The 2024 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards Nominations

August 22, 2024 by Patrick Gratton

1. Best Feature Film

The Beast (Janus Films / Sideshow) – Bertrand Bonello & Justin Taurand (Producers

Challengers (MGM / United Artists) – Luca Guadagnino & Rachel O’ Connor & Amy Pascal & Zendeya (Producers)

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (MUBI) – Radu Jude & Adrian Sitaru & Ada Solomon (Producers)

Dune Part Two (Warner Bros.) – Diala Al Raie & Gergö Balika & Cale Boyter & Amanda Confavreux & Howard Ellis & Adam Goodman & Genevieve Hofmeyr & Fuad Khallid & Tanya Lapointe & Gianluca Leurini & Robbie McAree & Patrick McCormack & Mary Parent & Dennis Villeneuve (Producers)

Evil Does Not Exist (Janus Films / Sideshow) -- Satoshi Takada (Producer)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Warner Bros) – George Miller & Doug Mitchell (Producers)

Hit Man (Netflix) – Jason Bateman & Mike Blizard & Michael Costigan & Richard Linklater & Glen Powell (Producers)

I Saw the TV Glow (A24) -- Ali Herting & Sam Intill & David McCary & Emma Stone & Sarah Winshall (Producers)

Kinds of Kindness (Searchlight Pictures) – Ed Guiney & Yorgos Lanthimos & Andrew Lowe & Kasia Malipan (Producers)

Love Lies Bleeding (A24) – Andrea Cornwell & Oliver Kassman (Producers)

2. Best Directing

Bertrand Bonello, The Beast

Rose Glass, Love Lies Bleeding

Luca Guadagnino, Challengers

Jane Schoebrun, I Saw the TV Glow

Dennis Villeneuve, Dune Part Two

3. Best Film Not In the English Language.

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Romania / Luxembourg / France / Croatia) – Radu Jude & Adrian Sitaru & Ada Solomon (Producers)

Evil Does Not Exist (Japan) – Satoshi Takada (Producer)

Housekeeping for Beginners (North Macedonia / Poland / Croatia / Serbia / Kosovo) – Blerta Basholli & Marija & Dimitrova & Ankica Juric Tilic & Beata Rzeznicek (Producers)

Last Summer (France / Norway) – Saïd Ben Saïd (Producer)

Samsara (Spain) – Leire Apellaniz (Producer)

4. Best Animated Film:

Inside Out 2 – Mark Nielsen (Producer)

Kung Fu Panda 4 – Rebecca Huntley (Producer)

Mars Express – Marc Jousset & Guillaume Natas & Florent Steiner (Co-Producers)

5. Best Non-Fiction Film:

Bye Bye Tiberias – Jean-Marie Nizan (Producer)

Girls State – Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss (Producers)

I Am: Celine Dion – Julie Begey Seureau & Stacy Lorts & Tom Mackay & Irene Taylor (Producers)

Pictures of Ghosts – Emilie Lesclaux (Producer)

Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus – Aiko Masubichi & Takashi Numa & Eric Nyari & Norika Sky-Sora & Albert Tholen (Producers)

6. Best Directorial Debut

The First Omen – Arkasha Stevensen (Director); David S. Goyer & Keith Levine (Producers)

Janet Planet – Annie Baker (Director-Producer); Andrew Goldman & Dan Janvey & Derrick Tseng (Producers)

Monkey Man – Dev Patel (Director - Producer); Robert Beaucage & Ian Cooper & Cristine Haebler & Basil Iwanyk & Erica Lee & Anjay Nagpal & Jordan Peele & Win Rosenfeld & Samarth Sanhi & Jamon Thomas (Producers)

The People’s Joker – Vera Drew (Director); Joey Lyons (Producer)

Problemista Julio Torres (Director-Producer); Ali Herting & David McCary & Emma Stone (Producers)

7. Best Ensemble Cast:

Challengers

Francine Maisler (Casting Director); Darnell Appling, Alex Bancila, Doria Bramante, Nada Despotovich, Bryan Doo, Mike Faist, Nahim Garcia, Hailey Gates, Jake Jensen, A.J. Lister, Josh O’Connor, Kenneth A. Osherow, James Sylva, Zendeya (Cast)

Dune Part Two

Francine Maisler (Casting Director); Javier Bardem, David Baustista, Tara Breathnach, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Imola Gáspár, Alison Halsttead, Akiko Hitomi, Giusi Merli, Babs Olusanmokun, Florence Pugh, Charlotte Rampling, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kait Tenison, Christopher Walken, Souhheila Yacoub, Roger Yuan, Zendeya (Cast)

Ghostlight

Alexis Jade Links, Mickie Pascal Jennifer Rudnicke (Casting Directors); Charin Alvarez, Lia Cubilete, Hanna Dworkin, Keith Kupferer, Dolly De Leon, Bradley Grant Smith, Francis Guinan, Antony Irons, Sarab Kamoo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Charlie Lubeck, Tara Mallen, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Marlene Slaughter, H. B. Ward, Alma Washington, Matthew C. Yee, Dexter Zollicoffer (Cast)

Hit Man

Vicky Boone (Casting Director); Kate Adair, Garrison Allen, Austin Amelio, Adria Arjona, Bath Bartley, Gralen Bryant Banks, Molly Bernard, Murphee Bloom, Martin Bradford, Bryant Carroll, Evan Holtzman, Stephanie Hong, Jordan Joseph, Jonas Lerway, Mike Markoff, Robert Montgomery, Glen Powell, Sanja Rao, Retta, Richard Robichaux, Morgana Shaw, KC Simms (Cast)

Kinds of Kindness

Dixie Chassey (Casting Director); Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, Tessa Bourgeois, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Ja’Quan Monroe-Henderson, Jesse Plemmons, Margaret Qualley, Yorgos Stefanakos, Hunter Schafer, Emma Stone (Cast)

8. Best Leading Actress:

Léa Drucker, Last Summer

Nell Tiger Free, The First Omen

Ilinca Manolache, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World

Léa Seydoux, The Beast

Zendaya, Challengers

9. Best Leading Actor:

Keith Kupferer, Ghostlight

Josh O’Connor, Challengers

Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness

Glen Powell, Hit Man

Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow

10. Best Supporting Actress:

Adria Arjona, Hit Man

Rebecca Ferguson, Dune, Part Two

Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding

Sophie Okonedo, Janet Planet

Tilda Swinton, Problemista

11. Best Supporting Actor *** TIE ***

Javier Bardem,Dune: Part Two

Austin Butler, Dune: Part Two

Mike Faist, Challengers

Ed Harris, Love Lies Bleeding

Chris Hemsworth, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Jesse Plemons, Civil War

12. Best Acting Newcomer

Pierette Abode, Mambar Pierette

Alyla Browne, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Samuel Kirchner, Last Summer

Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding

Zoe Ziegler, Janet Planet

13. Best Choreography (Stunts, Dance or Other):

Challengers – John Vincent Mason (Stunt Coordinators); Brad Gilbert & Kim Gilbert (Tennis Advisors); Mam Smith (Intimacy Coordinator)

Dune Part Two – Joseph Baddelem & Henry King Jr. & Domonkos Pardanyi (Stunt Coordinators); Roger Yuan (Stunt Coordinators - Fight Coordinator); Vi-Dan Tran (Fight Coordinator); Jenefer Odell (Intimacy Coordinator); Benjamin Millepied (Sandwalk Choreographer)

The Fall Guy – Keir Beck (Stunt Coordinator); Jonathan Eusebio & Sunny Sun (Fight Coordinators); Caroline Kaspar (Intimacy Coordinator);

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Guy Norris & Mark Teale & Tim Wong (Stunt Coordinators); Yasca Sinigaglia & Jacob Tomuri Karl Van Moorsel (Stunt Sequence Coordinators); Richard Norton (Fight Choreographer- Fight Coordinator); Caroline Kaspar (Intimacy Coordinator);

Monkey Man – Udeh Nans (Stunt Coordinator); Brahim Chab (Fight Choreographer);

14. Best Screenplay:

Bertrand Bonello, The Beast, adapted from the short story The Beast In the Jungle by Henry James

Jane Shoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow

Radu Jude, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World

Justin Kuritzkes, Challengers

Julio Torres, Problemista

15. Best Cinematography

Josée Deshaies, The Beast

Đinh Duy Hung, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

Creig Fraser, Dune Part Two

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Challengers

Eric Yue, I Saw the TV Glow

16. Best Editing:

Marco Costa, Challengers

Catalin Cristutiu, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World

Vera Drew, The People’s Joker

Sofi Marshall, I Saw The TV Glow

Joe Walker, Dune Part Two

17. Best Production Design

The Beast – Katia Wyszkop (Production Designer); Sophie Martel & Florence Allerie (Set Dressers);

Dune Part Twoc – Patrice Vermette (Production Designers); Zsuzsanna Sipos & Shane Vieau (Set Decorators);

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Colin Gibson (Production Designer); Katie Sharrock (Set Decorator);

I Saw the TV Glow – Brandon Tonner-Connolly (Production Designer); Paige Mitchell (Set Decorator);

Problemista – Katie Byron (Production Designer); Kendall Anderson (Set Decorator)

18. Best Costume Design:

Jenny Beavan, Furisoa: A Mad Max Saga

Pauline Jacquard, The Beast

Megan McLaughlin, Lisa Frankenstein

Michael O’Connor, Firebrand

Jacqueline West, Dune Part Two

19. Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

The Beast – Maïna Militza (Makeup Designer); Miguel Santos (Hair Designer)

Dune: Part 2 – Love Larson & Eva Von Bahir (Prosthetics Designers); Megan Norris (Key Hairstylist); Ruth Haney (Key Makeup Artists); Kata Huszár (Crowd Hair & Makeup Supervisor)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Matteo Silvi & Luca Vannella (Personal Hair & Makeup Designers for C. Hemsworth); Larry Van Duynhoven (Prosthetics Designer); Lesley Vanderwalt (Hair & Makeup Designer)

Love Lies Bleeding – Megan Daum (Hair Department Head); Bryan Perkal (Special Makeup Effects Artists); Frieda Valenzuela (Makeup Department Head)

The People’s Joker –Jake Bennett (Prosthetics); Lane Friedmann (Wig Stylist);

