The 2023 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards: "Past Lives" and "Asteroid City" Win Big!

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this month, I shared the Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards nominations, and now it's time to talk winners. First, one should mention that the group, organized by Patrick Gratton, comprises over forty people, spanning from cinephiles to critics and historians, including some members of Team Experience. Second, between nods and victories, the voting process took around a month, with hundreds of films mentioned and much love for cinema. Now, the final results are in, with Celine Song's Past Lives confirming itself as the season's grand winner – the film is currently available on VOD for those interested in experiencing its bittersweet resolutions. 

Though they didn't take the top prize, Asteroid City and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse were also big champions in the final ballot...

Wes Anderson's latest feature got the most wins with six, while the animated juggernaut's four victories tie it with the Best Picture victor. Overall, twelve films won prizes, and there was even a tie.

BEST FEATURE FILM

• PAST LIVES, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon (A24)

BEST DIRECTING

• Wes Anderson, ASTEROID CITY

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• JOYLAND, Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan, Khoosat, Lauren Mann, Katharina Otto-Bernstein, Oliver Ridge, April Shih & Sabiha Sumar (Pakistan & USA)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal & Christine Steinberg

BEST NON-FICTION FILM

• DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, Pauline Gygax & Max Karli & Valentina Novati

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT 

• PAST LIVES, Celine Song

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST 

• ASTEROID CITY, Douglas Aibel (Casting Director), Bob Balaban, Zoe Bernard, Damien Bonnard, Adrien Brody, Steve Carrell, Hong Chau, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon, Deanne Dunagan, Grace Edwards, Ella Faris, Gracie Faris, Willan Faris, Braydem Frasure, Rupert Friend, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hanks, Maya Hawke, Scarlett Johansson, Ethan Josh Lee, Sophia Lillis, Ivan Lopez, Sam Marra, Aristou Meehan, Preston Mota, Edward Norton, Steve Park, Tony Revolori, Margot Robbie, Jake Ryan, Live Schreiber, Jason Schwartzman, Fisher Stevens, Tilda Swinton, Rita Wilson & Jeffrey Wright

BEST LEADING ACTRESS

• Virginie Efira, OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN

BEST LEADING ACTOR

• Teo Yoo, PAST LIVES

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Rachel McAdams, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Glenn Howerton, BLACKBERRY

BEST ACTING NEWCOMER

• Andrew Barth Feldman, NO HARD FEELINGS

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY (Stunts, Dance, or Other)

• JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Koji Kawamoto, Laurent Demanioff, Stephen Dunlevy, Ralf Haeger, James M. Halty & Scott Rogers

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Celine Song, PAST LIVES

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Robert D. Yeoman, ASTEROID CITY

BEST EDITING

• Daniel Garber, HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• ATEROID CITY, Adam Stockhausen, Kris Moran & Gabriel Picola

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Milena Canonero, ASTEROID CITY

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

• ASTEROID CITY, Julie Dartnell, Claire Burgess & Julia Vernon

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Mike Lasker

BEST SOUND MIXING (TIE)

• DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, Bruno Ehlinger
• JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Casey Genton & Andy Kayoma

BEST SOUND EDITING

• SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Geoffrey G. Rubay

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Daniel Pemberton, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

BEST USE OF MUSIC

• WILL-O'-THE-WISP

Do you agree with the Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards' results? Who would have gotten your votes?

Comments

[jules]

Cool to see Wes Anderson, Robert Yeoman, Rachel McAdams, and Glenn Howerton singled out - all would win my mid-year awards and probably end up on my Oscar ballot. This was an unusually strong first half of the year.

[Mike in Canada]

Love the love for Teo Yoo.