La Soirée des Jutra 2013 (Quebec film awards) – nominations

Earlier today, Radio-Canada and Québec Cinéma announced the nominations for the 15th Annual La Soirée des Jutra, the awards given for the Quebecois film industry.

Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways led the way with his ten nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Suzanne Clément was nominated for Best Actress while both Monia Chokri and Nathalie Baye received nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

The Oscar-nominated Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen was close behind with nine nominations. It too was recognized for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Rachel Mwanza).

Celebrating Bold, Black, Risk Takers: An Evening with John Singleton, Feb 12

CLEMENT VIRGO PRODUCTIONS AND CFC PRESENT:
A SPECIAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT WITH
ACADEMY AWARD®-NOMINATED FILMMAKER JOHN SINGLETON

Presented by TD and BAND (Black Artists' Network in Dialogue), Clement Virgo Productions and CFC (Canadian Film Centre) are hosting a special evening in celebration of Black History Month with filmmaker John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Poetic Justice, Shaft). An acclaimed, trailblazing legend, Singleton has lit up the screen with his unapologetic, incendiary characters and provocative storytelling about inner-city life. He also holds the distinction of being the first black filmmaker nominated for the Best Director Oscar^®.

IFTA Rising Star Award 2013 – nominees

Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) are delighted to announce the Rising Star Award nominees for 2013, the winner of which will be announced at the Irish Film and Television Awards ceremony on 9th February 2013.

Selected by a special jury and sponsored by the Irish Film Board, the Rising Star Award is a unique IFTA Award in that it aims to highlight exceptional new and breakthrough talent working in all areas of the Irish film industry.

The 2013 nominees are:

Schweizer Filmpreis 2013 (Swiss Film Awards) – nominations

This evening the Federal Office of Culture announced the contenders for the 16th Annual Schweizer Filmpreis (Swiss Film Award). This official ceremony, known as “Nominations Night”, was held in Solothurn concert hall as part of the Solothurn Film Festival, and signals the countdown to the Swiss Film Award ceremony, which will take place on 23 March 2013 in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva. The guest speakers at the gala event were Federal Councillor Alain Berset, Charles Beer, President of the Executive Council of the canton of Geneva and President of the Association “Quartz” Genève Zürich, and Christian Frei, President of the Swiss Film Academy.

Marcel Gisler's Rosie took the lead with six nominations. It picked up nominations for Best Fiction Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Sibylle Brunner), Best Actor (Fabian Krüger), and Best Performance in a Supporting Role for both Judith Hofmann and Sebastian Ledesma.

Edduverðlaunin 2013: Edda Awards for Icelandic film/TV – nominees

The Íslenska kvikmynda- og sjónvarpsakademían (Icelandic Film and Television Academy) announced today the nominations for their 15th Annual Edduverðlaunin or Edda Awards.

Djúpið (The Deep) by Baltasar Kormákur led the field with sixteen nominations. Its nominations included Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) and four supporting acting nods. The film is based on a true story of a fisherman's efforts to survive in the freezing ocean after his boat capsizes south of Iceland. The Deep was Iceland's submission to the Academy for the Best Foreign Language category but was not shortlisted.

Óskar Þór Axelsson's Svartur á leik (Black's Game), however, wasn't far behind with fifteen nominations. The crime drama about the rise of Iceland's gangs also received mentions for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay as well as two Best Actor nods (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson and Þorvaldur Davíð Kristjánsson).

2013 AACTA Awards for Australian film/TV – winners

Host Russell Crowe and Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) President, Geoffrey Rush, were joined on stage by internationally acclaimed Australian actors including Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman to honour the year’s best achievements in Australian film and television at the 2nd AACTA Awards Ceremony. The event was held at the brand new The Star Event Centre in Sydney, and broadcast on Network Ten.

