1st Annual Gold Diggers Mid-Year Awards Nominations
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.