20. Best Visual Effects:

Challengers – Dan Crayer & Brian Drewes & Marco Geracinato & Don Libby & Riaz Patel (Visual Effects Supervisors); John Ruggiere (Special Effects Supervisor)

Dune: Part Two – Arnaud Brisebois & Michael Grobe & Stephen James & Rhys Salcombe (Visual Effects Supervisors); Franco Galiano & Gerd Nefzer (Special Effects Supervisors)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Xavier Matia Bernasconi & Dan Bethell & Andrew Jackson & Stephen James & Giacomo Mineo & Jo Plaete Josh Simmonds & Guido Wolter (Visual Effects Supervisors); Lloyd Finnemore & Andy Williams (Special Effects Supervisors); Jabin Dickens (On-Set Special Effects Supervisor: Action Unit)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Art Bagdasaryan & Mark Gee & Sean Noel Walker & Erik Winquist (Visual Effects Supervisors); Rodney Burke (Special Effects Supervisor)

The People’s Joker – Jake Myers & Jasperi Wirtanen (Special Effects Supervisors)

21. Best Sound Mixing:

Challengers -- Craig Berkey & Paul Carter (Re-recording Mixers)

Civil War -- Howard Bargroff & Adam Scrivener & Mark Timms (Re-recording Mixers)

Dune Part 2 – Doug Hemphill (Re-recording Mixer)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga -- James Ashton & Tom Holkenborg & Robert Mackenzie & Jessica Meier & (Re-recording Mixers)

I Saw the TV Glow -- Daniel Timmons (Re-recording Mixer)

22. Best Sound Editing:

Challengers – Craig Berkey (Supervising Sound Editor)

Civil War – Glenn Freemantle (Supervising Sound Editor)

Dune Part Two -- Richard King (Supervising Sound Editor)

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga -- Tom Heuzenroeder & Tara Webb (Sound Effects Editors)

Love Lies Bleeding -- Paul Davies (Supervising Sound Designer)

23. Best Original Score:

Anna Bonello & Bertrand Bonello, The Beast

Alex G, I Saw the TV Glow

Eiko Ishibashi, Evil Does Not Exist

Hans Zimmer, Dune Part Two

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Challengers

24. Best Use of Music

Challengers -- Robin Urdang (Music Supervisor)

The Fall Guy -- -- Rachel Levy (Music Supervisor)

I Saw the TV Glow – Jessica Berndt & Chris Swanson (Music Supervisors); Haley Dahl & Caroline Polachek & A.G. Cook & Emily Spraque (Songwriters)

Love Lies Bleeding --- Simon Astall (Music Supervisor)

The People’s Joker – Vera Dake & Elias Gowins & Justin Krol & Quinn Scharber & Jeff Shirley (Songwriters)

Nomination Summary:

Per Film:

Dune Part Two – 16

Challengers -- 15

I Saw the TV Glow – 10

The Beast – 9

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – 9

Love Lies Bleeding -- 8

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World – 5

The People’s Joker – 5

Hit Man -- 4

Problemista – 4

Civil War -- 3

Evil Does Not Exist –3

Janet Planet -- 3

Kinds of Kindness -- 3

Last Summer -- 3

The Fall Guy – 2

The First Omen – 2

Ghostlight – 2

Monkey Man -- 2

Bye Bye Tiberias – 1

Firebrand – 1

Girls State – 1

Housekeeping for Beginners – 1

I Am: Celine Dion -- 1

Inside Out 2 – 1

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell – 1

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – 1

Kung Fu Panda 4 – 1

Lisa Frankenstein – 1

Mambar Pierette – 1

Mars Express – 1

Pictures of Ghosts – 1

Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus – 1

Samsara – 1

Per Studio

A24 – 28

Warner Bros. – 25

Janus Films – 16

MGM – 16

Sideshow – 15

United Artists – 15

Altered Innocence – 5

MUBI -- 5

Universal Pictures – 5

Netflix—4

20th Century Studios – 3

Searchlight Pictures – 3

Focus Features – 2

IFC Films – 2

Apple Original Films – 1

Bendita Films -- 1

GKIDS – 1

Grasshopper Films—1

Icarus Films – 1

Kino Lober -- 1

Pixar – 1

Roadside Attractions – 1

Walt Disney Pictures – 1

Women Make Movies – 1

By Country:

USA – 94

Canada – 33

France – 21

Italy -- 18

Hungary – 16

United Arab Emirates – 16

UK -- 15

Australia -- 12

Croatia -- 5

Japan --5

Luxembourg -- 5

Romania -- 5

Greece – 3

Ireland – 3

Norway – 3

Serbia --3

Singapore – 3

Belgium –2

India – 2

Poland -- 2

Spain – 2

Brazil – 1

Cameroon – 1

China -- 1

North Macedonian -- 1

Palestine --1

Quatar -- 1

Vietnam – 1

The 2023 Gold Digger Awards Nominations

March 28, 2024 by Patrick Gratton

The Gold Diggers Gang are back, honouring the cinematic achievements of 2023! As usual, our voting body membership is malleable, shifting and adapting year-to-year. As a raison d’être, our mission statement is to group together a subset of distinct figures and voices within the world of film criticism and to highlight the finest cinematic of 2023. Our voting body consists of film critics, film journalists, podcasters, festival programmers, film students and film professors. While selecting our panelists, we here at Gold Diggers prioritize diversity, and our panel represents a mixture of high-minded thinkers from diverse walks of life, with various tastes and identities.

This year, our voting body membership is as followed:

1. Claudio Alves, Senior Columnist, The Film Experience / Critic, MHD Magazine

2. Alfie Amaya, Freelance Writer, High on Films

3. Nic Austin, Branded Content Editor, Out Magazine

4. Andriano Caporusso, Critic & Awards Pundit, Bitesize Breakdown

5. Dustin Chang, Lead Critic, Screen Anarchy

6. Drew Choiniere, Film Twitter Personality

7. Cameron Clark, Film Scholar affiliated with Vanderbilt University

8. Scott Cole, Contributor, Music City Drive-In

9. Harris Dang, Film Writer, The AU Review

10. Mat Daniel, Grad Student, University of Canterbury

11. Victor Escobar, Associate Producer, Ancient Aliens

12. The Grand Mufti of Cinema, Cinephile

13. Lawrence Garcia, Freelance Critic

14. Eduardo Gomes, Cinephile

15. Patrick Gratton, Editor-In-Chief, Gold Digger / Director’s Guild of Canada Member – Assistant Director Caucus

16. Robert Hamer, Associate Writer, Awards Radar

17. Sam Herbst, Cinephile,

18. Julian Janssen, Film Critic, Obviously Reviews

19. Ankit Jhunjhunwala, Freelance Critic.

20. Adam Klay, Cinephile

21. Shadan Larki, Writer, Awards Daily

22. Ray Lewis, Cinephile

23. John Lynn-Fernandez, Freelance Critic, ICS Member

24. Kolby Mac, Podcaster, KolbyToldMe

25. Keith MacDonald, Film Student, University of Virginia

26. Kenny Miles, Writer, We Live Entertainment / Pollster, Cinemascore

27. Ben Miller, Owner, IceCream4Freaks / Critic, Cinema Scholars & The Film Experience

28. Kip Mooney, Critic, College Movie Reviews

29. Joey Moser, Writer. Awards Daily

30. Tye Navarez, Cinephile

31. Josh Parham, Contributor, Next Best Picture

32. Tyler Roberto Ortiz, Cinephile

33. Marc Rob, Podcaster, We Should Do This Again Sometime

34. Zita Short, Film Critic, In Session Film

35. Ronaldo Sosa

36. Nick Taylor, Contributor, The Film Experience

37. Tomas Trussow, Creator, The Lonely Film Critic

38. Ronaldo Trancoso Jr., Critic, Cinematic Tips

39. Mladen Vukčević, Blogger, Young Wolf

40. Sarah Williams, Critic, In Review Online / Filmotomy

41. Samuel Young, Historian, Goodwin & Associates

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the biopic turned blockbuster summer extravaganza dramatizing J. Robert Oppenheimer’s work on the Manhattan Project, led the 2023 Gold Digger Awards with 11 nominations, including Best Feature Film, Best Directing and Best Leading Actor for Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of Oppenheimer. Despite its exclusion in a number of top categories, including, once again, Best Feature Film, Best Directing and Best Actress, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a fantasia summer overdosing on pink tentpole, trailed with 10 nominations. Barbenheimer didn’t just dominate the multiplexes last summer, it dominated our awards as well.

Close behind them are Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, a thorny character study of a women on trial for murdering her husband, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a sweeping statement of the American psyche through the dramatization of the genocide of the Osage Nation tribe, both of whom earned 9 nominations. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, the Frankensteinian tale of Bella Baxter coming of age, seeking independence and finding her place in the world, rounded out our top five with 8 nominations. Our top nomination-getters are all major Oscar players who met or exceeded their count with that more famous but equally prestigious organization.

Elsewhere, Todd Haynes’ zeitgeist water cooler shaker May December and Celine Song’s debut romantic drama Past Lives received 7 nominations apiece, while Andrew Heigh’s cross-cultural Strangers adaptation All of Us Strangers, Wes Anderson’s Russian nesting doll variation of his signature porcelain doll house pastiche aesthetic Asteroid City and Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a somnolent cold war thriller about the threat of a nuclear outbreak in the Indonesian isles of Tahiti, all received 6 nominations apiece.

A total of 65 films earned at least one nomination from the 2023 Gold Diggers voting body. These films were pulled from 26 countries, with the vast majority of the nominees hailing from the US. We’d like to single out that seven international titles, including the aforementioned Anatomy of a Fall and Pacifiction, all landed nominations in our below-the-line technical categories. Also, Christian Petzold’s Afire snuck into our Best Original Screenplay category, João Pedro Rodrigues’s Will-o’-The-Wisp landed in our Best Choreography ballot, Hlynur Palmasson’s Godland landed in Best Cinematography ballot and The Boy and the Heron’s Makasi Suda, Perfect Days’ Koji Yakusho and Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller all received nods in Best Vocal Performance, Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress, respectfully. We’d like to also single out that in the both supporting acting categories we only match up with the Academy 1 for 5.

