakthrough Award ‘04), Don McKellar (Body of Work Award ‘07) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (first Hall of Fame inductee) are among those who have made the trek to Boston to be honored for their contributions toindependent film. This year’s recipients are still being finalized at press time.

A complete list of the nominations for the 16th Annual Chlotrudis Awards
follows:

BEST MOVIE
35 Shots of Rum
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
The Hurt Locker
Still Walking
The White Ribbon

BEST DIRECTOR
Claire Denis– 35 Shots of Rum
Werner Herzog – The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
Gotz Spielmann – Revanche
Hirokazu Koreeda – Still Walking
Michael Haneke – The White Ribbon

BEST ACTOR
Nicolas Cage – The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Sam Rockwell - Moon
Baard Owe – O’Horten
Colin Firth – A Single Man

BEST ACTRESS
Nisreen Faour – Amreeka
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Antichrist
Abbie Cornish – Bright Star
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Catalina Saavedra – The Maid
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Yolande Moreau – Seraphine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alfred Molina – An Education
Mads Mikkelsen – Flame and Citron
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker
Peter Capaldi – In the Loop
Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rinko Kikuchi - The Brothers Bloom
Alycia Delmore – Humpday
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Ursula Strauss – Revanche Julianne Moore – A Single Man

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
35 Shots of Rum
In the Loop
Still Walking
Summer Hours
The White Ribbon

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Beaches of Agnes
Me and Orson Welles
Moon
A Single Man
Sita Sings the Blues

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Agnes Godard - 35 Shots of Rum
Anthony Dod Mantle - Antichrist
John Christian Rosenlund – O’Horten
Alexis Zabe – Silent Light
Christian Berger – The White Ribbon

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Class
An Education
Gomorrah
Pontypool
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire A Single Man

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(500) Days of Summer
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
The Hurt Locker
In the Loop
Still Walking

BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Beaches of Agnes
La Danse
Good Hair
Herb and Dorothy
Theatre of War
Unmistaken Child

BURIED TREASURE
Bronson
Cherry Blossoms
The New Year Parade
Of Time and the City
Somers Town

Hi Everyone,

We've got the musical number for our second Buried Treasure nominee, CHOP SHOP up at YouTube now. Unfortunately a couple of lines at the beginning were cut out during the transcription process, but most of the song is still here. Hope you like it!

Here is the first of eight musical tributes to the Chlotrudis 2008 Buried Treasure nominees. Scot Colford and Diane Young tell the tale of e Russian baboushka named Alexandra.

Remember the ultra-cool film WENDIGO, an ecological horror film by Larry Fessenden starring Patricia Clarkson? It tied with WAYDOWNTOWN for the Buried Treasure Award at the 9th Annual Chlotrudis Award. Last year in Toronto Fessenden's latest film, THE LAST WINTER debuted and got rave review from Ivy, who was fortunate enough to see it. Now we get a trailer for THE LAST WINTER, which stars Ron Perlman, James LeGros, and Kevin Corrigan, and it looks pretty darn cool. THE LAST WINTER will open in New York City on September 19 followed by a national roll-up. What do you think, Brattle Theatre, sounds like a winner to me!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Apicatpong "Joe" Weeasethakul's new film SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY. Apparently there's quite a story brewing around this film by the director of Buried Treasure nominee TROPICAL MALADY. After Thailand's Censorship Board demanded Joe cut four "sensitive scenes" from his film, he decided not to release the film in his home country unless the laws were changed to allow it to be screened in its intended form. Joe has started a petition of have those laws changed called the "Free Thai Cinema Movement" where he says, ""We're petitioning not only for a just decision for Syndromes and a Century, but also for a long-needed modernization of Thai legislation concerning movie censorship." GreenCine Daily reports that the movement is receiving some serious backing from political and cultural heavyweights. Chlotrudis members, especially those that voted for this year's Best Documentary winner THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, should take a look at the petition and consider signing it. I did.

Incidentally, according to Limitless Cinema, the four "sensitive scenes" that the Thai Censorship Board demanded cut showed:

1. a young monk playing a guitar
2. a group of doctors drinking whisky in a hospital basement
3. a doctor kissing his girlfriend in a hospital locker room
4. two monks playing with a radio-controlled flying saucer

Now don't you really want to sign the petition?

Last year one of CSIF's Buried Treasure nominees was a surreal, dreamlike film from Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul called TROPICAL MALADY. Back than the director was referred to by film critics as "Joe," but with the release of his latest film, SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY the "Joe" references seem to have vanished as critics praise the work of this uncompromising filmmakers. I'm sure Chlotrudis fans of TROPICAL MALADY are looking forward to this new film. It has played at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, and has fortunately been picked up for U.S. distribution by Strand Releasing. Here's hoping it earns a good theatrical release. Check out some of the glowing reviews: indieWIRE, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Reverse Shot.