It was a golden night for The Sapphires, crowning a year already filled with sparkling success. Since premiering in Cannes in May 2012, the toe-tapping musical drama about four Aboriginal girls who formed a singing group in the 1960s has garnered audience awards all over the world and box office triumph at home. Tonight saw The Sapphires take home six AACTA Awards - Best Film, Best Director (Wayne Blair), Best Lead Actress (Deborah Mailman), Best Lead Actor (Chris O’Dowd), Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Mauboy) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Keith Thompson, Tony Briggs) - bringing the film’s tally to a total of 11 AACTA Awards, including the five previously announced at the 2nd AACTA Awards Luncheon, presented by Deluxe, on Monday 28 January.

Czech Film Critics Awards 2013 – winners

The Česká filmová komora (Czech Film Chamber) held its ceremony for the third annual Ceny české filmové kritiky (Czech Film Critics Awards) at Divadlo Archa (Archa Theatre) in Prague.

David Ondříček's Ve stínu (In the Shadow) was the night's big winner with five awards from its leading eight nominations. In addition to Best Film and Best Director, it won for Best Actor (Ivan Trojan), Cinematography and Original Music. The 1950s-set Cold War drama was the Czech Republic's submission to the Academy for Best Foreign Language Film but was not shortlisted.

Bohdan Sláma's Čtyři slunce (Four Suns) had shared the lead with eight nominations and picked up a pair of trophies. The black comedy won for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Klára Melíšková).

2013 Canadian Radio Music Awards (CRMAs) – nominations

Canadian Music Week is pleased to announce nominations for the 16^th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards (CRMAs). Sponsored by Astral Radio, the awards, celebrating first-time charted artists and honouring individuals or groups among them with some of the most played songs at Canadian radio, will be handed out on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, doors 7 p.m. at Kool Haus in Toronto.

This year, for the first time, the show will be open to the public and will serve as the official kick-off event to Canadian Music Week 2013 activities. Winners will be announced throughout the show, highlighted by performances from nominees Anjulie, Dallas Smith, Elise Legrow, Jesse Labelle, Monster Truck, Shawn Hook, USS and Victoria Duffield. Massari, who’s latest single “Brand New Day” was just certified gold, will also perform. Fans’ Choice nominees Marianas Trench, who recently completed their first cross-Canada arena tour, will headline the awards with a special guest performance before embarking on the second leg of that tour, running March 23^rd – April 19^th.

Jason Buxton wins 2013 Claude Jutra Award for Blackbird

The 2013 Claude Jutra Award, sponsored by Telefilm Canada, goes to Nova Scotia filmmaker Jason Buxton for his debut feature film, Blackbird, it was announced today by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

“The Academy is honoured to present filmmaker Jason Buxton with the Claude Jutra Award for Blackbird which is a cutting edge and socially poignant debut film,” says Richard Speer, Academy’s Quebec Chair.

Blackbird is a film that explores the power, and danger, of social media and cyber-bullying.

“I am absolutely thrilled with this honour. To be recognized by my peers for excellence in filmmaking is deeply meaningful, and looking back at the caliber of directors honoured over the past twenty years of the Award’s history is both humbling and reassuring,” said Jason Buxton.

Lauréat les Prix Opus 2013 – winners

The 16th edition of the Prix Opus (Opus Awards) recognized 27 artists for their excellence as interpreter, composer, distributor or musicologist. More than 26 000$ has been distributed.

Created by the Conseil québécois de la Musique, the Opus Gala underlines the excellence of concert music in Québec in its various repertories. Québec has many talented musicians and it is proved again by the quality of the 2011-2012 winners. The Gala not only aims to pay homage to Québec musicians, but also to increase public awareness and interest in concert music.

The top prize-winner was Quebec Opera's production of The Tempest co-produced with The Metropolitan Opera and Wiener Staatsoper. It won Concert of the Year – Quebec City and Musical Event of the Year. Quebec Opera's Grégoire Legendre was named Artistic Director of the Year.

2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards – winners

SAG-AFTRA presented its coveted Actor® statuette for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2012 at the “19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®” in ceremonies attended by film and television’s leading actors, held Sunday, Jan. 27, at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. The “19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®” was simulcast live coast-to-coast by TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT). An encore presentation was telecast on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET)/7 p.m. (PT).