While missing in the Best Director category, American auteur Wes Anderson was this year’s big winner, with six individual nominations: Best Feature film for producing Asteroid City, three individual nominations in the Best Short category, for directing-producing The Swan, Poison and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Song both for the aforementioned Asteroid City. Thirteen of our twenty standardized acting nominees (Best Leading Actor-Actress, Supporting Actor-Actress), came from Best Feature Film nominees, while the aforementioned Kenji Yakusho and Ryan Gosling landed acting bids, and additionally the acting duo from Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Ferrari’s Penelope Cruz, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’s Rachel McAdams and Passages’ Ben Wishaw were also nominated. Anatomy of a Fall’s Milo Machado-Granier is a two time nominee this year, nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Acting Newcomer.

Additionally, Joaquim Dos Santos & Justin K. Thompson & Kemp Powers’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a cultural phenomenon that not only pushes the boundaries of the craft of animation, but boundaries of comic-book adaptation storytelling as a whole, managed to take dual spots in our Best Vocal Performance category for both Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld. They’re nominated alongside Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Bradley Cooper, Nimona’s Chloe Grace Moretz and the aforementioned Masaki Suda for The Boy and the Heron. Among distributors, A24 leads the pack with 20 nominations for their films, with Netflix following close behind at 19 nominations. Rounding out our top five, Searchlight Films earned 16 nominations, Neon earned 13 nominations, and Paramount Pictures earned 12 nominations.

Our winners will be announced on Saturday, March 30th, 2023. Our full nominations are as followed.

1. Best Feature Film

All of Us Strangers (Searchlight Pictures) – Graham Broadbent & Peter Czernin & Sarah Harvey (Producers)

Anatomy of a Fall (Neon) -- Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion (Producers)

Asteroid City (Focus Features) -- Wes Anderson & Jeremy Dawson & Steven Rales (Producers)

Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple / Paramount Pictures) – Dan Friedkin & Daniel Lupi & Martin Scorsese & Bradley Thomas (Producers)

May December (Netflix) – Jessica Elbaum & Will Ferrell & Grant S. Johnson & Pamela Koffler & Tyler W. Konney & Sophie Mas & Natalie Portman & Christine Vachon (Producers)

Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures) – Christopher Nolan & Charles Roven & Emma Thomas (Producers)

Past Lives (A24) -- David Hinojosa & Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon (Producers)

Pacifiction (Grasshopper Films) -- Pierre-Olivier Bardet & Dirk Becker & Joaquim Sapinho & Andrea Schutte & Albert Serra & Montse Triola & Marta Viera Alves (Producers)

Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures) – Ed Guiney & Yorgos Lanthimo & Andrew Lowe & Emma Stone (Producers)

The Zone of Interest (A24) – Ewa Puszczynska & James Wilson (Producers)

2. Best Body of Work

Ayo Edebiri, Actress, Bottoms & Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse & The Sweet East & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem & Theater Camp & Tree’s Blood

Virginie Efira, Actress, Madeleine Collins & Other People’s Children & Revoir Paris

Jacob Elordi, Actor, Priscilla & Saltburn & The Sweet East

Hong Sangsoo, Writer-Director-Editor-Composer-Cinematographer, In Water & Walk Up

Benoit Maginel, Actor, Incredible But True & Jack Mimoun and the Secrets of Val Verde & Pacifiction & Revoir Paris & The Taste of Things

3. Best Directing

Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Albert Serra, Pacifiction

Celine Song, Past Lives

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall

4. Best International Film

Afire [Roter Himmel] (Germany) – Anton Kaiser & Florian Koerner bon Gustorf & Michael Weber (Producers)

Anatomy of a Fall [Anatomie d'une chute] (France) -- Marie-Ange Luciani & David Thion (Producers)

Pacifiction (France / Spain / Germany / Portugal) -- Pierre-Olivier Bardet & Dirk Becker & Joaquim Sapinho & Andrea Schutte & Albert Serra & Marta Alves (Producers)

The Society of the Snow [La Sociedad de la nieve] (Spain / Chile / Uraguay) -- Belén Atienza & J.A. Bayona & Philip Bolus & Sandra Hermida (Producer)

The Taste of Things [La passion de Dodin Bouffant] (France / Belgium) – Olivier Delbosc (Producer)

5. Best Animated Film

The Boy and the Heron -- Toshio Suzuki (Producer)

Nimona – Roy Lee & Karen Ryan & Julie Zackary (Producer)

Robot Dreams – Pablo Berger & Ibon Cormenzana & Ángel Durández & Ignasi Estapé & Sandra Tapia & Jérôme Vidal (Producers)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse -- Avi Arad & Phil Lord & Christopher Miller & Amy Pascal & Christine Steinberg (Producers)

Suzume -- Kôichirô Itô & Genki Kawamura (Producers)

6. Best Non-Fiction Film:

Beyond Utopia – Rachel Cohen & Jana Edelman & Sue Mi Terry (Producers)

Four Daughters – Nadim Cheikhrouha & Martin Hampel & Thanassis Karathanos (Producers)

De humani corporis fabrica -- Pauline Gygax & Max Karli & Valentina Novati (Producers)

Kokomo City – Bill Butler & Harris Dorran & D. Smith (Producers)

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie -- Will Cohen & Davis Guggenheim & Jonathan King & Annetta Marion (Producers)

7. Best Short Film: **TIE**

A Kind of Testament – Stephen Vuillemin (Director)

The Last Repair Shop – Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot (Directors); Kris Bowers & Jeremy Lambert & Josh Rosenberg (Producers)

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó – Sean Wang (Director); Sam A. Davis & Malcolm Pullinger (Producers)

Poison – Wes Anderson (Director-Producer); Jeremy Dawson & Steven Reis (Producers)

The Swan – Wes Anderson (Director-Producer); Jeremy Dawson & Steven Reis (Producers)

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar -- Wes Anderson (Director-Producer); Jeremy Dawson & Steven Reis (Producers)

8. Best Directorial Debut

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt – Raven Jackson (Director); Maria Altamirano & Mark Ceryak & Barry Jenkins & Adele Romanski (Producers)

American Fiction – Cord Jefferson (Director-Producer); Jermaine Johnson & Nikos Karamigios & Ben LeClair (Producers)

Past Lives -- Celine Song (Director); David Hinojosa & Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon (Producers)

Skinamarink – Kyle Edward Ball (Director); Dylan Pearce (Producer)

A Thousand and One -- A. V. Rockwell (Director); Julia Lebedev & Rishi Rajani & Eddie Vaisman & Lena Waithe & Brad Weston (Producers)

9. Best Ensemble Cast

Asteroid City

Douglas Aibel (Casting Director); Bob Balaban & Zoe Bernard & Damien Bonnard & Adrien Brody & Steve Carrell & Hong Chau & Bryan Cranston & Hope Davis & Williem Dafoe & Matt Dillon & Deanne Dunagan & Grace Edwards & Ella Faris & Gracie Faris & Willan Faris & Braydem Frasure & Rupert Friend & Jeff Goldblum & Tom Hanks & Maya Hawke & Scarlett Johansson & Ethan Josh Lee & Sophia Lillis & Ivan Lopez & Sam Marra & Aristou Meehan & Preston Mota & Edward Norton & Steve Park & Tony Revolori & Margot Robbie & Jake Ryan & Live Schreiber & Jason Schwartzman & Fisher Stevens & Tilda Swinton & Rita Wilson & Jeffrey Wright (Cast)

Barbie

Lucy Bevan & Allison Jones (Casting Directors); Ritu Arya & Kingsley Ben-Adir & Lucy Boyton & Rob Brydon & Tom Stourton & John Cena & Michael Cera & Nicola Coughlan & Scott Evans & Jamie Demetriou & Emerald Fennell & America Ferrera & Will Ferrell & Ncuti Gatwa & Ryan Gosling & Ariana Greenblatt & Ana Cruz Kayne & Andrew Leung & Dua Lipa & Simu Liu & Emma McKay & Kate McKinnon & Will Merrick & Helen Mirren & Hari Nef & Rhea Perlman & Issae Rae & Sharon Rooney & Margot Robbie & Alexandra Shipp & Connor Swindell & Zheng Xi Yong (Cast)

Killers of the Flower Moon

Ellen Willis (Casting Director); Michael Abbott Jr. & Gary Basaraba & William Belleau & Louis Cancelmi & Tantoo Cardinal & Jae Collins & Barry Corbin & Yancey Red Corn & Leonardo DiCaprio & Jillian Dion & Brendan Fraser & Lily Gladstone & Pat Healy & Jason Isbell & Gene Jones & John Lithgow & J.C. Mackenzie & Tatanka Means & Ty Mitchell & Cara Jade Myers & Charlie Muselwhite & Jesse Plemmons & Larry Sellers & Tommy Schultz & Scott Shephard & Sturgill Simpson & Talee Redcorn & Steve Routman Everett Waller & Jack White & Katherine Willis & Steve Witting (Cast)

May December

Laura Rosenthal (Casting Director); Lawrence Arancio & Rocky Davis & Gabriel Chung & Piper Curda & Andrea Frankie & Julie Ivey & Mike Lopez & Allie McCullough & Charles Melton & D.W. Moffett & Julianne Moore & Christopher Nguyen & Natalie Portman & Joan Reilly & Drew Scheid & Cory Michael Smith & Elizabeth Yu & Kelvin Han Yee & Evan Zhu (Cast)

Oppenheimer

John Papsidera (Casting Director); Casey Affleck & Michael Angarano & Dylan Arnold, Macon Blair & Emily Blunt & Devon Bostick & Kenneth Branagh & Jason Clarke & Tom Conti & Steve Coulter & James D’Arcy & Matt Damon & David Dastmalchin & Danny Deferrari & Dane DeHann & Christopher Denham & Robert Downey Jr. & Emma Dumont & Alden Ehrenreich & Trond Fausa & Tony Goldwyn & John Gowans & Scott Grimes & Harry Groener & Jefferson Hall & Olli Haaskivi & Josh Hartett & Máté Haumann & Gregory Jbara & Tom Jenkins & Rory Keane & David Krumholtz & Britt Kyle & Hap Lawrence & Louise Lombard & Rami Malek & Jessica Erin Martin & Matthew Modine & Cillian Murphy & Flora Nolan & Gary Oldman & Josh Peck & Florence Pugh & Jack Quaid & James Remar & David Rysdahl & Benny Safdie & Matthias Schweighöfer & Gustaf Skarsgård & Olivia Thirlby & James Urbaniak & Alex Wolff & Josh Zuckerman (Cast)

