"An Officer and a Spy" and "Les Miserables" battle it out for the César

by Nathaniel R

France's Oscar parallel competition, the Césars, have finally announced their nominations for the film year. Roman Polanski's adaptation of Robert Harris's novel An Officer and a Spy leads the nominations. It's based on the Dreyfus affair and Emile Zola's "J'Accuse!" letter, both of which are also the topic of one of Oscar's earliest Best Picture winners The Life of Emile Zola (1937).  The drama leads the Césars with 12 nominations while the Oscar-nominated Les Miserables and the riveting queer romantic drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire were right behind with 10 nominations each. After the jump all the nominations and a few notes...

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"Ema" at Sundance

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

Chilean director Pablo Larraín was last at the Sundance Film Festival with frequent collaborator Gael García Bernal in 2013 for the Oscar-nominated No. Since then, he’s earned two additional bids from the Golden Globes in the foreign language category for The Club and Neruda. He even made his first film in English: Jackie. Now, Larraín is back with another Bernal film, showing in the Spotlight section after its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

Though Bernal plays a substantial role, this film is all about actress Mariana Di Girolamo. She stars as the title character, who is married to Bernal’s choreographer character...

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Almost There: Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

by Cláudio Alves

History repeats itself, especially when it comes to the Academy Awards. Throughout its 92 years, very few Asian actors have been recognized, even when their films were otherwise embraced. This year, the victim of the insidious trend was Parasite, which won the SAG for Best Ensemble but couldn't muster enough support for a single acting nomination at the Oscars. Thinking back to the last non-English speaking Asian production to score a Best Picture nomination, we see the same phenomenon.

In 2000, Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon conquered a remarkable 10 nominations, including for Picture and Director but none of the nods were for acting. In the end, the blockbuster won four of its categories. Despite the acting branch's oversight, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi received many nominations elsewhere, including the BAFTAs. The younger actress even conquered the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress…

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Almodóvar reigns at the Goyas again

by Nathaniel R

You'll read a lot of headlines saying that Pain and Glory swept the Goyas but it's not technically true. Though it won big it lost the bulk of its craft competitions and won only two of its five acting nominations. Still there's plenty of reason to celebrate if you're an Almodóvar junkie like we are here at TFE. The master's self-reflection took home seven Goyas including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for Antonio Banderas, who is of course also nominated at the Oscars. But Pain and Glory didn't have the night to itself. Each of the five Best Film nominees took home at least one prize with While at War, the latest from Alejandro Amenábar (The Others) clearly in runner up position as it won five categories including a win in Supporting Actor where it beat out both of the nominees from Pain & Glory.  And ,yes, the rumors are true: Pedro accidentally let it slip on the red carpet that Penelope Cruz would be presenting Best International Film at the Oscars in February. 

Full list of Goya winners and a few notes after the jump...

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"Cuties" Wants to Say Something About Young Girls Who Sexualize Themselves. But Does It?

Please welcome new contributor Ren Jender reporting from Sundance...

At first glance Cuties, the debut feature from French-Senegalese director Maïmouna Doucouré has a strong resemblance to Mati Diop's Atlantics. Like Ada, Atlantics' main character, Cuties' Amy (Fathia Youssouf) is torn between the edicts of her Senegalese parents' strict Muslim faith (an early scene shows Amy wearing a headscarf --even though she's only 11-- as she listens to the sermon on the virtues of modesty) and more hedonistic, self-centered Western ideals. The latter is personified by Angelica (Médina El Aidi-Azouni) Amy's neighbor in a Parisian apartment building. Angelica is also 11, but dresses in crop tops and tight vinyl pants or short skirts...

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