Honored with individual awards were Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway, Tommy Lee Jones and Jennifer Lawrence for performances in motion pictures and Alec Baldwin, Bryan Cranston, Kevin Costner, Claire Danes, Tina Fey and Julianne Moore for performances in television. The Screen Actors Guild Awards® originated awards for the outstanding performances by a motion picture cast and by television drama and comedy ensembles. The Actor® for a motion picture cast performance went this year to “Argo”, while the Actors® for television drama and comedy ensemble performances went this year to “Downton Abbey” and “Modern Family.” The honors for outstanding action performances by a stunt ensemble in film and television were awarded to “Skyfall” and “Game of Thrones.” More than 100,000 active members of SAG-AFTRA nationwide were eligible to vote for the recipients.

2013 Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards – winners

The Producers Guild of America held their 24th Annual PGA Awards ceremony last night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The winner of the The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures was Argo, produced by Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov. It won against competition from Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, and Zero Dark Thirty. It recently captured Best Drama at the Golden Globe Awards. While also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, Affleck was surprisingly not nominated for the Best Director Oscar which is leading to some confusion amongst the Oscar prognosticators.

The PGA winner for Animated Feature was Wreck-It Ralph. For Documentary, the winner was Searching For Sugar Man.

2013 AACTA International Awards – winners

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the winners of the 2nd AACTA International Awards, recognising international excellence across five categories, as determined by a jury of eminent Australian screen practitioners working in the U.S. and Australia from a cross-section of crafts: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Also announced were two AACTA International Awards as determined by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) | AACTA Board of Governors. These discretionary Awards were presented for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.

Winners were announced at the 2nd AACTA International Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, with Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Australian Film Institute Award winning actor Russell Crowe leading fellow Australians presenting Awards at the Ceremony, Jacki Weaver and Scott Hicks.

2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards – winners

Blood Brother, Fruitvale, A River Changes Course and Jiseul Earn Grand Jury Prizes. Audience Favorites Include Blood Brother, Fruitvale, The Square (Al Midan), Metro Manila and This is Martin Bonner.

Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, NEXT <=> and other special awards of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival at the feature film Awards Ceremony, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Park City, Utah. An archived video of the ceremony in its entirety is available at www.sundance.org/festival.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The films at our Festival this year truly reflect the unbridled passion, immense talent and diverse stories coming from the independent filmmaking community. I am confident that the awards presented this evening will fuel those films with special promise and that audiences will continue to champion the films they have discovered here.”

Screenwriters Choice Awards 2013 – nominations

The Screenwriting software company Final Draft has announced the nominations for the 8th Annual Screenwriters Choice Awards.

The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are the scripts for AmourDjango Unchained, Looper, Moonrise Kingdom and Zero Dark Thirty. For Best Adapted Screenplay, the nominated scripts are Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook.

The 2013 Hall of Fame Award honoree is Lawrence Kasdan. He has written, directed or produced 22 motion pictures, including Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, and Grand Canyon. Among them, he has written or co-written four of the most successful films in motion picture history -- Raiders of The Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of The Jedi and The Bodyguard.

Japan Academy Prize 2013 – nominations

The Nippon Academy-sho association has announced the nominations for the 36th 日本アカデミー賞 or Japan Academy Prize. Each of the finalists is a prize-winner and receives an award of excellence, with the winners of "best" to be determined.

Three films led the field with twelve nominations apiece. Those were あなたへ (Dearest) by 降旗康男 (Yasuo Furuhata), 北のカナリアたち (A Chorus of Angels) by 阪本順治 (Junji Sakamoto), and わが母の記 (Chronicle Of My Mother) by 原田眞人 (Masato Harada). Each film's nominations included Picture of the Year, Director of the Year and Screenwriter of the Year.

Also nominated for both Picture of the Year and Director of the Year were 桐島、部活やめるってよ (The Kirishima Thing) by 吉田大八 (Daihachi Yoshida), and のぼうの城 (The Floating Castle) by 犬童一心 (Isshin Inudo) and 樋口真嗣 (Shinji Higuchi).