10. Best Leading Actress

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Natalie Portman, May December

Emma Stone, Poor Things

11. Best Leading Actor

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days

Teo Yoo, Past Lives

12. Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, Ferrari

Claire Foy, All of Us Strangers

Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Julianne Moore, May December

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

13. Best Supporting Actor

Jamie Bell, All of Us Strangers

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Milo Machado-Graner, Anatomy of a Fall

Charles Melton, May December

Ben Wishaw, Passages

14. Best Vocal Performance

Bradley Cooper. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Shameik Moore, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Chloë Grace Moretz, Nimona

Hailee Steinfeld, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Masaki Suda, The Boy and the Heron

15. Best Acting Newcomer

Andrew Barth Feldman, No Hard Feelings

Milo Machado-Graner, Anatomy of a Fall

Cara Jade Myers, Killers of the Flower Moon

Tia Nomore, Earth Mama

Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

16. Best Choreography

Barbie – Jennifer White (Dance Choreographer); Ingrid Kleinig & Ron Taylor (Stunt Coordinators)

The Iron Claw – Chevo Guererro Jr. (Stunt Wrestling Coordinator); Hiro Kada (Supervising Stunt Coordinator); Maya Taylor (Choreographer)

John Wick: Chapter 4 -- Koji Kawamoto (Fight Choreographer) Laurent Demanioff (Fight Choreographer – Stunt Coordinator) & Stephen Dunlevy & Ralf Haeger & James M. Halty & Scott Rogers (Stunt Coordinators)

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One -- Wade Eastwood (Stunt Coordinator); Rudolf Vrba (Fight Coordinator): Jennifer White Coordinator)

Will-o’-the-Wisp -- Madalena Xavier (Dance Choreographer)

17. Best Original Screenplay

Christian Petzold, Afire

Justine Triet & Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall

Wes Anderson, Asteroid City

Samy Burch, May December

Celine Song, Past Lives

18. Best Adapted Screenplay

Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers, adapted from the novel 異人たちとの夏 (Strangers) by Yamada Taichi

Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., adapted from the novel of the same name by Judy Blume

Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon, adapted from the novel of the same name by David Grann

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, adapted from the biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Tony McNamara. Poor Things, adapted from the novel Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer by Alasdair Gray

19. Best Cinematography

Maria von Hasswolff, Godland

Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robbie Ryan, Poor Things

Arthur Tort. Pacifiction

20. Best Editing

Kirk Baxter, The Killer

Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer

Laurent Sénéchal, Anatomy of a Fall

Thelma Schoonmaker, Killers of the Flower Moon

Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, De humani corporis fabrica

21. Best Production Design

Asteroid City -- Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer); Kris Moran & Gabriel Picola (Set Decorators)

Barbie -- Sarah Greenwood (Production Designer); Katie Spencer (Set Decorator)

Beau Is Afraid -- Fiona Crombie (Production Designer); Paul Hotte (Key Set Decorator)

Poor Things – Shona Heath & James Price (Production Designers); Zsuzsa Mihalek (Set Decorator)

The Zone of Interest – Chris Oddy (Production Designer); Joana Kus & Kataryna Sikora (Set Decorator)

22. Best Costume Design

Stacey Battat, Priscilla

Milena Canonero, Asteroid City

Jacqueline Durran, Barbie

Holly Waddingham, Poor Things

Jacqueline West, Killers of the Flower Moon

23. Best Makeup & Hairstyle

Barbie -- Tilly Calder (Principal Makeup Artists); Clare Corsick (Hair Department Head); Robb Crafer (Makeup & Hair Supervisor); Maha Mimo (Makeup Department Head); Lois McIntosh (Crowd Makeup & Hair Supervisor); Peter Owen (Wig Maker); Ivana Primorac (Makeup & Hair Designer);

Maestro – Samantha Denyer (Crowd Makeup Supervisor); Kay Georgious (Hair Department Head); Sian Grigg (Makeup Department Head); Kazu Hiro (Prosthetic Makeup Designer); Lori McCoy-Bell (Hair Stylist); Loulia Sheppard (Crowd Hair Stylist Supervisor)

Poor Things – Carolyn Collins (Hair & Makeup Supervisor); Marc Coulier (Prosthetic Makeup Supervisor); Nadia Stacey (Hair & Makeup & Prosthetic Supervisor); Josh Weston (Prosthetics Supervisor);

Priscilla – Cionna Furey (Hair Department Head / Hair Designer); Jo-Ann MacNeil (Makeup Department Head / Makeup Designer); Amber Chase & Sandra Wheatle (Background Makeup Designer)

The Society of the Snow – Ana López-Puigcerver (Makeup Designer); Belén López-Puigcerver (Hair Department Head): David Martí & Montse Ribé & Lorena Sánchez (Special Makeup Effects Artist)

24. Best Visual Effects

The Creator -- Ajay Goswani (Visual Effects Supervior); Jonathan Bullock & Neil Corbould (Special Effects Supervisors)

Godzilla Minus One -- Kiyoko Shibuya & Takashi Yamazaki (Visual Effect Supervisors)

Poor Things – Simon Hughes (Visual Effect Supervisor); Gábor Kiszelly (Special Effects Supervisor)

Oppenheimer -- Andrew Jackson & Giacormo Mineo (Visual Effects Supervisors); Scott R. Fisher (Special Effects Supervisor)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse -- Mike Lasker (Visual Effects Supervisor)

25. Best Sound Mixing

Ferrari -- Tony Lamberti & Andy Nelson (Re-recording Mixers)

Maestro – Tom Ozanich & Dean A. Zupancic (Re-Recording Mixers)

Oppenheimer – Kevin O’Connell & Gary A. Rizzo (Re-recording Mixers)

Pacifiction -- Bruno Tarrière (Sound re-recording Mixer)

The Zone of Interest -- Johnnie Burn (Re-recording Mixer)

26. Best Sound Editing

The Creator – Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn (Supervising Sound Editors)

The Killer – Ken Klyce & Jeremy Molod (Supervising Sound Editors)

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One – James Mather (Supervising Sound Mixer)

Oppenheimer – Richard King (Supervising Sound Editor)

The Zone of Interest – Johnnie Burn (Supervising Sound Editor)

27. Best Original Score

Ludwig Göransson, Oppenheimer

Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron

Mica Levi, The Zone of Interest

Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

28. Best Original Song

Asteroid City “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” – Music & Lyrics by: Wes Anderson & Jarvis Cocker & Richard Harley

Barbie “Dance The Night” – Music & Lyrics by: Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt & Dua Lipa & Caroline Ailin

Barbie “I’m Just Ken” – Music & Lyrics by: Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt

Barbie “What Was I Made For”—Music & Lyrics: Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell

Past Lives “Quiet Eyes” – Music & Lyrics by: Sharon Van Etten & Zachary Dawes

29. Best Use of Music

All of Us Strangers – Connie Farr (Music Supervisor)

Anatomy of a Fall – Thibault Deboaisne (Music Supervisor)

Barbie -- George Drakoulias (Music Supervisor); Mark Ronson (Soundtrack Producer)

The Killer – Paul Luther Jackson (Music Supervisor)

May December –Gretchen O’Neal (Music Clearance); Marcelo Zarvos (Music Adaptation)

Nomination Summary:

Per Film:

Oppenheimer – 11
Barbie – 10
Anatomy of a Fall – 9
Killers of the Flower Moon -- 9
Poor Things -- 8
May December – 7
Past Lives -- 7
All of Us Strangers – 6
Asteroid City – 6
Pacifiction – 6
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 6
The Zone of Interest -- 6
The Boy and the Heron – 3
The Holdovers – 3
The Killer – 3
Priscilla – 3
Afire – 2
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – 2
The Creator – 2
Ferrari -- 2
De humani corporis fabrica – 2
Maestro – 2
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One -- 2
Nimona -- 2
Revoir Paris – 2
The Society of the Snow – 2
The Sweet East – 2
The Taste of Things – 2
All Dirt Roads Taste if Salt – 1
American Fiction – 1
Beau Is Afraid – 1
Beyond Utopia – 1
Bottoms – 1
Earth Mama – 1
Four Daughters – 1
Godland – 1
Godzilla: Minus One – 1
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 1
In Water – 1
Incredible But True – 1
The Iron Claw – 1
Jack Mimoun and the Secrets of Val Verde – 1
John Wick: Chapter 4 – 1
A Kind of Testament – 1
Kokomo City – 1
The Last Repair Shop – 1
Madeleine Collins – 1
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó – 1
No Hard Feelings – 1
Other People’s Children – 1
Passages – 1
Perfect Days – 1
Poison – 1
Robot Dreams – 1
Skinamarink – 1
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie – 1
The Swan – 1
Suzume – 1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – 1
Theater Camp – 1
A Thousand and One – 1
Tree’s Blood – 1
Walk Up – 1
Will -o’-The-Wisp – 1
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar -- 1

Per Distributor:

A24 -- 20
Netflix – 19
Searchlight Films -- 16
Neon – 13
Paramount Pictures – 12
Universal Pictures – 11
Apple -- 10
Focus Features – 10
Warner Bros. – 10
Grasshopper Films – 8
Columbia Pictures -- 7
Walt Disney Studios – 4
IFC Films / IFC Midnight -- 3
Lionsgate – 3
Music Box Films – 3
Amazon MGM Studios – 2
The Cinema Guild – 2
Sideshow --- 2
Utopia – 2
Arrow Films – 1
Crunchyroll -- 1
Greenwich Entertainment – 1
Janus Films – 1
Kino Lorber – 1
Magnolia Pictures – 1
Manifest – 1
MUBI – 1
Pathé – 1
Reel Start – 1
Roadside Attraction – 1
Strand Releasing – 1
TOHO International – 1

Per Country:

USA – 125
UK – 49
France – 32
Germany – 18
South Korea – 9
Spain – 9
Ireland – 8
Hungary – 8
Japan – 7
Portugal -- 7
Poland -- 6
Italy -- 5
Canada – 4
Belgium – 3
Switzerland – 3
Chile – 2
China – 2
Uruguay – 2
Cyprus – 1
Denmark – 1
Finland – 1
Iceland – 1
New Zealand – 1
Saudi Arabia – 1
Sweden – 1
Tunisia – 1

2023 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards Winners

August 23, 2023 by Patrick Gratton

After a month of voting and deliberating, we’re thrilled to announced that our panel of over forty critics and cinephile have selected Celine Song’s Past Lives, recently available to rent or buy on VOD, as the Best Feature Film for the 2023 Gold Diggers Mid-Year Awards. The tender romantic drama, entered around Nora, a Korean-American immigrant, and her lifelong romantic pulls between her husband Arthur and Jung her childhood crush, took home four prizes. This includes Best Feature Film, Best Directorial Debut, Best Screenplay and the Best Leading Actor prize for Teo Yoo for his performance as Jung.

