FYC: Sean Bobbitt for Best Cinematography

by Cláudio Alves

Director Shaka King (left) and Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (right)

Sean Bobbitt started as a news camera shooter, a photojournalist more than a cineaste. His first feature was Michael Winterbottom's 1999 Cannes Competition entry Wonderland, an auspicious beginning to what would become a splendorous filmography. The collaboration with British director Steve McQueen came to define the cinematographer's career, their work running the gamut from commercials to museum installations and award-winning films like Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave. Despite all this, Sean Bobbitt has never been nominated for an Oscar. Thanks to Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah, that sad state of affairs may be about to change…

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Best Editing: The Art of Disorientation

by Cláudio Alves

There seem to be two big schools of thought regarding what good film editing is. On the one hand, classic Hollywood precepts indicate a preference for the invisible, cutting so organically enmeshed with the rhythms of the story one barely notices its mechanisms. On the other hand, there's a showier style, editing that calls attention to itself and demands applause, especially in the realm of action cinema. In either case, an unwritten rule posits clarity of information and storytelling as a defining tenet. Editing should facilitate the movie-watching process by allowing the audience to follow along with the narrative or thesis, its emotional beats, spatial awareness, and chronology. Nonetheless, two of this year's biggest contenders in the race for the Best Editing Oscar do the exact opposite, choosing to engage with the art of editing as a tool of disorientation rather than clarification, chaos instead of order…

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FYC: "Pinocchio" for Best Makeup & Hairstyling

by Cláudio Alves

Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio has been adapted countless times to the big screen, from the time of the silent shorts to today's world of streaming services and opulent CGI. However, it should be noted that, throughout the majority of film history, the most famous adaptations of this literary nightmare have been rather unfaithful to its source material, its sharper edges indiscriminately sanded off. A tale of cruel moralism full of ghoulish characters, Pinocchio's story is often mellowed until its hellish visions are more enchanting than terrifying. 

When it was time for Matteo Garrone to shoot his version of the narrative, the Italian director went back to Collodi's original tone…

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FYC: " Húsavík" for Best Original Song

by Cláudio Alves

2020 was a horrible year in many regards. Too many to count if we're being honest. Still, I'd like to highlight that, as a Eurovision Song Contest fan, it was especially disheartening to see the show be canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis. It's obvious why it couldn't happen, but, if there ever was a year that needed the cheering effect of that joyful camp explosion, 2020 was that year. Thankfully, both for me and my Eurovision-loving family, Netflix had an Easter Egg-filled delight to assuage the pain…

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Best International Feature: Denmark, Hong Kong, Norway

by Cláudio Alves

With the shortlists announced, we now know which of the 93 Best International Feature submissions still have a chance to contend for Oscar gold. AMPAS has selected 15 finalists, a third of which will be honored with an Academy Award nomination come March 15th. Here at The Film Experience, the team has reviewed most of the shortlisted titles. However, four still haven't been analyzed. To start correcting that, here's another trio of capsule reviews. It's time to explore the pictures submitted by Denmark, Hong Kong, and Norway… 

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