Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) and Filipinos at the Oscars

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Coen Brothers’ western epic True Grit, an adaptation of the 1968 novel of the same name. The film stars Oscar nominees Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. However, at the center of the film is then-13 year old Hailee Steinfeld. She plays Mattie Ross, the strong-willed daughter of a man murdered by a notorious outlaw (Brolin). She then hires Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to hunt down the outlaw. Steinfeld’s performance received critical acclaim at the time and she became the ninth youngest nominee ever for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. She was 14 years and 45 days of age at the time of nominations.

Another remarkable record is that she became the first actor of known Filipino descent to be nominated for an acting category at the Oscars (her maternal grandfather Ricardo Domasin was half-Filipino), a fact that was given media attention in the Philippines at the time. She is part of a small group of nine Oscar nominees who are of Filipino descent. Here are the rest...

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Doc Corner: 'A Thousand Cuts'

By Glenn Dunks

The first word that came out of my mouth at the conclusion of A Thousand Cuts was simply, ‘Phwoar!’ Which is surprising because I don’t think it’s a word I use on the regular. But this new film by renowned Filipino-American filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz had the dizzying, alarming sensation of being put through the wringer. It’s an ever shrinking and claustrophobic box of political corruption and democratic destruction that is so confident in itself that it leaves arguably it’s biggest and most damning moment to the end credits.

Diaz’s film predominantly follows Maria Ressa, a prominent journalist in the Philippines who in 2018 was co-named Time magazine’s Person of the Year and who has become a significent recipient of scorn from the nation’s bullish President, Rodrigo Duterte. Through her website Rappler, she has sought to uncover the violent criminality of his regime, but through public rallies, abusive televised press conferences and through packs of angry political surrogates and supporters, she has become Duterte’s public enemy number one. They have sought to silence her and leverage his power to have her arrested multiple times and spread fake, damaging information and threats to her and her outlet.

Sound familiar?

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Links: Rip Torn, Woman in the Window, Mank, The Lion King, and more...

• THR Woman in the Window, the Fox thriller starring Amy Adams as an agoraphic woman is being pushed back to 2020 for reshoots. Mark it off your Oscar lists (for now)
• Coming Soon Rip Torn has passed away at 88
• Variety Queen & Slim, one of the most hotly anticipated 2019 titles hoping for awards play, screened its first 12 minutes at the Essence Festival this week

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APSA Nominations: Lion, Cold of Kalandar, and More

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards has announced its nominations for the film year. The organization is in its 10th year -- and we should note that our own Glenn Dunks works for them behind the scenes. They basically cover the whole continent so that includes Asian countries, Australia, Russia, you name it. Their definition is loose enough that it even covers films with creative teams that qualify even if the film is a co-production made elsewhere. Their nomination procedure is elaborate -- 303 films from 43 countries were in the mix this year -- and whittled down throughout the year. The results are certainly a unique barometer of the region.

Cold of Kalandar, Turkey's Oscar submission, has 3 nominations

The nominations with commentary are after the jump...

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More "Best Foreign Language Film" Oscar News

by Nathaniel R

Look at this cute still from Train Driver's Diary. That's Serbia's submission to the Foreign Language Film Oscar race which was announced yesterday. It won the audience prize at the Moscow Film Festival and tells the story of a retiring train driver training his son to take over. The old man holds an infamous record: the most accidental killings on the job. 

Forty-one countries have now made their announcements official including high profile choices like Chile's Neruda which stars Gael García Bernal and could put the auteur Pablo Larraín in contention for yet another nomination to whatever haul his brilliant Jackie picks up.

Spain's submission of Julieta, is even more high profile given Pedro Almodóvar's international statue...

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