When selecting our malleable voting body, The Gold Diggers prides itself with grouping together a subset of distinct figures and voices within the world of film criticism. Meaning, our voters are easily dividing themselves into factions rallying around individual films. Not to toot our own horn, but we find it refreshing that we have a Feature Film Roster that ranges from the ultraviolence of Chad Stahlinksi’s John Wick Chapter 4 to the somnolescence of Albert Serra’s Queer Cold War thriller Pacifiction. In the same respect, Past Lives squeeze it’s victory in dead heat competition with a number of films including Pacifiction.

Another film in that dead heat competition was the evening’s big winner Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. Despite losing the top prize, Asteroid City took home 6 prizes including sweeping most of the below the line tech categories. Its wins include Best Director for Wes Anderson, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Cinematography for Robert D. Yoemen and Best Costume Design for Milena Canonero.

Elsewhere, our international contingent of voters rallied around Portuguese director Joao Pedro Rogrigues’ gay firefighters fantasia musical Will-o’-the-Wisp winning our Best Use of Music Prize, the documentarian duo Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel’s De Humani Corporis Fabrica not only took home the Non-Fiction Film but also tied John Wick Chapter 4, for the Sound Mixing prize and Rebecca Zlotowski’s sexy drama Other People’s Children winning the Best Leading Actress prize for French actress Virginie Efira. Efire portrays Rachel, a forty-something middle school teacher, whose relationship with a single father upends her view on womanhood and motherhood. Both of our supporting prizes went to Glenn Howerton fiery show stopping performance as Canadian entrepreneur Jim Balsillie in Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry and Rachel McAdams’s soulful melancholic performance as Barbara Simon, a mother trying to find her voice and passion as her daughter Margaret enters middle school in Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Best Feature Film: Past Lives

Best Directing: Wes Anderson, Asteroid City

Best Film Not In the English Language: Joyland (Pakistan/USA)

Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Non-Fiction Film: De Humani Corporis Fabrica

Best Directorial Debut: Past Lives

Best Ensemble Film: Asteroid City

Best Leading Actress: Virginie Efira, Other People’s Children

Best Leading Actor: Teo Yoo, Past Lives

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’ Me, Margaret.

Best Supporting Actor: Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry

Best Acting Newcomer: Andrew Barth Feldman, No Hard Feelings

Best Screenplay: Celine Song, Past Lives

Best Cinematography: Robert D. Yoemen, Asteroid City

Best Editing: Daniel Garber, How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Best Production Design: Asteroid City

Best Costume Design: Milena Canoreno, Asteroid City

Best Makeup & Hair Styling: Asteroid City

Best Visual Effects: Mike Laster, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Sound Mixing: TIE: De humani corporis fabrica & John Wick: Chapter 4

Best Sound Editing: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Original Score: Daniel Pemberton, Across the Spider-Verse

Best Use of Music: Will-o’-the-Wisp

Winner Summary:

Per Film:

Asteroid City – 6

Past Lives – 4

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 4

De humani corporis fabrica – 2

John Wick Chapter 4 – 2

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. --- 1

BlackBerry – 1

How to Blow Up a Pipeline -- 1

Joyland -- 1

No Hard Feelings – 1

Other People’s Children – 1

Will-O’-The-Wisp – 1

Per Studio:

Focus Features -- 6

Columbia Pictures -- 5

A24 – 4

Grasshopper Film – 2

Lionsgate – 3

IFC Films -- 1

Music Box Films – 1

Neon – 1

Oscilloscope -- 1

Strand Releasing – 1

The 2023 Gold Diggers Mid Year Awards Nominations

July 26, 2023 by Patrick Gratton

After a multi-year hiatus, the Gold Diggers Gang are back! For the first time since Winter 2021, the God Diggers Gang banded together announced their nomination slate, this time honouring the first half of the 2023 cinematic year. As usual, our voting body membership is malleable, shifting and adapting year-to-year. As a raison d’être, our mission statement is to group together a subset of distinct figures and voices within the world of film criticism and to highlight the finest cinematic works of the first half of 2023. Our voting body consists of film critics, film journalists, podcasters, festival programmers, film students and film professors. While selecting our panelists, we here at Gold Digger prioritize diversity, and our panel represents a mixture of high-minded thinkers from diverse walks of life, with various taste and identities.

In a time, where politics are seeping into every fragment of our way of life, the craft of film criticism has proven that it’s not immune to various forms of politicization. It is our belief, we need to remain vigilant in being as objective as possible in our nomination sectioning process. Meaning as voters, we need to be true to our taste.

This year, our voting body membership is as followed:

1. Claudio Alves, Senior Columnist, The Film Experience / Critic, MHD Magazine

2. Alfie Amaya, Freelance Writer, High on Films

3. Georgii Antono, Cinephile

4. Nic Austin, Branded Content Editor, Out Magazine

5. Joy Barger, Columnist / Writer, Hue Watched It

6. Jamila Brown, Cinephile

7. Andriano Caporusso, Critic & Awards Pundit, Bitesize Breakdown

8. Dustin Chang, Lead Critic, Screen Anarchy

9. Cameron Clark, Film Scholar affiliated with Vanderbilt University

10. Scott Cole, Contributor, Music City Drive-In

11. Eoin Daly, Cinephile

12. Harris Dang, Film Writer, In Their Own League

13. Mat Daniel, Grad Student, University of Canterbury

14. A.A. Dowd, Freelance Critic,

15. Glenn Dunks, Freelance Critic,

16. Seth Eelen, Editor-In-Chief, into:screens

17. Caden Mark Gardner, Freelance Critic

18. Conrado Falco III, Podcaster, The Criterion Project

19. John Lynn-Fernandez, Freelance Critic, ICS Member

20. The Grand Mufti of Cinema, Cinephile

21. Lawrence Garcia, Freelance Critic

22. Patrick Gratton, Editor-In-Chief, Gold Digger / Director’s Guild of Canada Member – Assistant Director Caucus

23. Robert Hamer, Associate Writer, Awards Radar

24. Julian Janssen, Film Critic, Obviously Reviews

25. Adam Klay, Cinephile

26. Shadan Larki, Writer, Awards Daily

27. Ray Lewis, Cinephile

28. Kolby Mac, Podcaster, KolbyToldMe

29. Wendell Macapagal, Cinephile

30. Kenny Miles, Writer, We Live Entertainment / Pollster, Cinemascore

31. Ben Miller, Owner, IceCream4Freaks / Contributor, The Film Experience

32. Kip Mooney, Critic, College Movie Reviews

33. Matt Neglia, Owner & Editor In Chief, Next Best Picture

34. Josh Parham, Writer, Next Best Picture

35. Marc Rob, Podcaster, We Should Do This Again

36. Andre Renato, Film Critic, Sombras Electricas / Researcher & Professor,

37. Nick Sheist, Owner, TheShiest.com

38. Andre Sousa, Film Student / Contributor, HD Magazine

39. Nick Taylor, Contributor, The Film Experience

40. Tomas Trussow, Creator, The Lonely Film Critic

41. Maxance Vincent, Freelance Critic,

42. Seth Vargas, Podcaster, The Movie Friends

43. Sarah Williams, Critic, In Review Online / Filmotomy

44. Samuel Young, Historian

On July 26th, we announced our nominations for the 2023 Gold Diggers Mid-Year Awards, with Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City leading with 17 nominees, a record for our group. The latest from Mr. Anderson is a Russian nest doll variation of his signature porcelain doll house pastiche esthetic, this time focusing on a group of Americans forced into lockdown as a small New Mexico community is struck by an encounter with Extraterrestrials. Trailing with 11 nominations is Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4, the fourth entry in the maximalist, ultra-violent, stunt extravaganza action series following a rogue assassin battling a universe primarily composed of other assassins. Coming in third, is another Hollywood sequel, Joaquim Dos Santos & Justin K. Thompson & Kemp Powers’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a cultural phenomenon that not only pushes the boundaries of the craft of animation, but boundaries of comic-book adaptation storytelling as a whole, with 10 nominations.

Of the three films, Asteroid City is the only nomination leader to be nominated for Best Director. In the category, Anderson competes against contemporary American Auteurs Kelly Reinchardt for Showing Up, a character study about a forty-something art sculptor going through neurosis in the days leading up to her latest exhibit, and Ari Aster for Beau Is Afraid, a Kafkaesque fantasia as the titular Beau travels cross country to his attend his mother’s funeral. Also nominated were Celine Song for her debut film Past Lives, a tender romantic drama centered around Nora, a Korean-American immigrant, and her lifelong romantic pulls between her husband Arthur and Jung her childhood crush, and Queer Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra, for Pacification, a somnolent cold war thriller (an oxymoron sure) about the threat of a nuclear outbreak in the Indonesian isles of Tahiti,

Six of the seven aforementioned titles, Asteroid City, Beau Is Afraid, John Wick Chapter 4, Pacifiction, Past Lives and Showing Up dominate the acting categories with Hong Chau, Grace Edwards, Greta Lee, Patti LuPone, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Magaro, Benoit Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Joaquim Pheonix, Rina Sawayyama, Jason Schwartzman, Teo Yoo and Donnie Yen all getting individual nominations. Also nominated for acting are Virginie Efira and Glenn Howerton, in Best Leading Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectfully, for their powerhouse performances in Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children znd Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry. Cinematic mother-daughter duo Abby Ryder Fornston and Rachel McAdams were nominated in Best Leading and Supporting Actress for their work in Kelly Craig Fremon’s adaptation of the Judy Bloom YA novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., while both of the romantic leads of Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane, David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah, were nominated in the Acting Newcomer category.

