This past weekend, nominations for the 31st annual Chlotrudis Awards were finalized by the nominating committee of the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Each year, the film group nominates the best of independent film seen by its membership, across 15 categories. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday March 16th, held at the Footlight Club in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.
Andrea Arnold’s BIRD ran away with the most nominations – a whopping 10, including Best Movie, Director and nods for all 3 main actors. DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD from Romania, and THE BEAST, starring Lea Seydoux, both came in second, each garnering 7 nominations. A pair of films set in Japan captured 6: Wim Wenders’ PERFECT DAYS and the eco-conscious EVIL DOES NOT EXIST All told, out of 36 films nominated, 26 countries were represented. A third of the nominated films were helmed by female directors
In the Society’s most prestigious category, Buried Treasure, the nominees are: the Romanian film HERE, which follows a construction worker who meets a Chinese grad school in Brussels near the end of his working visa; NATIONAL ANTHEM, a fictional story centering queer ranchers and rodeo performers in New Mexico; RED ROOMS, a Quebecois psychological thriller set amid the darker side of film, online gambling and fandom; the BDSM deadpan comedy, THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED; and WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN, a Canadian romantic drama set in an alternative reality where the LifeZap rules almost everyone’s lives.
The Buried Treasure is the only category with eligibility requirements: films must not have been nominated in two other categories, or earned significant box office. Members submit 3 films they feel strongly were given distributional short shrift and deserve a wider audience. Once the final ballot is set, all members voting in the category must verify that they have watched all of the nominated films.
Every year, literally hundreds of films are eligible for Buried Treasure. A dozen made the first cut in the voting rounds, but fell short. That list of runners-up is distributed to the society’s membership, to encourage folks to seek these out as well, and is included at the end of nominations list.
Here follows the complete list of the nominations for the 31st Annual Chlotrudis Awards:
BURIED TREASURE
Here
National Anthem
Red Rooms
The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed!
With Love and A Major Organ
BEST MOVIE
Bird
Do Not Expect Much from the End of the World
Evil Does Not Exist
His Three Daughters
Perfect Days
Sing Sing
BEST DIRECTOR
Andrea Arnold for Bird
Radu Jude for Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Evil Does Not Exist
Annie Baker for Janet Planet
Wim Wenders for Perfect Days
Bertrand Bonello for The Beast
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEAD ROLE
Ilinca Manolache for Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths
Koji Yakusho for Perfect Days
Colman Domingo for Sing Sing
Lea Seydoux for The Beast
BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE
Nykiya Adams for Bird
Adam Pearson for A Different Man
Ilinca Manolache for Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Lily Collias for Good One
Mia McKenna-Bruce for How to Have Sex
Zoe Ziegler for Janet Planet
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barry Keoghan for Bird
Franz Rogowski for Bird
Jessica Harper for Nightbitch
Dolly De Leon for Ghostlight
Clarence Maclin for Sing Sing
Eve Lindley for Nationial Anthem
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
Club Zero
Ghostlight
His Three Daughters
Kneecap
Sing Sing
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Egoist
Nickel Boys
Robot Dreams
Sing Sing
Sometimes I Think About Dying
The Beast
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bird
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Evil Does Not Exist
His Three Daughters
I Saw The TV Glow
Perfect Days
BEST USE OF MUSIC IN FILM
Bird
Kneecap
Perfect Days
Sometimes I Think About Dying
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Evil Does Not Exist
I Saw The TV Glow
Robot Dreams
The Beast
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Bird
Club Zero
Hundreds of Beavers
Kinds of Kindness
Mother, Couch
The Beast
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
About Dry Grasses
Bird
Evil Does Not Exist
Perfect Days
The Beast
BEST EDITING
Bird
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Evil Does Not Exist
Perfect Days
The Beast
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Chasing Chasing Amy
It’s Only Life After All
Pictures of Ghosts
Sugarcane
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Union
BEST FILM WITH A TITLE THAT’S A MOUTHFUL*
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person
Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds
MOST WORTHWHILE SLOG (long running times)*
About Dry Glasses
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
So Long, My Son
* categories based on 2023 film trendspotting, made tongue-in-cheek
BURIED TREASURE RUNNERS-UP
Girl You Know It’s True
Girls Will Be Girls
I Used to Be Funny
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Kim’s Video
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Look Into My Eyes
Majority Rules
Mountains
Omni Loop
Queendom
This Closeness
So, what happened with the announcement of winners? It’s already past March 16 and we haven’t heard about it yet.
Thank you for reaching out! Our winners were selected on Sunday afternoon, March 16, and the announcement was posted this morning on our website! You can find it at https://chlotrudis.org/2025/03/boston-film-society-fetes-wim-wenders-perfect-days-at-31st-awards-ceremony/.