"I'm No Longer Here" wins big at the Ariel Awards

Mexico's own Oscar-like film awards have been handed out with I'm No Longer Here prevailing with 10 trophies. That's quite a haul. The drama is about a member of a dancing street gang (played by Juan Daniel Garcia Treviño, pictured left) who is forced to immigrate to the US to escape a local cartel. The cast was non-actors, hired for their dancing ability and authenticity. The film is currently streaming on Netflix if you're curious.

ARIEL AWARD NOMINEES & WINNERS

Picture

• Buy Me a Gun
• Dust
• I'm No Longer Here ★
• Suffocation
• This is Not Berlin

We believe all of these* are eligible to be Mexico's submission this year as none were on their finalist list last year for consideration (though some of the other films nominated in craft categories were). This probably means I'm No Longer Here is the likely submission but you never know. Since it does take place partially in the US it has some English in it (movies run into trouble with this particular category if the English dialogue is dominant or roughly equal to the non-English dialogue). * Clarification: All except This is Not Berlin which would not be eligible as it did have a US theatrical run in 2019.

The nominees and winners are after the jump. If we've previously written about the film there's a link...

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Middleburg Festival 2020 - Virtual This Weekend!

by Nathaniel R

Just a heads up that the Middleburg International Film Festival, that we cover each year right here, has gone mostly virtual this year. The festival is later this week (Thurs, Oct 15th - Sunday, Oct 18th). Despite the unfortunate circumstances of movies in this bizarre year, they've somehow gathered their usual crop of buzzy Oscar contenders and possible breakout indies. You can see the full list here -- any films in particular you'd like us to cover?  You may recall that last year we did a "Coffee and Contenders" Oscar panel with Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay (who both work for Variety now). We're repeating that again this year since it was a success last time. This year it will be on Zoom due to, well, you know... but we're still excited.

The panel is this coming Friday at 9:00 AM EST. It will be available for free if any of you reading would like to tune in (ignore the "not available in your country" notice. They are in the process of fixing that)

Best Actress Predictions

by Nathaniel R

Sophia Loren with her son, director Edoardo Ponti

We try to save the best for last. We know where our bread is buttered. Or, rather, what kind of bread we like in the first place, and which buttery spread is the perfect topper. Which brings us to BEST ACTRESS...

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New International Submissions: Georgia, Luxembourg, and Taiwan

by Nathaniel R

Beginning

We have three more official submissions for Best International Feature Film at the forthcoming Oscars, bringing the number up to nine, and one of them is streaming on Netflix for your pleasure or cathartic misery as the case may be... 

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New Oscar Predictions: Best Actor

by Nathaniel R

Curiously all the action, or "buzz", to date is in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor races. The other two acting competitions are seriously wanting... at least from this vantage point. We haven't seen a Best Actor race this empty of potential players since circa 2003. Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Father) may well be destined to become the oldest actor ever to win in the male leading category (he's 82, and the current record holder Henry Fonda was 76). Gary Oldman's upcoming take on Mank and Delroy Lindo's much acclaimed turn in Da 5 Bloods are probably can't-miss nominees given the lack of competition unless something goes very wrong for them. But the 4th and 5th slots just might be a free-for-all. 

Much of that is due of course to the sparse field of films planning on opening before the eligibility deadline in February of 2021. Given this (currently) wide open race we might see someone from an ensemble picture like Trial of the Chicago 7 or One Night in Miami campaigning as lead. Who do you think might surprise us with a robust campaign and/or wild acclaim? Check out the new Best Actor chart.