2013 Golden Eagle Awards for Russian film – winners

Tonight in the first pavilion of Mosfilm, the Национальной академии кинематографических искусств и наук России (National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia) held their awards ceremony for the 11th annual премию Золотой орел (Golden Eagle Awards).

Coming out on top was Белый тигр (White Tiger) by Карен Шахназаров (Karen Shahnazarov). It won for Best Picture, as well as Music, Editing and Sound. Set in World War II, the action film is about a Red Army Sergeant who becomes obsessed with destroying a German white Tiger tank. It was Russia's submission to the Academy for the Foreign Language Film Award but was not shortlisted.

Орда (The Horde) by Андрей Прошкин (Andrei Proshkin) had led the nominations and came away with five awards. The historical epic won for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design.

Golden Tomato Awards for 2012 – winners

The website Rotten Tomatoes announced the winners of their 14th annual Golden Tomato Awards today.

The number one movie in Wide Release was Ben Affleck's Argo with a rating of 96%. In Limited Release, the number one film was Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film which scored 99%. There were films that received higher ratings, but from fewer reviews which is taken into consideration with their rankings.

2013 Robertprisen (Danish film awards) – nominations

The Danmarks Film Akademi (Danish Film Academy) announced the nominations for their 30th annual Robertprisen or Robert Awards. For the first time, the Academy has included television categories in the awards categories.

Leading the field with 15 nominations is Nikolaj Arcel's En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair). It picked up a nomination in every category for which it was eligible, including Best Film and Best Director.

Tobias Lindholm's Kapringen (A Hijacking) followed with 12 nominations, also including Best Film and Best Director.

2012 Österreichischen Filmpreis (Austrian Film Awards) – winners

The Akademie des Österreichischen Films (Academy of Austrian Film) held a gala ceremony their 3rd annual Österreichischen Filmpreis (Austrian Film Awards) in the Festival Hall of the Wiener Rathaus (Vienna City Hall). The event was hosted by Rupert Henning.

With Michael Haneke's Amour not in the running (Haneke declined to submit it for consideration), the main beneficiary was Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love) by Ulrich Seidl. The docu-drama is about a 50-year-old woman who travels to Kenya as a sex tourist. It won three awards, including the top prize of Best Film to go with Best Director and Best Actress (Margarethe Tiesel).

Florian Flicker's Grenzgänger (Crossing Boundaries) also picked up three awards. It had led with seven nominations, and won for Best Screenplay, Cinematography and Music.

César du cinéma 2013 – nominations

France's Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma announced the nominations for the 38th annual César du cinéma.

Leading the field was Noemie Lvovsky's Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds) with thirteen nominations. In addition to Best Film and Best Director, Lvovskywas also personally nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. The film also picked up six additional acting nominations.

Close behind at ten nominations apiece were Michael Haneke's Amour and Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell, My Queen) by Benoit Jacquot. De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone) by Jacques Audiard and Holy Motors by Leos Carax each followed with nine mentions. All four films were also nominated for both Best Film and Best Director.

Call for submissions: Lindalee Tracey Award 2013

The Lindalee Tracey Award 2013 is now open for submissions.

For Emerging Canadian Filmmakers Working in the Spirit of Lindalee Tracey, whose films reflected:

- a passionate point of view
- a strong sense of social justice
- a joie de vivre

We are now welcoming submissions for this year’s award!

2013 SiriusXM Indie Awards – nominations

Indie artists will take center stage on Friday, March 22nd at the Kool Haus in Toronto at the 13th Annual Independent Music Awards – The SiriusXM Indies – during Canadian Music Week activities.

Honouring the year’s best in independent music – from the breakout success of Canadians Carly Rae Jepsen, Marianas Trench and deadmau5 to the noteworthy achievements of Internationals fun., The Lumineers and Calvin Harris – the show will award artists across 37 categories and feature special performances from nominated artists, including Matt Mays, Diamond Rings, Yukon Blonde, The Wooden Sky, Canailles, and Cadence Weapon. Award-winning Australian hip-hop artist 360 will make a guest appearance.

