BIFA loves "Wild Rose" and "David Copperfield"

British Independent Film Awards, or BIFA for short, have announced their nominations for the 2019 film year. Like the Gothams and Spirits they are juried which means a small group of people decide various categories before the entire membership votes on the winners. Strangely, despite that they focused on a small pool of films (the leaders, Wild Rose and The Personal History of David Copperfield have a staggering 21 nominations between them. Yikes! 

Our friend and sometimes Smackdown guest Guy Lodge was on the panel this year and here are their choices.

Best British Independent Film

• Bait, Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite

• For Sama, Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield, Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Kevin Loader The Souvenir Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller

• The Souvenir, Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller

• Wild Rose, Tom Harper, Nicole Taylor, Faye Ward

Bait and David Copperfield have not yet arrived stateside. The latter is coming in 2020 and with lots of name actors it will get some attention (plus it's quite funny) but we had to look up Bait to see what it was. We must keep an eye out due to the BIFA love...

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Doc Corner: To Syria in 'The Cave' and 'For Sama'

By Glenn Dunks

The sheer audacity of making a documentary in Syria is something that astounds me. But part of what makes Syria such a fascinating subject for continued exploration is that theirs is a story we have seen unfold in real time. From its initial uprising to its deafening destruction and their continued traumas, the last decade have granted audiences a unique interior look into many facets of the Syrian Civil War from the side of rebels and side of the radicals, humanitarians and civilians.

So when I say that Feras Fayyad’s The Cave is easily among the very top of the docket, I don’t do so lightly. Fayyad is already an Oscar nominee for Last Men in Aleppo about the men known as The White Helmets. Here he has shifted gears to focus on the women doctors of what’s known as The Cave, an underground hospital network underneath the city of Ghouta. Mostly medical students who stayed behind to help those in need, the spotlight lands firmly on 30-year-old aspiring paediatrician Dr. Armani Ballour whose calming presence amid the storm of shells and fire around them is as compelling a non-fiction subject I have seen in a very long time...

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Soundtracking: Hocus Pocus

by Chris Feil

As derided as Hocus Pocus was at the time of its release it was ultimately wholeheartedly embraced by a generation well-accustomed to watching Disney villains sing splashy musical numbers. In just a few numbers, Hocus Pocus somewhat accidentally honors a tradition that the audience instinctively recognizes. It may not be a complete musical, but Hocus Pocus falls right in step to Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” or Scar’s “Be Prepared”. It’s no wonder that fans constantly demand it be given the Broadway treatment -- they already think of it as belonging to the genre.

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Link is a cabaret...

Marisa Berenson, Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli at the premiere of Cabaret (1972)Vanity Fair smart piece by Mark Harris on what four Oscar campaign's (or rather the potential success thereof) might tell us about the "new" Academy including Lupita Nyong'o in Us

The Guardian talks to Marisa Berenson (Cabaret) on why she walked away from the spotlight so many years ago.

After the jump animated short Oscar hopefuls, Taylor Swift Cats news, Jeff Goldblum, a new film from The Lighthouse's Robert Eggers and more...

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Monthly Calendar of the Oscar Fanatic

by Eurocheese

April – The musings that mean absolutely nothing except for those couple of Sundance films that may go the distance.

May – Maybe the Cannes Palme d’Or winner will win BP? Also, let’s talk in depth about the tech nods so we can discuss that one early blockbuster and make wild guesses about what could beat it.

June – Which summer blockbuster could WIN Best Picture? (Spoiler alert: None.)

July – We have early frontunners...

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