While not receiving any individual acting nominees, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse marks the first voice ensemble to make the Best Ensemble category. One of it’s supporting actors, Jason Schwartzman is a three-time nominee, not only for his voice work Across the Spider-Verse, but also for his aforementioned Best Leading Actor nomination and Ensemble nomination for work in Asteroid City. Other Across the Spider-Verse ensemble players, Greta Lee was nominated for Best Leading Actress for Past Lives and Peter Sohn’s directorial effort Elementals was also nominated for Best Animated Film. Elsewhere, passion support for two international titles, Sadim Sadig’s Joyland and Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, landed them on our Best Feature Film Ballot. Other international titles such as Hlynur Palmasson’s Godland, Joao Pedro Rogriguez’s Will-O’-The-Wisp and Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s De humani corporis fabrica all managed to break through in some bellow the line tech categories.

A24 led the distributor nomination count with 22 nominees, thanks to the popularity of Past Lives (9 nominations), Beau Is Afraid (7 nominations) and Showing Up (6 Nominations). Ms. Reichard’s previous film First Cow took home the Mid-Year Best Feature Film Prize back in 2020. Focus Features trailed with 21 nominations and Lionsgate with 17 nominations.

Our winners will be announced on Monday, August 20th, 2023. Our full nominations are as followed.

1. Best Picture:

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Lionsgate) – Julie Ansell & Judy Blume & Amy Brooks & James L. Brooks & Kelly Fremon Craig & Aldric La'auli Porter & Richard Sakai (Producers)

Asteroid City (Focus Features) – Wes Anderson & Jeremy Dawson & Steven Rales (Producers)

Beau Is Afraid (A24) – Ari Aster & Lars Knudsen (Producers)

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Neon) – Ariela Barer & Alex Black & Daniel Goldhaber & Alex Hughes & Isa Mazzel & Adam Wyatt Tate & David Grove (Producers)

John Wick Chapter 4 (Lionsgate) – Basil Iwanyk & Erica Lee & Chad Stahelski (Producers)

Joyland (Oscilloscope) – Apoorva Guru Charan & Sarmad Sultan & Khoosat & Lauren Mann & Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Oliver Ridge & April Shih & Sabiha Sumar (Producers)

Pacifiction (Grasshopper Films) – Pierre-Olivier Bardet & Dirk Becker & Joaquim Sapinho & Andrea Schutte & Albert Serra & Marta Alves (Producers)

Past Lives (A24) – David Hinojosa & Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon (Producers)

Showing Up (A24) – Neil Kopp & Vincent Savino & Anish Savjani (Producers)

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Columbia Pictures) – Avi Arad & Phil Lord & Christopher Miller & Amy Pascal & Christine Steinberg (Producers)

2. Best Directing:

Wes Anderson, Asteroid City

Ari Aster, Beau Is Afraid

Kelly Reichardt, Showing Up

Albert Serra, Pacifiction

Celine Song, Past Lives

3. Best Film Not In the English Language. *** 6 WAY TIE ***:

Alcarràs (Spain / Italy) – Tono Folguera & Sergi Moreno & Stefan Schmitz & Maria Zamora (Producers)

The Blue Caftan (Morocco / France) – Navil Ayouch (Producer)

De Humani Corporis Fabrica (France / Switzerland) – Pauline Gygax & Max Karli & Valentina Novati (Producers)

Joyland (Pakistan / USA) -- Apoorva Guru Charan & Sarmad Sultan & Khoosat & Lauren Mann & Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Oliver Ridge & April Shih & Sabiha Sumar (Producers)

Other People’s Children (France) – Frédéric Jouve (Producer)

Pacifiction (France / Spain / Portugal) -- – Pierre-Olivier Bardet & Dirk Becker & Joaquim Sapinho & Andrea Schutte & Albert Serra & Marta Alves (Producers)

4. Best Animated Film:

Elemental – Denis Ream (Producer)

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse– Avi Arad & Phil Lord & Christopher Miller & Amy Pascal & Christine Steinberg (Producers)

Suzume -- Kôichirô Itô & Genki Kawamura (Producers)

5. Best Non-Fiction Film:

De Humani Corporis Fabrica (France / Switzerland) – Pauline Gygax & Max Karli & Valentina Novati (Producers)

The Plains – David Easteal (Producer)

Rewind & Play – Arnaud Dommerc & Alain Gomis & Anouk Khelifa (Producers)

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie – Will Cohen & Davis Guggenheim & Jonathan King & Annetta Marion (Producers)

The Stroll -- Matt Wolf (Producer)

6. Best Directorial Debut

Creed III – Michael B. Jordan (Director-Producer); William Chartoff & Ryan Coogler & Jonathan Glickman & Elizabeth Raposo & Sylvester Stallone & Charles Winkler & David Winkler & Irwin Winkler (Producers)

Joyland – Saim Sadiq (Director); Apoorva Guru Charan & Sarmad Sultan & Khoosat & Lauren Mann & Katharina Otto-Bernstein & Oliver Ridge & April Shih & Sabiha Sumar (Producers)

Past Lives – Celine Song (Director); David Hinojosa & Pamela Koffler & Christine Vachon (Producers)

Rye Lane -- Raine Allen-Miller (Director); Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo & Damian Jones (Producers)

A Thousand and One -- A. V. Rockwell (Director); Julia Lebedev & Rishi Rajani & Eddie Vaisman & Lena Waithe & Brad Weston (Producers)

7. Best Ensemble Cast:

Air

Lindsay Graham Ahanonu , Mary Vernieu (Casting Directors); Ben Affleck & Jason Bateman & Matt Damon & Viola Davis & Joel Gretsch & Matthew Maher & Chris Messina & Jay Mohr & Michael O’Neill & Gustav Skarsgård & Bill Smith & Barbara Sukowa & Julius Tennon & Chris Tucker & Damon Wayans (Cast)

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Melissa Kostenbauder (Casting Director); Kathy Bates & Landon S. Baxter & Zack Brooks & Mia Dillon & Abby Ryder Fortson & Elle Graham & Gary Houston & Echo Kellum & Katherine Mallen Kupferer & Ethan McDowell & Kate MacCluggage & Simms May & Rachel McAdams & Amari Alexis Price & Benny Safdie & Isol Young (Cast)

Asteroid City

Douglas Aibel (Casting Director); Bob Balaban & Zoe Bernard & Damien Bonnard & Adrien Brody & Steve Carrell & Hong Chau & Bryan Cranston & Hope Davis & Williem Dafoe & Matt Dillon & Deanne Dunagan & Grace Edwards & Ella Faris & Gracie Faris & Willan Faris & Braydem Frasure & Rupert Friend & Jeff Goldblum & Tom Hanks & Maya Hawke & Scarlett Johansson & Ethan Josh Lee & Sophia Lillis & Ivan Lopez & Sam Marra & Aristou Meehan & Preston Mota & Edward Norton & Steve Park & Tony Revolori & Margot Robbie Jake Ryan & Live Schreiber & Jason Schwartzman & Fisher Stevens & Tilda Swinton & Rita Wilson & Jeffrey Wright (Cast)

Showing Up

Simon Max Hill (Casting Director); Andre Benjamin & Hong Chau & Chse Hawkins & Judd Hirsch & Heather Lawless & James Le Gros & John Magaro & Matt Malloy & Orianne Milne Amanda Plummer & Maryann Plunkett & Ted Rooney & Theo Taplitz & Bahni Turpin & Michelle Williams (Cast)

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Libby Thomas Dickey & Mary Hidalgo (Casting Directors); Mahershala Ali & Sofia Barclay & Rachel Dratch & Ayo Edebiri & Donald Glover & Kimiko Glenn & Brian Tyree Henry & Oscar Isaac & Jharrel Jerome & Jake Johnson & Daniel Kaluuya & Josh Keaton & Taran Killam & Greta Lee & Yuri Lowenthal & Peggy Lu & Nic Novicki & Jiggy Marley & Shameik Moore & Danielle Perez & Elizabeth Perkins & Jack Quaid & Issa Rae & Andy Samberg & J.K. Simmons & Peter Sohn & Karan Soni & Hailee Steinfeld & Amandla Stenberg & Jorma Taccone Luna Lauren Valez & Leland Wayne & Shae Whigham (Cast)

8. Best Leading Actress:

Virginie Efira, Other People’s Children

Abby Ryder Fornston, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Teyena Taylor, A Thousand and One

Michelle Williams, Showing Up

9. Best Leading Actor:

Joel Edgerton, Master Gardener

Benoit Magimel, Pacifiction

Joaquin Pheonix, Beau Is Afraid

Jason Schwartzman, Asteroid City

Teo Yoo, Past Lives

10. Best Supporting Actress:

Hong Chau, Showing Up

Viola Davis, Air

Scarlett Johansson, Asteroid City

Patti LuPone, Beau Is Afraid

Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret

11. Best Supporting Actor

Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry

John Magaro, Past Lives

Jonathan Majors, Creed III

Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Godland

Donnie Yen, John Wick Chapter 4

12. Best Acting Newcomer *** 6 WAY TIE ***:

Grace Edwards, Asteroid City

Andrew Barth Feldman, No Hard Feelings

David Jonsson, Rye Lane

Pahoa Mahagafanau, Pacifiction

Vivian Oparah, Rye Lane

Rina Sawayama, John Wick: Chapter 4

13. Best Choreography (Stunts, Dance or Other):

Creed III – Clayton J. Barber (Supervising Stunt Coordinator); Eric Brown (Asst. Stunt Coordinaor – Fight Coordinator) & Mark R. Miscione (Fight Choreorapher)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 -- Isaac Hamon (Motion Capture Stunt Coordinator) & Samuel Le & Heidi Moneymaker (Stunt Coordinators) & Micah Karns (Fight Choreographer)

John Wick: Chapter 4 – Koji Kawamoto (Fight Choreographer) Laurent Demanioff (Fight Choreographer – Stunt Coordinator) & Stephen Dunlevy & Ralf Haeger & James M. Halty & Scott Rogers (Stunt Coordinators)

Polite Society -- Crispin Layfield (Stunt Coordinator) & Rob Lock (Fight Arranger)

Will-o’-the-Wisp -- Madalena Xavier (Dance Choreographer)

14. Best Screenplay:

Kelly Craig Fremon, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Wes Anderson, Asteroid City

Celine Song, Past Lives

Nathan Byron & Tom Melia, Rye Lane

Kelly Reichardt & Jonathan Raymond, Showing Up

15. Best Cinematography

Maria von Hausswolff, Godland

Dan Lautsen, John Wick: Chapter 4

Pawel Pogorzelski, Beau Is Afraid

Artur Tort, Pacifiction

Robert D. Yoemen, Asteroid City

16. Best Editing:

Mike Andrews, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Keith Fraase, Past Lives

