At an intimate cocktail affair this past Sunday afternoon at the historic Footlight Club in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film bestowed their annual Trudy awards to the best of independent film of 2024.
Besides the relaxed atmosphere among members and friends, the night featured presentations from Ivy Moylan, Executive Director of the Brattle Film Foundation, a sneak peek into the plans for the upcoming Independent Film Festival of Boston by Program Director Nancy Campbell and Executive Director Brian Tamm.
Wim Wenders’ PERFECT DAYS was the big winner, earning 4 Trudies including Best Movie and Best Director. The affecting character study of public facilities janitor in Tokyo proved a hit with the Society’s membership. The rest of the night’s results reflected close competition between strong nominees, with 3 categories ending in ties. PERFECT DAYS shared top Cinematography honors with another film from Japan, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST.
Meanwhile, in the acting categories, Marianne Jean-Baptiste won BEST LEAD for her searing portrayal in HARD TRUTHS, the film that reunited her with director Mike Leigh. HIS THREE DAUGHTERS strong cast garnered that film BEST ENSEMBLE. Another tie in the BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE category split top honors between daughter leads in two films, BIRD’s Nykiya Adama and Lily Collias in GOOD ONES.
In the Society’s signature Buried Treasure category, the Canadian psychological thriller RED ROOMS was this year’s winner. While seemingly about the trial of a serial killer, the film’s primary focus is on the courtroom observers. Film critic Bilge Ebiri noted “This picture about people obsessed with criminals and their grisly crimes confronts us with the mystery of who the obsessives truly are”. Buried Treasure is the only category with eligibility requirements: films must not have been nominated in two other categories, or earned significant box office. Also, members must verify that they have watched all or at least 5 of the nominated films in order to vote.
Here follows the complete list of winners for the 31st Annual Chlotrudis Awards:
BEST MOVIE
Perfect Days
BURIED TREASURE
Red Rooms
BEST DIRECTOR
Wim Wenders for Perfect Days
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEAD ROLE
Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths
BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE (tie)
Nykiya Adams for Bird
Lily Collias for Good One
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Clarence Maclin for Sing Sing
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
His Three Daughters
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Pablo Berger for Robot Dreams
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Jane Schoenbrun for I Saw the TV Glow
BEST USE OF MUSIC IN FILM
Perfect Days
BEST SOUND DESIGN (tie)
I Saw the TV Glow
Robot Dreams
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Beast
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (tie)
Yoshio Kitagawa for Evil Does Not Exist
Franz Lustig for Perfect Days
BEST EDITING
Anita Roth for The Beast
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
BEST FILM WITH A TITLE THAT’S A MOUTHFUL*
Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person
MOST WORTHWHILE SLOG (films with 3 hour+ running times)*
About Dry Grasses
* categories based on 2024 film trendspotting, made tongue-in-cheek