The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film celebrated its anniversary year at the 25th Chlotrudis Awards, held at the Brattle Theater this past Sunday. The big winner of the night was Hirokazu Kore-eda’s SHOPLIFTERS which won 4 Trudies, for Best Movie, Best Ensemble, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay. In addition, Chlotrudis made two special presentations, giving its Career So Far award to actress Robin Weigert, and its Body of Work award to film composer Lesley Barber, both of whom were present to accept their honors. Chlotrudis also welcomed back two previous honorees, directors Don McKellar and Wiebke von Carolsfeld.
There were only two other films which earned multiple awards: CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME, which won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, for Richard E. Grant; and SUPPORT THE GIRLS, which garnered Best Actress for its charismatic lead, Regina Hall, and also nabbed the society’s signature aware, the Buried Treasure. In order to be eligible, Buried Treasure nominees must have earned less than $250,000 in US box office. Chlotrudis created the category in order to shine a spotlight on those films the group feels deserve wider attention and a second look. Clips from all nominated Buried Treasure films were shown throughout the evening.
The rest of the Trudies were generously distributed. In the remaining acting category, Alessandro Nivola won Best Actor for his riveting performance in WEIGHTLESS. Meanwhile, the membership could not decide a clear winner among the year’s strong directorial offerings, resulting in the night’s only tie, between two female directors: Debra Granik for LEAVE NO TRACE and Chloe Zhao’s THE RIDER.
Throughout the night, the society looked back to consider how much Chlotrudis and independent film landscape has changed since 1994. President Michael Colford and returning alum director Don McKellar spoke eloquently about the technological and economic trends that affected filmmakers, distributors and audiences. A special moment was taken to honor 2004’s MARION BRIDGE, perhaps the quintessential Chlotrudis film, director Wiebke von Carolsfeld sharing how winning a Trudy and being honored for that film helped her continue on in future work.
Looking towards the future, at evening’s end Chlotrudis announced new initiatives, in honor of late member Bruce Kingsley, who left a generous bequest to the group. This summer a new and expanded website will roll out; as Chlotrudis heads towards its third decade, the group will offer a grant to assist group members to attend film festivals; and most significantly, a fund is being established to help support emerging film talent in their work to create new independent film.
FULL LIST OF TRUDY WINNERS:
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
Shoplifters
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Eugenio Caballero for Roma
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Lukasz Zal for Cold War
BEST EDITING
Joe Bini for You Were Never Really Here
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, based on the novel by Lee Israel, for Can You Ever Forgive Me?
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Hirokazu Kore-eda for Shoplifters
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Richard E. Grant for Can You Ever Forgive Me?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sakura Ando for Shoplifters
BEST ACTOR
Alessandro Nivola for Weightless
BEST ACTRESS
Regina Hall for Support the Girls
BEST DIRECTOR (tie)
Debra Granik for Leave No Trace
Chloe Zhao for The Rider
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer
BEST MOVIE
Shoplifters
BURIED TREASURE
Support the Girls