2013 Sundance Film Festival short film awards – winners

Sundance Institute this evening announced the jury prizes and honorable mentions in short filmmaking at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Park City, Utah.

This year's Short Film program is comprised of 65 short films selected from a record 8,102 submissions.

The Short Film jurors are: Mike Farah, President of Production for Funny or Die; Don Hertzfeldt, Academy Award® nominated American independent filmmaker; and Magali Simard, short film programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Short Film program at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival is presented by YouTube. Twelve short films from the 2013 Festival are featured on The Screening Room, a YouTube channel curated by Sundance Institute. After the Festival, the Institute will continue to curate The Screening Room, highlighting short films each week.

2013 Maple Blues Awards – winners

The gala presentation of the 16th Annual Maple Blues Awards took place last night at Koerner Hall in Toronto. The evening was hosted by Toronto musician Raoul Bhaneja.

MonkeyJunk was the big winner taking three awards. They were named Electric Act of the Year, while band members Steve Marriner and Matt Sobb were named Harmonica Player of the Year and Drummer of the Year respectively.

Suzie Vinnick came away with both Acoustic Act of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Steve Strongman also won a pair of awards, for Guitar Player Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year. Entertainer Of The Year went to Colin James while New Brunswick's Matt Andersen claimed the Male Vocalist of the Year prize.

2012 Golden Reel Award – winner announced

Seventh Golden Win for Producer Don Carmody

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television presents the 2012 Cineplex Golden Reel Award to the action thriller Resident Evil: Retribution, which grossed over $5.4 million in Canada in 2012.

“Resident Evil: Retribution has surpassed the success of the previous Resident Evil franchise outings,” says Helga Stephenson, CEO, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “The Academy loudly applauds this sensational Canadian box office story,” she adds.

The Cineplex Golden Reel Award is presented annually to the Canadian film that earns the highest domestic box office in that year. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) also garnered Golden Reel Awards. This year the Academy will present the Cineplex Golden Reel Award at the first ever Canadian Screen Awards.

2013 SİYAD Ödülleri (Turkish Film Critics Awards) – winners

Turkey's Sinema Yazarları Derneği (Film Critics Association) or SIYAD held a gala ceremony last night at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul to present the winners of the 45th annual SİYAD Ödülleri (SIYAD Awards).

Emin Alper's debut feature Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill) was crowned Best Film. The psychological drama about the fears of a family on holiday also won Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Mehmet Özgür).

Yeraltı (Inside) by Zeki Demirkubuz managed a bigger haul though, with a total of five wins. In addition to Best Director, the adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel Notes from Underground won Best Actor (Engin Günaydın), Best Supporting Actress (Nihal Yalçın), Best Cinematographer and Best Editor.

2013 Guldbaggen (Swedish Film Awards) – winners

The Swedish Film Institute held the gala ceremony tonight for the 48th Annual Guldbaggen filmpris ("Golden Beetle" film awards) at Cirkus in Stockholm with Babben Larsson as host.

Gabriela Pichler's Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die) came into the evening with just five nominations but won four of them including Best Film. It also won for Best Director, Best Actress (Nermina Lukač) and Best Screenplay. The film is about a Balkan immigrant who faces difficult choices when her factory announces layoffs.

Mikael Marcimain's Call Girl had led with 11 nominations. The controversial film also won four prizes, but all in the craft categories – Best Cinematography, Costume Design, Sound and Production Design.

2013 Idea Filmfare Awards – winners

Tonight, the 58th Idea Filmfare Awards ceremony was held in Mumbai at YRF Studios. As with the Zee Cine Awards also held this weekend, Anurag Basu's Barfi! came out on top winning the top prize of Best Film. It came away with seven awards total, including Best Actor (Ranbir Kapoor) and Best Debut (Female) for Ileana D'Cruz.

Kahaani by Sujoy Ghosh was next with five awards including Best Director and Best Actress (Vidya Balan). It is Balan's second win in a row after winning last year for The Dirty Picture. She also won three years ago for Paa.

Gangs Of Wasseypur chimed in with four wins including the Critics' Award for Best Film and the Critics' Award for Best Actor (Female) for Richa Chadda. Vicky Donor also picked up four awards including Supporting Actor (Male) for Annu Kapoor.

