The beautiful, terrifying domestic drama “We Need to Talk About Kevin” won the London Film Festival’s best-picture prize Wednesday.
Lynne Ramsay’s film stars Tilda Swinton as a mother grappling with grief and guilt after her teenage son carries out a high-school massacre.
“Shakespeare in Love” director John Madden, who chaired the judging panel, called it “a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love.”
The 55-year-old London festival introduced a best-film prize two years ago as part of a bid to boost its profile and compete with better-known events in Berlin, Venice and Toronto.
“Kevin” beat eight other finalists, including French silent movie “The Artist,” Aleksandr Sokurov’s Venice Film festival winner “Faust” and British director Steve McQueen’s body- and soul-baring “Shame.”
Nineteen-year-old actress Candese Reid was named best British newcomer for her role in gritty drama “Junkhearts,” her first professional acting role.
Argentinean director Pablo Giorgelli won the festival’s best first feature prize for his Latin American road movie “Las Acacias,” which picked up the same award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The best documentary trophy went to German auteur Werner Herzog for his death row portrait “Into the Abyss.”
Actor Ralph Fiennes and director David Cronenberg received lifetime achievement awards during the black-tie ceremony at the 18th-century St. Luke’s church in London.
Fiennes was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship in recognition of “a singular career” that has blended arthouse dramas and mainstream hits.
Cronenberg, the director of “Videodrome,” ”The Fly” and “Crash,” received the same honor for a body of films “exploring the darker impulses and inner lives of his characters.”
Both men had films in the two-week festival of more than 300 features and shorts from 55 countries — Fiennes’ directorial debut “Coriolanus” and Cronenberg’s psychoanalytic drama “A Dangerous Method.”
Oscar Shortlists Unveiled Across 10 Categories
The Selena Gomez ballad "Mi Camino," the Will Ferrell and Harper Steele road trip documentary "Will & Harper" and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's pulsating "Challengers" score are one step closer to an Oscar nomination. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled shortlists in 10 categories Tuesday, including for documentary, international feature, best song and score. Two musicals, "Emilia Pérez" and "Wicked," were well represented in the categories. Netflix's audacious transgender drug-lord drama "Emilia Pérez" was most named, advancing in international feature, original score, two original songs including "Mi Camino" and "El Mal" (performed by Zoe Saldaña), sound and hair and makeup. "Wicked" also moved forward in several categories, like hair and makeup, original score, sound and visual effects. The adaptation of the Broadway musical did not include original songs and therefore wasn't eligible in that category. The song semifinalists include several notable artists, like Pharrell Williams for "Piece by Piece," Lainey Wilson for her "Twisters" song "Out of Oklahoma," Elton John and Brandi Carlile for "Never Too Late" and Robbie Williams for "Forbidden Road" from "Better Man." Diane Warren may also be heading for a 16th nomination for her song from "The Six Triple Eight." Nicholas Britell's "Winter Coat," performed by Saoirse Ronan in "Blitz," was also included, as was Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Tell Me It's You" from "Mufasa: The Lion King," performed by Aaron Pierre and Tiffany Boone. Among the 15 documentaries eligible for nominations are "The Bibi Files,""Daughters," "Eno," "Frida,""The Remarkable Life of Ibelin," "Dahomey," "Union," "Porcelain War" and "No Other Land." There are also 15 international features advancing, including... Read More