There's maybe too much to say about the year 2004 in regard to its various film festival and industry awards, but I'll keep it brief. 1.) Tropical Malady was the best film to play at Cannes in 2004, hands down, so was it the fact that Quentin Tarantino was head of the jury that it only nabbed the Prix du jury? I'd venture to say yes. Although Isabelle Huppert's jury also quite liked Park Chan-wook's Thirst, so... 2.) Hilary Swank wins her second Best Actress Oscar, and for some reason, I don't mind, if only because Annette Bening gives me a raging headache. 3.) 2004 was the douche-iest year for the Independent Spirit Awards. A Sideways sweep? Best first film: Garden State? Best film made for under $500,000: Mean Creek? Best documentary: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster? I think I was happier with the Oscar picks. 4.) Fuck the Razzies. I still do not understand what it is they're trying to convey by giving George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Britney Spears "awards" for their roles in Fahrenheit 9/11. Someone please explain what it was they were trying to say to me with that. 5.) I still haven't seen Vera Drake, but I'll always think fondly of it as it was the punch-line of one of my favorite moments of Ricky Gervais' Extras.Cannes
Palme d'Or: Fahrenheit 9/11 [d. Michael Moore]Grand Prix: Oldboy [d. Park Chan-wook]
Prix du jury: Tropical Malady [d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul]; also Irma P. Hall - The Ladykillers, for her acting
Best Director: Tony Gatlif - Exils (Exiles)
Best Actor: Yûya Yagira - Nobody Knows
Best Actress: Maggie Cheung - Clean
Best Screenplay: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri - Comme une image (Look at Me)
Technical Grand Prize: Éric Gauthier - Clean; Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Camera d'Or: Or (My Treasure) [d. Keren Yedaya]
Venice
Golden Lion: Vera Drake [d. Mike Leigh]Grand Special Jury Prize: Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) [d. Alejandro Amenábar]
Best Actor: Javier Bardem - Mar adentro
Best Actress: Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Career Golden Lion: Manoel de Oliveira, Stanley Donen
Toronto
People's Choice Award: Hotel Rwanda [d. Terry George]Discovery Award: Omagh [d. Pete Travis]
Best Canadian Feature: It's All Gone Pete Tong [d. Michael Dowse]
Berlin
Golden Bear: Gegen die Wand (Head-On) [d. Fatih Akin]Best Director: Kim Ki-duk - Samaritan Girl
Best Actor: Daniel Hendler - El abrazo partido (Lost Embrace)
Best Actress: (tie) Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace; Charlize Theron - Monster
Jury Grand Prix: El abrazo partido [d. Daniel Burman]
Outstanding Artistic Achievment: Om jag vänder mig om (Daybreak), to its outstanding cast
Honorary Golden Bear: Fernando E. Solanas
Teddy (Feature): Wild Side [d. Sébastien Lifshitz]
Teddy (Documentary): The Nomi Song [d. Andrew Horn]
Sundance
Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic): Primer [d. Shane Carruth]Grand Jury Prize (Documentary): DiG! [d. Ondi Timoner]
Director (Dramatic): Debra Granik - Down to the Bone
Director (Documentary): Morgan Spurlock - Super Size Me
Special Jury Prize (Dramatic): (tie) Rodney Evans - Brother to Brother; Vera Farmiga - Down to the Bone, for her performance
Special Jury Prize (Documentary): Catherine Tambini, Carlos Sandoval - Farmingville
Cinematography (Dramatic): Nancy Schreiber - November
Cinematography (Documentary): Ferne Pearlstein - Imelda
Audience Award (Dramatic): Maria Full of Grace [d. Joshua Marston]
Audience Award (Documentary): Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids [d. Ross Kauffman]
Audience Award (World Cinema): La grande séduction (Seducing Dr. Lewis) [d. Jean-François Pouliot]
Audience Award (World Cinema Documentary): The Corporation [d. Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar]
Academy Awards
Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby [d. Clint Eastwood]Best Director: Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx - Ray
Best Actress: Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, Pierre Bismuth - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor - Sideways
Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson - The Aviator
Best Documentary: Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids [d. Ross Kauffman]
Best Foreign Film: Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) [d. Alejandro Amenábar]
Best Animated Feature: The Incredibles [d. Brad Bird]
Honorary Award: Sidney Lumet
BAFTAs
Best Film: The Aviator [d. Martin Scorsese]Best Director: Mike Leigh - Vera Drake
Best British Film: My Summer of Love [d. Pawel Pawlikowski]
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx - Ray