Zee Cine Awards 2013 – winners

The Zee Network hosted the 10th New Fair & Lovely Zee Cine Awards honouring the best of Bollywood back in Mumbai after traveling with past shows to cities such as Macau, Singapore, London, Mauritius and Dubai.

Anurag Basu's Barfi! dominated the evening with eight wins, including Best Film (Popular), Best Director (Popular), Best Actor Female (Popular) to Priyanka Chopra, Best Actor Male (Jury) to Ranbir Kapoor, Best Debut Female to Yami Gautam, and Best Screenplay.

Kahaani by Sujoy Ghosh was next with five wins. In addition to Best Film (Jury) and Best Director (Jury), Vidya Balan took Best Actor Female (Jury) to go with wins for Best Story and Best Editing.

London Critics' Circle Film Awards 2013 – winners

The London Critics' Circle presented the winners today for its 33rd Film Awards at the May Fair Hotel.

Michael Haneke’s Amour led the way with three wins including Film of the Year, Actress of the Year (Emmanuelle Riva) and Screenwriter of the Year. Amour had led with seven nominations along with Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master.

The Master picked up a pair of wins, both for acting. Joaquin Phoenix was named Actor of the Year while Philip Seymour Hoffman was named Supporting Actor of the Year.

Berberian Sound Studio also nabbed a pair of wins. Its prizes were for British Film of the Year and British Actor of the Year (Toby Jones).

2013 AVN Awards – winners

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Kalakar Awards 2013 – winners

In Kolkata, the 21st Annual কলাকার পুরস্কার (Kalakar Awards) for excellence in Bollywood and Tollywood (West Bengal) took place at the Science City auditorium. The ceremony was hosted by Shakil Ansari and television actress Sweta Tiwari.

The top winner of the night was Pratim D. Gupta's debut film Paanch Adhyay (Afterglow). It was named Best Movie (Tollywood) and its star Priyanshu Chatterjee won a Best Actor award. The film is a contemporary love story about the ups and downs of a married couple.

The Best Movie (Bollywood) Award went to the action film Ek Tha Tiger by Kabir Khan. It became the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.

Spotlight Japan at Lightbox, Jan 19 - Apr 6

This winter, five of Toronto's leading cultural institutions come together for Spotlight Japan, a city-wide festival celebrating classic and contemporary Japanese culture.

From January 19 to April 17, 2013 venues across Toronto will host a multidisciplinary array of Japanese-focused programs, giving audiences the opportunity to fully experience some of the most exciting work ever seen on the international stage.

Tickets on sale now!

Call for submisisons: Crankyfest

Crankytown, an interactive site about periods that features videos, stories and poems from artists such as Feist, Emma Thompson, Jessica Paré and Karine Vanasse, has expanded to include Crankyfest – an online contest for videos about periods. The project was created by Canadian actors Liane Balaban and Vanessa Matsui, and costume designer Jenna Wright, who have partnered with iThentic, Playback’s Digital Company of the Year. The contest launches on January 17th with a submission deadline of March 1, 2013.

Prix Lumières 2013 – winners

The Académie des Lumières du Cinéma held their ceremony tonight for the 18th Prix Lumières. The host was actress Victoria Abril.

The main winners were Michael Haneke's Amour, Jacques Audiard's De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone), and Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds) by Noémie Lvovsky. Amour took the award for Best Film, while it's stars Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant won Best Actress and Best Actor respectively.

De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone) and Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds) both led with five nominations and each won twice. Jacques Audiard won Best Director and Best Screenplay, which he shared with his co-writer Thomas Bidegain. Camille redouble won a Prix spécial des Lumières to go with its ensemble of actresses winning for Best Female Newcomer.

2013 GALECA Dorian Awards – winners

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) has announced the winners for their 4th annual Dorian Awards.

The awards were spread around fairly evenly with no films winning multiple prizes. Argo was named Film of the Year, while Keep the Lights On won LGBT Film of the Year. Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway won the film acting prizes.