Daniel Garber, How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Nathan Orloff, John Wick: Chapter 4

Barney Pilling, Asteroid City

17. Best Production Design

Asteroid City – Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer); Kris Moran & Gabriel Picola (Set Decorators)

Beau Is Afraid – Fiona Crombie (Production Designer); Paul Hotte (Key Set Decorator)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Beth Mickle (Production Designer); Rosemary Brandenburg (Set Decorator)

John Wick Chapter 4 – Kevin Kavanaugh (Production Designer); Rand Abdeinour & Mark Rosinski (Set Decorators)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Patrick O’ Keefe (Production Designer); Dean Gordon & Araiz Khalid (Art Directors)

18. Best Costume Design:

Milena Canonero, Asteroid City

Oliver Garcia, Chevalier

Judiana Makowsky, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Amanda Monk, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves

PC Williams, Polite Society

19. Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

Asteroid City – Julie Dartnell (Makeup & Hair Designer) & Claire Burgess (Hair & Makeup Supervisor) & Julia Vernon (Crowd Hair & Makeup Supervisor)

Beau Is Afraid – Felix Lariviere (Hair Department Head) & Colin Penman (Makeup Department Head) & Steve Newburn (Prosthetic Effects Designer)

Evil Dead Rises -- Jasoon Docherty (Prosthetic Makeup Supervisor) & Vanessa Hurley (Hair & Makeup Designer) & Hannah Wilson (Hair & makeup Supervisor)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Alexel Dimitriev (Makeup Department Head) & Cassie Russek (Hair Department Head) & Lindsay MacGowen (Prosthetic Design Supervisor)

John Wick Chapter 4 – Antoinette Adertoye (Hair Co-Designer – Hair Department Head) & Petra Schaumann (Makeup Co-Designer – Makeup Department Head) & Neil Gorton (Prosthetic Makeup Designer) & Stephen Kelley (Makeup Designer) & Kerrie Smith (Hair Designer)

20. Best Visual Effects:

Asteroid City – Jep Hill & Tim Ledbury (Visual Effects Supervisors) & Pen Costa (Special Effects Supervisor) & Carlos (Special Effects Designers)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves – Khalid Almeerani & Scott Benza & Axel Bonami & Mark Bortolotto & Dave Dalley & Ben Snow & Sreejith Venugopalian & John L. Weckworth (Visual Effects Supervisors) & Shane Mahan (Special Effects Supervisor)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Ross McCabe & Guy Williams (Visual Effects Supervisors) & Lindsay McGowan (Special Effects Supervisor)

John Wick: Chapter 4 – Janelle Ralla & Jonatha Rothbart (Visual Effects Supervisors) & Rafiq Kamhawi & Devin Maggio & Gerd Nefzer & Charles-Axel Vollard (Special Effects Supervisors)

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – Mike Lasker (Visual Effects Supervisor)

21. Best Sound Mixing:

Asteroid City – Wayne Lemmar & Christopjer Scarabosio (Re-recording Mixers)

De humani corporis fabrica – Bruno Ehlinger (Re-recording Mixer)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Christopher Boyes & Gary A. Rizzo (Re-Recording Mixers)

John Wick: Chapter 4 – Casey Genton & Andy Koyama (Re-recording Mixers)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Vinii Khullar & Jessica B. Schultz (Sound Mixers) & Ryan Collins & Gary Sumers (Additional Re-recording Mixers)

22. Best Sound Editing:

Asteroid City – Wayne Lemmar & Christopjer Scarabosio (Supervising Sound Editors)

Fast X -- Paul Aulicino (Supervising Sound Editor)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Dave Acord & Cheryl Nardi (Supervising Sound Editors)

John Wick: Chapter 4 – Paul P. Soucek & Mark P. Stoeckinger (Supervising Sound Editors)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Geoffrey G. Rubay (Supervising Sound Editor)

23. Best Original Score

Nicholas Britell, Carmen

Alexandre Desplat, Asteroid City

Thomas Newman, Elemental

Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen, Past Lives

24. Best Use of Music

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret – Frankie Pine (Music Supervisor)

Asteroid City -- Randall Poster (Music Supervisor)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 -- Dave Jordan (Music Supervisor)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse -- Kier Lehman (Music Supervisor); Spring Aspers (Executive Music Producer); Leland Wayne & Johan Lenox (Musicians & Lyricists)

Will-o’-the-Wisp – Nominees TBA

Nomination Summary:

Per Film:

Asteroid City -- 17

John Wick: Chapter 4 -- 11

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 10

Past Lives – 9

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 -- 8

Beau Is Afraid -- 7

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – 6

Pacifiction – 6

Showing Up – 6

Rye Lane – 4

Creed III -- 3

De humani corporis fabrica – 3

Joyland – 3

Air – 2

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves -- 2

Elemental – 2

Godland -- 2

How to Blow Up a Pipeline – 2

Other People’s Children -- 2

Polite Society – 2

A Thousand and One -- 2

Will-o’-The-Wisp – 2

Alcarras – 1

BlackBerry -- 1

The Blue Caftan – 1

Carmen – 1

Chevalier – 1

Evil Dead Rises – 1

Fast X – 1

Master Gardener --- 1

No Hard Feelings – 1

The Plains – 1

Rewind and Play – 1

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie – 1

Suzume – 1

Per Studio

A24 –22

Focus Features – 21

Lionsgate – 17

Columbia – 11

Walt Disney Studios – 10

Grasshopper Films – 10

Searchlight Pictures – 5

Hulu -- 4

Strand Releasing – 3

United Artists – 3

Warner Bros – 3

Amazon Studios -- 2

Janus Films – 2

Music Box Films -- 2

MUBI – 2

Neon – 2

Oscilloscope – 2

Paramount Pictures – 2

Apple Original Films -- 1

Crunchyrroll – 1

IFC Films – 1

Magnolia Films – 1

Universal Studios – 1

Sony Pictures Classics – 1

By Country:

USA – 109

Germany – 20

France -- 18

UK – 15

Canada -- 10

South Korea – 9

Portugal -- 8

Finland -- 7

Spain -- 7

Australia – 4

Iceland – 4

Denmark -- 3

Ireland – 3

Switzerland – 3

Pakistan – 3

Sweden – 2

Belgium – 1

China –1

Italy – 1

Japan – 1

Morocco – 1

New Zealand -- 1

Forecasting the 29th Annual Gotham Awards

December 02, 2019 by Patrick Gratton

Welcome to the unofficial launch of the award season, The Gotham Independent Film Awards. Founded by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), a conglomerate of non-profit organizations that offer networking and apprenticeship programs to independent filmmakers, The Gotham Awards seeks out to honour the best and brightest in independent cinema and showcasing them to a brighter audience. In it's inaugural award, the IFP Gotham Awards awarded Jennie Levingston the (now-defunct) Open Palm Breakthrough Director for her ground-breaking Documentary Paris Is Burning chronicling the New York City drag scene in the 1980. Director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs), actor John Turturro (Barton Fink), screenwriter Richard Price and cinematographer Ernest R. Dickerson (Jungle Fever) were also honoured that year.

Since then, The Gotham Awards have shuffled they're awards lineup and broadened its scope. Where they solely honoured East coast independent cinema, eligibility now included West Coast funded films and International co-funded productions. In the mid-aughts, The Gotham Awards revamped their award lineup, handing out a Best Feature and Best Documentary awards. Eight years later, they added the rest of what mostly consists their present-day lineup. Coincidently, the organization opened themselves up to criticisms of selling out, awarding much larger budgeted fair in favour of micro-budgeted films. Nominations are selected by individual category sectioning juries

With a nomination roster that reads like The A24 Awards above anything else, the niche film distributor received 20 nominations shared amongst six of its films. Three of those are tied as the nomination leader with 4 nominations a piece. First, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, an autobiographical account of her process of coping with her grandmother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. The film delves into the fronts ones keep to protect themselves and others from grief. Second, Joe Talbot’s verite-fantasia The Last Black Man In San Francisco, also ruminating on the subject of lies we share to protect ourselves, follows Jimmie as he breaks in, occupies and seeks to purchase his The film is a touching portrait of minority identity in current day America. Lastingly, The Safdie Brothers’ kinetic Uncut Gems, follows Howard Ratner a NYC jeweller who relentlessly defies the odds in pursuing the next big score.

The only non-A24 entry with a tying score of 4 nominations, is being distributed by streaming giant Netflix. Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, is a semi-autobiographical drama inspired by Mr. Baumbach’s divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. The drama and it’s central performances given by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson have been heralded for its candour and rawness since the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival last August. Coincidently, Johansson ended up being one of the voting body’s major snubs. The actress was left out of the female acting field that included Florence Pugh, for portraying a college student sucked into the midst of a Swedish cult in Ari Aster’s engrossing thriller Midsommar (another A24 picture), and Alfre Woodard, for portraying a prison warden coming to grips with her morality and the emotional tolls while preparing for her latest execution in Chinonye Chukwu’s breakout film Clemency.

Our Panel consensus picks are as followed:

Best Feature: Marriage Story
Best Documentary: Apollo 11
Breakthrough Director: Olivia Wilde, Booksmart
Best Actor: Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Best Actress: Indecisive
Best Screenplay: Marriage Story
Breakthrough Actor: Noah Jupe, Honey Boy
Audience Award: Hustlers
Breakthrough Longform TV: Chernobyl
Breakthrough Shortform TV: Russian Doll
Please click here to see our panelists individual predictions

Marriage Story’s Laura Dern, Jojo Rabbit’s Sam Rockwell, When They See Us’ Ava DuVernay and FilmNation CEO Glen Basner, will all be honored with Tribute Awards. The The Gotham Awards are being held on Monday December 2nd at the Cipriani Club 55 restaurant in the heart of NYC’s Wall Street. No event host has been announced at this time.

Introducing the Gold Diggers Panel for the 2019 Award Season

December 02, 2019 by Patrick Gratton

We apologize for the radio silence and for our sudden disappearance. Without going into too much detail, life had other plans and a full fledge launch of our blog fell by the wayside. But here we are almost six months, launching again and making the most of it.

