Awards

And so the awards season, which started in mid-December with the announcement of the Golden Globes nominations, came to an end this last Sunday in February with the Academy Awards. Guilds, critics and independent filmmakers had their say, issues surfaced and were debated (hotly, sometimes) and careers were consolidated or launched.

It was a banner year for HBO, a breakthrough moment for Game of Thrones and a long-delayed victory for Jon Hamm. But, above all, the 67th Primetime Emmys, handed out last night, September 20, in Los Angeles, was a landmark moment for women, especially African American women, so often underrepresented or typecast on TV (and movies).

Director Lenny Abrahamson’s Room won the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival. The independent film starring Brie Larson as a woman raising a son while both are kept captive in a small room has now gathered enough steam to be considered a serious contender in the upcoming award season, following on the footsteps of 12 Years a Slave, Slumdog Millionaire, American Beauty and The King’s Speech that emerged from the same victory as frontrunners and, ultimately, major triumphs.

The Telluride Film Festival took over the eponymous town in the Colorado Rockies for three days over the U. S.

Carol, Todd Haynes's new feature, is his most fully realized film to date, adding another interesting panel to a small – only six films in twenty-five years – but distinguished oeuvre. Though thematically it's a logical follow-up to his former movies, Carol may also signal a new point of departure.

A key stop in the festival circuit and an important element in shaping the fall season, the Toronto International Film Festival has some of the year’s most anticipated pictures on its 2015 program. Demolition, directed by Canadian Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Dallas Buyers Club) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, will open this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, on September 10.

Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s The Kindergaten Teacher won the International New Talent Award at the 17th Taipei Film Festival. The HFPA's Barbara Gasser met with the emerging director at the festival to discuss cinema, poetry and the power of recognition.

The 2015 Primetime Emmy nominees were announced today and, for the sixth year in a row, the Golden Globes Awards presentation was among them with two kudos: Outstanding Special Class Program and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Game of Thrones led the nominations with 24 entries including Drama Series, making HBO once again the leader of the pack, with 126 nominations.

The LA Press Club journalism awards are given each year for excellence in reporting. In the ceremony at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles Sunday the Daniel Pearl Prize for Courage and Integrity in Journalism will also be awarded to the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo.

The 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival came to a close with the customary Palmares ceremony in which awards were handed. The jury headed, for the first time ever by a sibling president team of Joel and Ethan Coen awarded the coveted Palme D’Or to Jacques Audiard for his Paris set immigrant drama Dheepan, a drama charting the experiences of an ex Tamil rebel from Sri Lanka (Antonythasan Jesuthasan) making a new life in France.