In This Photo: Natalie Portman, Jeff Bridges
Actress Natalie Portman (R), winner of the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for ‘Black Swan’, and presenter Jeff Bridges pose in the press room during the 83rd Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California.
(http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/Xut-lxVNNAW/83rd+Annual+Academy+Awards+Press+Room/jFEgqCSWtm6/Natalie+PortmanCredit: Zimbio: – Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America)

A scene from “Restless City”.

Nigerian filmmaker competes for the Golden Stallion of Yennenga at 2011 FESPACO

New York based Nigerian filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu’s Restless City is among the 18 films competing for the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, the most coveted prize at the 22nd Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in the melodramatic Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso from February 26 – March 5, 2011. The golden “Étalon de Yennenga” (Stallion of Yennenga) symbolizes the legendary founder of the 11th century Mossi empire of Burkina Faso and is awarded to the best feature film.

The winner in 2009 was the Ethiopia born director Haile Gerima for his movie “Teza”. Newton I Aduaka of Nigeria won it in 2007 with his “Ezra”, a riveting film on blood diamonds and child soldiers in Sierra Leone.

Other special awards include the Oumarou Ganda Prize, given for the best first film, and the Paul Robeson Prize for the best film by a director of the African diaspora.

“Restless City” is Andrew Dosunmu’s first feature film. It tells the story of an African immigrant surviving on the fringes of New York City where music is his passion, life is a hustle and falling in love is his greatest risk.
Djibril, an aspiring young musician from Senegal, lives in New York. Although he dreams of greatness, imagining the day his own child might be president of the United States, his path is unstructured, and he glories in the chaos of the street. When Djibril meets Trini, a prostitute under the control of Bekay, the local loan shark, his life assumes new purpose and momentum; however, whether Djibril and Trini can outrun Bekay’s nefarious influence is another story.

The other Nigerian filmmakers at the biennial pan-African event are Mak Kusare with “Champions of our time” Kunle Afolayan with “The Figurine” in the 24 entries for the TV and video films category, Didi Cheeka, a founding Director of AlternativCinema with “Bloodstones” and Julius Morno with “The Camera” in the short film category.

Another major news is the premiere of “Ouaga Paradiso,” a 52-minute documentary on African cinema.

There are 111 films in competition – including 18 feature films, 13 short films, 22 documentaries, 37 TV and video productions, 10 films from the African diasporas and 11 student films.

Michel Ouedraogo the director of FESPACO lamented the scourge of pirates who are the worst enemies of the African film industry. He said film piracy is a “cultural AIDS” that is “slowly killing our cinema industry”. He noted that piracy is the problem delaying “considering a stronger partnership with the first film industry in Africa, Nollywood.”

“Burkina Faso has contributed to the event through a 500,000 FCFA investment, completed with security, location, logistic, ceremony and staff availability during the event. In overall, the Burkina Faso government provides 65-70% of the festival organisation.” said Michel Ouédraogo.

The accomplished Iranian screenwriter and film director Asghar Farhadi’s captivating drama Nader and Simin: A Separation won the Golden Bear for the Best Film at the 61st Berlin Film Festival and was elated to receive his coveted prize at the closing ceremony on Saturday February 19, 2011. This must really be fulfilling for him after winning the Silver Bear for Best Director for his film About Elly in 2009. This is the first time an Iranian film has won the Golden Bear.

Asghar Farhadi lifting up his Golden Bear at the 61st Berlinale.

The male and female actors of “Nader and Simin, A Separation” were honored each with a Silver Bear for their performance.

The film is about a middle-class couple Nader and Simin married for fifteen years and live with their eleven-year-old daughter Termeh in Tehran. The family belong to the urban upper middle-class and the couple are on the verge of separation. Simin wants to leave the country with her husband and daughter, as she does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. Her desire is not shared by the stubborn Nader. He has concerns for his father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. When Nader decides to stay in Iran, Simin files for a divorce.

Bela Tarr took home the Jury Grand Prix of the Silver Bear for being the runner-up for his film “The Turin Horse”.

The other winners emerged in the following order:

Silver Bear – Best Director
Ulrich Köhler
for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness)

Silver Bear – Best Actress
to the actress-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear – Best Actor
to the actor-ensemble in
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation)
by Asghar Farhadi

Silver Bear – Outstanding Artistic Achievement
Wojciech Staron for the camera in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

ex aequo

Barbara Enriquez for the production design in
El premio (The Prize)
by Paula Markovitch

Silver Bear – Best Script
Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj for
The Forgiveness Of Blood (The Forgiveness Of Blood)
by Joshua Marston

Alfred Bauer Prize
Awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation.

Wer wenn nicht wir (If Not Us, Who)
by Andres Veiel

Click here for more details.

~ By Hope O. Opara

Colin Firth won the BAFTA for his performance as King George VI in The King’s Speech. (Pic: BAFTA/ Richard Kendal)

The King’s Speech wins seven BAFTAs including Best Film, Leading Actor for Colin Firth, Supporting Actor for Geoffrey Rush and Supporting Actress for Helena Bonham Carter.

Natalie Portman wins Leading Actress

The Social Network and Inception win three BAFTAs each

Alice in Wonderland takes home two awards

The King’s Speech was named Best Film at tonight’s Orange British Academy Film Awards, held at London’s Royal Opera House. The film also won six other awards: Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay and Original Music, as well as a trio of performance awards for Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth, who wins the Leading Actor BAFTA for the second year running.

Natalie Portman was awarded the BAFTA for Leading Actress for her performance as Nina Sayers in Black Swan.

David Fincher won the Director award for The Social Network and Aaron Sorkin took home the BAFTA for Adapted Screenplay. The film also won the Editing award.

Inception won the Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects BAFTAs.
Director Chris Morris received the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for his first feature film Four Lions.