I’m deeply humbled to present to you the Gold Diggers Panel for the 2019 Awards Season. We have collected a panel of Industry pundits and insiders to guide you through Award Season. For the coming months we’ll be covering various precursors, offering our predictions and voicing our takes on the state of the race, leading up to the Academy Awards. We’ll be back in a few and and share our predictions on tonight’s IFP Gotham Awards.

Without further adieu, let’s meet this year panelists:

Daniel Bayer: Contributor at The Film Experience and Next Best Picture.
Patrick de Guzman: Partner of Mr. Gratton, Gold Diggers’ EIC.
Riley Draward: Gold Digger’s Technical Support
JD Duran: Film Critic and Podcaster at In Session.
Victor Escobar: Production Assistant at Prometheus Entertainment.
Tim Gerber: Contributor Awards Worthy Forums.
Monica Gatton: Friend of Gold Diggers
Patrick Gratton: Editor-In-Chief for Gold Diggers
Samuel Young: author, architectural historian, and conservationist, based in Baltimore.
Christopher James: Writer for Awards Circuit. Co-host of The People vs. Oscar podcast.
Max Joseph: Oscar Youtube Vlogger: Max Joseph Film Person.
Kendall Lewis: Make-Up Artist Canadian / US Film Industry
Ray Lewis: Film Student.
Will Mavity: Writer and podcastor at Next Best Picture.
Ryan McQuade: Contributor and Podcaster at Award Circuit and In Session.
Joey Moser: Contributor at Awards Daily.
Shane Slater: Staff Writer at Awards Circuit.
Nick Taylor: Contributor Gold Diggers.
Tomas Trussow: Writer at The Lonely Critic.

September 22, 2019 by Patrick Gratton

1st Annual Gold Diggers Mid-Year Awards Nominations

July 14, 2019 by Patrick Gratton

Welcome one and all to Awards Digger, the newest premiere site for hot takes on film, cinema and the award season. As I launch the site, I wanted to launch it with a bang. So I’m presenting you with the inaugural 1st Annual Awards Digger Midyear Film Awards. We’ve selected a total of the 39 critics, bloggers, podcasters and film twitter personalities throughout the world to act as our panel of voters.

Our mission was to rally up a subset of distinct figures and voices within the world of film criticism and highlight the finest cinematic works of the first half of 2019. Our panel consists of film critics, film journalists, podcasters, film students and film professors. While selecting our panelists, we here at Awards Digger prioritize diversity, and our panel represents a mixture of high-minded thinkers from various walks of life and representing various genders, races and sexual identities. Our international membership ranges from the Asian Pacific to the continent of Africa to Latin America and finally, of course North America.

We’re proud to announced that our panelists are:

1. ERIK ANDERSON, FOUNDER, AWARDSWATCH, USA

2. WESLEY R. BALL, CRITIC, THE MOVIE SLEUTH, USA

3. JOSSEPH BAVERMAN, AWARD CIRCUIT CONTRIBUTOR, USA

4. ERIC BIZZARRI, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, THE FUTURE OF FILM SHOWCASE, CANADA

5. MAT DANIEL, PhD STUDENT UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND

6. HARRIS DANG, FREELAND FILM CRITIC, AUSTRALIA

7. JD DURRAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, INSESSION, USA

8. MURTADA ELFADL, CONTRIBUTOR, THE FILM EXPERIENCE, USA

9. MATTHEW ENG, CONTRIBUTOR, THE FILM EXPERIENCE / TRIBECCA, USA

10. VICTOR ESCOBAR, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARD DIGGERS, USA

11. BURTON FISHER, ENGLISH PROFESSOR / FILM THEORIST, REEL REVERIE, USA

12. JOEY GENTILLE, PODCASTER, ACADEMY QUEENS, USA

13. PATRICK GRATTON, FOUNDER, AWARD DIGGERS, CANADA

14. ROBERT HAMER, FORMER AWARD CIRCUIT CONTRIBUTOR

15. SAM HERBST, PODCASTER, THE KIDMANIFESTO, USA

16. TONY HINDS, CONTRIBUTOR, THE FILM STAGE, CANADA

17. MATTHEW JENNER, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS WATCH FORUMS COMMUNITY / FOUNDER, MOVIES UNCHAINED

18. DOUGLAS JOHNSON, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS WATCH FORUMS COMMUNITY

19. LUKE KANE, PODCASTER, CELLULOID JUNKIES, AUSTRALIA

20. KEVIN L. LEE, CRITIC, FILM INQUIRY, USA

21. RAY LEWIS, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARD DIGGERS, USA

22. JOE LIPSET, PODCASTER, HORROR QUEENS, USA

23. MATTHEW LUCAS, EDITOR, FROM THE FRONT ROW, USA

24. WILL MAVITY, CONTRIBUTOR, NEXTBESTPICTURE, USA

25. KIP MOONEY, FREELANCE POP CULTURE WRITER, USA

26. JOEY MOSER, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS DAILY, USA

27. TYE NEVAREZ, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDSWATCH FORUMS,

28. MATT NEGLIA, FOUNDER, NEXTBESTPICTURE, USA

29. LEO PLAATJIES, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDSWATCH FORUMS, SOUTH AFRICA

30. KAREN PETERSON, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS CIRCUIT, USA

31. RYAN C. SHOWERS, CONTRIBUTOR, NEXTBESTPICTURE, USA

32. SHANE SLATER, OWNER, FILM ACTUALLY, USA

33. MATT. ST. CLAIR, FREELANCE FILM JOURNALIST, USA

34. BRANDON STANWYCK, PODCASTER, ACADEMY QUEENS, USA

35. JAZZ TANGCAY, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS DAILY, USA

36. NICK TAYLOR, CONTRIBUTOR, AWARDS DIGGERS, USA

37. RONALDO TRANCOSO JR., BRAZIL

38. TRACE THURMAN, PODCASTER, HORROR QUEERS, WRITER, BLOODY DISGUSTING, USA

39. ROBIN WRITE, CRITIC, FILMOTOMY,

Nominations were announced live yesterday on twitter. Jordan Peele's Us, a home invasion thriller allegorizing the social warfare between classes, led the nomination tally with 12 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress Lupita Nyong'o. Claire Denis' hypnotic voyage into the deep blackness of space, trailed with eight nominations, including Best Film, Best Directing and Best Actor Robert Pattinson. We’re delighted to announce that our ten films competing for the Best Film of First Half of 2019 aren’t exclusively American English speaking films. There are three foreign films nominated for Best Film are: Jia Zhangke’s Ash as Purest White, on the changing cultural climate of formalist China, told through the 20 year relationship between a mobster and his gun moll; Gaspar Noe’s Climax, a labyrinthine night of dance, sexual conquests and LSD drugs; and finally Christian Petzold’s Transit, a modern day ghost story set on the Mediterranean riffing on Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, distilling the circular nature of war and the specters caught in the crossfire. The Full Nomination slate are as followed:

1. Best Film:

1. Ash Is Purest White

2. Avengers: Endgame

3. Booksmart

4. Climax

5. Gloria Bell

6. High Life

7. The Last Black Man In San Francisco

8. Rocketman

9. Transit

10. Us

2. Best Directing:

1. Claire Denis, High Life

2. Jordan Peele, Us

3. Joe Talbot, The Last Black Man In San Francisco

4. Olivia Wilde, Booksmart

5. Jia Zhangke, Ash Is Purest White

3. Best Screenplay (Original & Adapted):

1. Emilie Halpern & Sarah Haskins & Susanna Fogel & Kate Silberman, Booksmart

2. Joe Talbot & Rob Richert, The Last Black Man In San Francisco

3. Christian Petzold, Transit

4.Jordan Peele, Us

5. Ólafur Egilsson & Benedikt Erlingsson, Woman At War

4. Best Film Not In the English Language:

1. Ash Is Purest White

2.Climax

3. Knife + Heart

4. Transit

5. Woman At War

5. Best Animated Film:

1. How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World

2. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

3. Toy Story 4

6. Best Documentary Film:

1. Apollo 11

2. Homecoming: a Film by Beyonce

3. Knocking Down the House

4. Leaving Neverland

5. They Shall Not Grow Old

7. Best Directorial Debut:

1. Laure de Claremont-Tonnerre, The Mustang

2. Josh Cooley, Toy Story 4

3. Joe Talbot, Last Black Man in San Francisco

4. Camille Vidal-Naquet, Sauvage

5. Olivia Wilde, Booksmart

8. Best Ensemble Cast:

1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Booksmart

3. Diane

4. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

5. Us

9. Best Leading Actress ***TIE**:

1. Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart

2. Julianne Moore, Gloria Bell

3. Elizabeth Moss, Her Smell

4. Lupita Nyong’o, Us

5. Mary Kay Place, Diane

6. Zhao Tao, Ash Is Purest White

10. Best Leading Actor:

1. Jimmy Fails, The Last Black Man In San Francisco

2. Taron Egerton, Rocketman

3. Robert Pattinson, High Life

4. Franz Rogowski, Transit

5. Matthias Schoenaerts, The Mustang

11. Best Supporting Actress:

1. Juliette Binoche, High Life

2. Agyness Deyn, Her Smell

3. Shahadi Joseph Wright, Us

4.Deirdre O’Connell, Diane

5. Billie Lourd, Booksmart

12. Best Supporting Actor:

1. Jamie Bell, Rocketman

2. Winston Duke, Us

3. Richard Madden, Rocketman

4. Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man In San Francisco

5. John Turturro, Gloria Bell

13. Best Cinematography:

1. Benoit Debie, Climax

2. Mike Gioulakis, Us

3. Yao Hung-I, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

4. Yorick Le Saux, High Life

5. Adam Newport-Berra, The Lack Black Man In San Francisco

14. Best Editing:

1. Chris Dickens, Rocketman

2. Guy Lecorne, High Life

3. David Marks, The Last Black Man In San Francisco

4. Todd Douglas Miller, Apollo 11

5. Nicholas Monsour, Us

15. Best Design (Art Direction, Costume, Hair & Makeup):

1. Aladdin

2. Avengers: Endgame

3. High Life

4. Rocketman

5. Us

16. Best Sound (Editing & Mixing):

1. Apollo 11

2. Avengers: Endgame

3. High Life

4. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

5. Us

17. Best Use of Music (Scoring & Soundtracking:

1. Climax

2. Gloria Bell

3. The Last Black Man In SF

4. Rocketman

5. Us

Winners will be announced on Sunday July 14th, 2019.