In the television division, American Horror Story: Asylum and Homeland both won two awards. They tied for TV Drama of the Year and each won a prize for TV Performance of the Year – Damian Lewis for Actor and Jessica Lange for Actress.

2013 Bayerischer Filmpreis (Bavarian Film Awards) – winners

Today, the Bavarian State Government held the 34th annual Bayerischer Filmpreis (Bavarian Film Awards) known as the "Pierrot" after the Commedia dell'Arte character. The ceremony to place at the Prinzregententheater (Prince Regent Theatre) in Munich. Prize money of € 10,000 is distributed to each of the winners, except for the Best Producer winner who receives € 200,000, and the Audience Award and Honourary Award winners who receive no money.

The Best Producer trophy went to Stefan Arndt for Cloud Atlas, a English-language German production by the Wachowski siblings and German director Tom Tykwer. The film is the most expensive German-produced film ever.

Days after winning Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes, Michael Haneke picked up the Best Directing Award for Amour. Though Haneke is Austrian, the film is a co-production of Germany, France and Austria. However, it will not be competing at this year's Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards).

2013 MPSE Golden Reel Awards – nominees

The Motion Picture Sound Editors announced its nomineees for the 60th MPSE Golden Reel Awards, recognizing sound editors' work in film, television, animation and computer entertainment media.

The leaders with four nominations each were Argo, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Life Of Pi and Skyfall.

“2012 was a spectacular year for sound,” said MPSE president Bobbi Banks. “We offer our sincere congratulations to this year’s Golden Reel nominees who, once again, have astounded us with their creativity and artistic excellence. We are very pleased to have this opportunity to recognize their dedication and tireless work in advancing the craft of entertainment sound.”

2013 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards – winners

The 香港電影評論學會 (Hong Kong Film Critics Society) has announced the winners for the 19th 香港電影評論學會大獎 (HKFCS Awards).

The car-chase action film 車手 (Motorway) was named Best Picture. Its director 鄭保瑞 (Soi Cheang Pou Soi) shared the Best Director prize with 林超贤 (Dante Lam) who helmed the 逆戰 (The Viral Factor), another action film but on the subject of biological warfare.

杜汶泽 (Chapman To) was named Best Actor for playing the manager of rival pop singers in 華麗之後 (Diva), but controversially, the HKFCS chose not to award Best Actress to anybody this year.

Call for submissions: Student Academy Awards

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now accepting entries for the 40th Anniversary Student Academy Awards competition in 2013. Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with cash prizes, may be presented to student filmmakers in the following categories: Alternative, Animation, Narrative, Documentary and Foreign Student Film.

2013 Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Awards – nominations

Today, the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) announced the nominations for the 15th Annual CDG Awards.

Nominees include the costume designers for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Les Misérables, Lincoln, and Mirror Mirror. The latter film was the final work by the late, great Eiko Ishioka.

Honourary awards will be presented to Anne Hathaway (LACOSTE Spotlight Award), Lorne Michaels (Distinguished Collaborator Award) and Costume Designers Judianna Makovsky and Eduardo Castro (Career Achievement Awards).

2013 Asian Film Awards – nominations

The nominations have been announced the for 7th Annual Asian Film Awards.

Leading with six nominations each were 浮城谜事 (Mystery) by 娄烨 (Lou Ye) and 범죄와의 전쟁 : 나쁜놈들 전성시대 (Nameless Gangsters: Rules of the Time) by 윤종빈 (Yun Jong-bin). The latter movie, however, was not nominated for Best Film.

Competing against Mystery for Best Film are 毒戰 (Drug War), Gangs of वासेपुर I & II (Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2), アウトレイジ ビヨンド (Outrage Beyond), and 피에타 (Pieta). All Best Film nominees were also nominated for Best Director except 杜琪峰 (Johnnie To) for Drug War. Instead, Abbas Kiarostami took the fifth spot for ライク・サムワン・イン・ラブ (Like Someone In Love).