Alice in Wonderland won the BAFTAs for Costume Design and Make Up & Hair. Toy Story 3 took home the award for Animated Film. True Grit won for Cinematography. The Film Not in the English Language BAFTA went to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Eagleman Stag won the Short Animation award and the Short Film award was presented to Until the River Runs Red.

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award was presented to Tom Hardy, star of Inception and Bronson. This award, the only one voted for by the public, recognises an international actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and has begun to be recognised as a film star in the making. The award is now in its sixth year and was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected casting director who passed away in 2004.

The highest accolade which the Academy can bestow, the Fellowship, was presented to Christopher Lee. The award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was received by JK Rowling and David Heyman on behalf of The Harry Potter Films.

For further information, please contact:
Jo Fernihough at Freud Communications
T: 020 3003 6386 / johanna.fernihough@freud.com

THE FOLLOWING IS THE COMPLETE REPORT:

2010 NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS
(presented in 2011)

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
CHRISTOPHER LEE

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
THE HARRY POTTER FILMS

BEST FILM
BLACK SWAN Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
INCEPTION Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
THE KING’S SPEECH Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin
TRUE GRIT Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, John Smithson
ANOTHER YEAR Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
FOUR LIONS Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Mark Herbert, Derrin Schlesinger
THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
MADE IN DAGENHAM Nigel Cole, William Ivory, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE ARBOR Clio Barnard (Director), Tracy O’Riordan (Producer)
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Banksy (Director), Jaimie D’Cruz (Producer)
FOUR LIONS Chris Morris (Director/Writer)
MONSTERS Gareth Edwards (Director/Writer)
SKELETONS Nick Whitfield (Director/Writer)

DIRECTOR
127 HOURS Danny Boyle
BLACK SWAN Darren Aronofsky
INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper
THE SOCIAL NETWORK David Fincher

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BLACK SWAN Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin
THE FIGHTER Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
THE KING’S SPEECH David Seidler

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Aaron Sorkin
TOY STORY 3 Michael Arndt
TRUE GRIT Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BIUTIFUL Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Fernando Bovaira
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev
I AM LOVE Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Marco Morabito, Massimiliano Violante
OF GODS AND MEN Xavier Beauvois, Pascal Caucheteux, Etienne Comar
THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Mariela Besuievsky, Juan José Campanella

ANIMATED FILM
DESPICABLE ME Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
TOY STORY 3 Lee Unkrich

LEADING ACTOR
JAVIER BARDEM Biutiful
JEFF BRIDGES True Grit
JESSE EISENBERG The Social Network
COLIN FIRTH The King’s Speech
JAMES FRANCO 127 Hours

LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING The Kids Are All Right
JULIANNE MOORE The Kids Are All Right
NATALIE PORTMAN Black Swan
NOOMI RAPACE The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
HAILEE STEINFELD True Grit

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTIAN BALE The Fighter
ANDREW GARFIELD The Social Network
PETE POSTLETHWAITE The Town
MARK RUFFALO The Kids Are All Right
GEOFFREY RUSH The King’s Speech

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS The Fighter
HELENA BONHAM CARTER The King’s Speech
BARBARA HERSHEY Black Swan
LESLEY MANVILLE Another Year
MIRANDA RICHARDSON Made in Dagenham

ORIGINAL MUSIC
127 HOURS AR Rahman
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Danny Elfman
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON John Powell
INCEPTION Hans Zimmer
THE KING’S SPEECH Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
127 HOURS Anthony Dod Mantle, Enrique Chediak
BLACK SWAN Matthew Libatique
INCEPTION Wally Pfister
THE KING’S SPEECH Danny Cohen
TRUE GRIT Roger Deakins

EDITING
127 HOURS Jon Harris
BLACK SWAN Andrew Weisblum
INCEPTION Lee Smith
THE KING’S SPEECH Tariq Anwar
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

PRODUCTION DESIGN
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
BLACK SWAN Thérèse DePrez, Tora Peterson
INCEPTION Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
THE KING’S SPEECH Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
TRUE GRIT Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

COSTUME DESIGN
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Colleen Atwood
BLACK SWAN Amy Westcott
THE KING’S SPEECH Jenny Beavan
MADE IN DAGENHAM Louise Stjernsward
TRUE GRIT Mary Zophres

SOUND
127 HOURS Glenn Freemantle, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Steven C Laneri, Douglas Cameron
BLACK SWAN Ken Ishii, Craig Henighan, Dominick Tavella
INCEPTION Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
THE KING’S SPEECH John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen
TRUE GRIT Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland, Douglas Axtell

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Sean Phillips, Carey Villegas
BLACK SWAN Dan Schrecker, Henrik Fett, Michael Capton, William ‘Brad’ Kalinoski
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicolas Aithadi, Christian Manz
INCEPTION Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb
TOY STORY 3 Guido Quaroni, Michael Fong, David Ryu

MAKE UP & HAIR
ALICE IN WONDERLAND Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch
BLACK SWAN Judy Chin, Geordie Sheffer
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin, Nick Dudman
THE KING’S SPEECH Frances Hannon
MADE IN DAGENHAM Lizzie Yianni Georgiou

SHORT ANIMATION
THE EAGLEMAN STAG Michael Please
MATTER FISHER David Prosser
THURSDAY Matthias Hoegg

SHORT FILM
CONNECT Samuel Abrahams, Beau Gordon
LIN Piers Thompson, Simon Hessel
RITE Michael Pearce, Ross McKenzie, Paul Welsh
TURNING Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Alison Sterling, Kat Armour-Brown
UNTIL THE RIVER RUNS RED Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
GEMMA ARTERTON
ANDREW GARFIELD
TOM HARDY
AARON JOHNSON
EMMA STON

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ALL THE WINNERS