Best Actress: Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Best Supporting Actor: Clive Owen - Closer
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
Best Original Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor - Sideways
Best Cinematography: Dion Beebe, Paul Cameron - Collateral
Film Not in the English Language: Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) [d. Walter Salles]
European Film Awards
Best Film: Gegen die Wand (Head-On) [d. Fatih Akin]Best Director: Alejandro Amenábar - Mar adentro (The Sea Inside)
Best Actor: Javier Bardem - Mar adentro
Best Actress: Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Best Cinematography: Eduardo Serra - Girl with a Pearl Earring
Best Screenplay: Agnès Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri - Comme une image (Look at Me)
Best Documentary: Darwin's Nightmare [d. Hubert Sauper]
Discovery: Certi bambini (A Children's Story) [d. Andrea Frazzi, Antonio Frazzi]
Screen International: 2046 [d. Wong Kar-wai]
Audience Award (Actor): Daniel Brühl - Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken (Love in Thoughts)
Audience Award (Actress): Penélope Cruz - Non ti muovere (Don't Move)
Audience Award (Director): Fatih Akin - Gegen die Wand
Life Achievement Award: Carlos Saura
Independent Spirit
Best Feature: Sideways [d. Alexander Payne]Best First Feature: Garden State [d. Zach Braff]
Best Director: Alexander Payne - Sideways
Best Male Lead: Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Best Female Lead: Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace
Best Supporting Male: Thomas Haden Church - Sideways
Best Supporting Female: Virginia Madsen - Sideways
Best Debut Performance: Rodrigo De la Serna - Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Best Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor - Sideways
Best First Screenplay: Joshua Marston - Maria Full of Grace
Best Cinematography: Eric Gautier - Diarios de motocicleta
Best Documentary: Metallica: Some Kind of Monster [d. Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky]
Best Foreign Film: Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) [d. Alejandro Amenábar]
John Cassavetes Award (for features made for under $500,000): Mean Creak [d. Jacob Aaron Estes]
Someone to Watch Award: Jem Cohen - Chain
Golden Globes
Picture (Drama): The Aviator [d. Martin Scorsese]Picture (Comedy/Musical): Sideways [d. Alexander Payne]
Director: Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby
Actor (D): Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator
Actress (D): Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
Actor (M/C): Jamie Foxx - Ray
Actress (M/C): Annette Bening - Being Julia
Supporting Actor: Clive Owen - Closer
Supporting Actress: Natalie Portman - Closer
Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor - Sideways
Foreign Film: Mar adentro (The Sea Inside) [d. Alejandro Amenábar]
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Robin Williams
Césars Awards
Best Film (Meilleur film): L'esquive (Games of Love and Chance) [d. Abdel Kechiche]Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Abdel Kechiche - L'esquive
Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): Mathieu Amalric - Rois et reine (Kings and Queen)
Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Yolande Moreau - Quand la mer monte... (When the Sea Rises...)
Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur acteur dans un second rôle): Clovis Cornillac - Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités
Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle): Marion Cotillard - Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)
Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Gaspard Ulliel - Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Sara Forestier - L'esquive
Best Screenplay (Meilleur scénario): Abdel Kechiche, Ghalia Lacroix - L'esquive
Best Cinematography (Meilleure photographie): Bruno Delbonnel - Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Lost in Translation [d. Sofia Coppola]
Best European Union Film (Meilleur film de l'Union Européenne): (tie) Ae Fond Kiss... [d. Ken Loach]; Život je čudo (Life Is a Miracle) [d. Emir Kusturica]
Best First Film (Meilleur premier film): Quand la mer monte... [d. Yolande Moreau, Gilles Porte]
Honorary César: Micheline Presle
Razzies
Worst Film: Catwoman [d. Pitof]Worst Director: Pitof - Catwoman
Worst Actor: George W. Bush - Fahrenheit 9/11
Worst Actress: Halle Berry - Catwoman
Worst Supporting Actor: Donald Rumsfeld - Fahrenheit 9/11
Worst Supporting Actress: Britney Spears - Fahrenheit 9/11
Worst Screenplay: Theresa Rebeck, John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris, John Rogers - Catwoman
Worst Remake/Sequel: Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed [d. Raja Gosnell]