2013 GLAAD Media Awards – nominees

GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, announced today the nominees for its 24th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. By recognizing and honoring media for outstanding images of the LGBT community, the GLAAD Media Awards serve as a benchmark for the media industry and complement GLAAD's work to bring LGBT images and stories to Americans.

Among the nominees: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman and Emma Watson; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, starring Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Tom Wilkinson; Cloud Atlas, starring Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy; NBC's new hit shows The New Normal and Smash; Glee, Modern Family; the documentary How to Survive a Plague; The Amazing Race with the Fabulous Beekman Boys; an interview with Bishop Gene Robinson on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Oprah's hour-long visit with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka; CNN's Anderson Cooper 360; MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry; and Frank Ocean for his Channel Orange album. The list also includes GLAAD's first nomination for a PG-rated animated film, ParaNorman, which also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.

Free lecture by film composer Lesley Barber, Jan 16

Tonight at the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto, film composer Lesley Barber will be giving a free lecture on her craft of scoring for motion pictures.

She is herself a graduate of the UofT's Faculty of Music (as is fellow Toronto-based film composer Mychael Danna who just this weekend won a Golden Globe Award). Barber is currently doing a residency as the Louis Applebaum Distinguished Visitor in Film Composition.

She has an extensive background that includes film, theatre and commissioned work for soloists and ensembles. She has twice won Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Original Score.

Evening Standard British Film Awards for 2012 – nominations

The Evening Standard has announced the nominations for the 40th annual Evening Standard British Film Awards for the year 2012.

Leading with three nominations were Ben Wheatley's Sightseers and Sally El Hosaini's My Brother the Devil. The nominations for Sightseers included Film of the Year as well as Best Actress (Alice Lowe) and the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. The nominations for My Brother the Devil were for cinematography and Most Promising Newcomer for both writer/director El Hosaini and actor James Floyd.

Competing for Film of the Year are Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio and the James Bond film Skyfall by Sam Mendes.

Call for submissions: the T24 Project

The Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival is back in full swing for our 5th year and we're bringing back the T24 Project, a unique 24 hour film challenge unlike any other. Mark off Friday, February 15, 2013 on your calendars to take part in another exciting installment of this event.

On the night of the challenge, teams of local young filmmakers aged 18-28 will run amok the city to capture their stories about the Toronto experience on camera with the final result shown on the big screen in March.

Inaugural Canadian Screen Awards – nominees

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT) is pleased to announce its new CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS that recognize excellence in film, television and digital media productions.

“The CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS are a true reflection of the multi-platform universe of today,” says Academy Chair Martin Katz. “News, sports and entertainment now come to us on screens of many sizes, with more to come. Through the CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS, the Academy will celebrate our talent and our productions with our industry and the Canadian public in one major national CBC broadcast,” adds Katz.

Academy CEO Helga Stephenson says the new CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS are a direct result of industry demand. “The industry has been asking for this change for some time. We opened up the conversation with our Members and other participating groups, consulted a report on the Academy prepared by the Schulich School of Business at York University and spoke with our broadcast and funding partners. As a result, the Board of Directors made the decision to merge the shows and a new chapter in the Academy’s history began,” says Stephenson.

2013 Scripter Award – nominees

USC Libraries Name Finalists for 25th-Annual Scripter Award

Tie results in six sets of writers and screenwriters earning nominations

LOS ANGELES – The USC Libraries have named the authors and screenwriters of Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Perks of Being a Wallflower and Silver Linings Playbook as finalists for the 25th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award. A tie resulted in six sets of finalists for the 2013 honor, rather than the typical five.

The finalists are, in alphabetical order by film title:

Czech Film Critics Awards 2013 – nominations

The Česká filmová komora (Czech Film Chamber) has announced the nominees for the third annual Ceny české filmové kritiky (Czech Film Critics Awards).

Bohdan Sláma's Čtyři slunce (Four Suns) and David Ondříček's Ve stínu (In the Shadow) each received eight nominations to lead the pack. Jan Prušinovský's Okresní prebor - Poslední zápas Pepíka Hnátka (Sunday League - Pepik Hnatek's Final Match) was next with five nominations. All three films were nominated for Best Film as well as Best Director.