In 1970, Algeria became the first country in the Arab world to win an #Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category with the Algerian-French production “Z” directed by Costa Gavras.
“Héliopolis", Algeria's entry for the Best International Feature Film category of the 94th Annual Academy Awards is a very powerful historical drama about the Algerian revolution, directed by Djaafar Gacem.
Synopsis:
In Guelma, Victory in Europe Day is a life-altering event for one Algerian family: French troops are about to commit a massacre against Algerian civilians.
In Guelma, which was once called Heliopolis in ancient times, the daily life of an Algerian family takes its usual course. But on May 8, 1945, the day the end of World War II was announced, demonstrations by the Algerian people against the French colonial power and for the country’s independence took place, which were bloodily suppressed by the French army and French settler militias. The event went down in history as the Sétif and Guelma massacre.
"Héliopolis" is a masterpiece in motion picture and will end up a classic in the history of filmmaking in Algeria and the rest of the Arab world.
French is the best language of motion picture.
I predict "Héliopolis" making it to the final nominees for the Best International Feature Film, Best Picture and the Best Original Screenplay.. But I don't know if it can win the second Oscar for Algeria, because of the outstanding films by the other countries competing for the Best International Feature Film award.
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Heliopolis is also the title of an Egyptian film produced in 2009 directed by Ahmad Abdalla.
- By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima,
Publisher/Editor,
NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® Series @247 NIGERIA @247nigrria on Twitter
Having a cinema is one thing; attracting moviegoers to the cinema is another thing.
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
Nigerian film distributors and exhibitors banking on the followers of the A-List actors on Instagram and Facebook has not attracted majority of them.to the movies they featured in. Because, many the actors buy followers, views and likes and majority of the followers are not going to the cinemas to spend N4000 to watch a movie that they can watch later on #Netflix with a subscription that is not up to N3000 monthly, including hundreds of other movies and series.
70% of the #Nollywood movies playing in the cinemas in Nigeria are actually teleplays without cinematic quality.
Dramatic scenes are often mistaken for cinematic scenes in Nollywood. And actors having a shouting match in a scene is not an #Oscar performance, but may be good enough for an #emmy . Nollywood is not Hollywood.🤩
Frankly speaking, Nollywood movies are best viewed on @netflix, @showmaxonline and cable TV channels.
Emerald Fennell accepts the Oscar® for Original Screenplay during the live ABC Telecast of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
credit: Todd Wawrychuk / A.M.P.A.S.
http://photos.presslist.oscars.org/listanevent.php?events=2426.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
BEST PICTURE
The Father, David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
Judas and the Black Messiah, Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Mank, Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
Minari, Christina Oh, Producer
Nomadland, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
Promising Young Woman, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
Sound of Metal, Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Fight for You,” from Judas and the Black Messiah; Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice,” from The Trial of the Chicago 7; Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
“Husavik,” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
“Io Si (Seen),” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se); Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
“Speak Now,” from One Night in Miami...; Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Da 5 Bloods, Terence Blanchard
Mank, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Minari, Emile Mosseri
News of the World, James Newton Howard
Soul, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
JEAN HERSHOT HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Tyler Perry
FILM EDITING
Yorgos Lamprinos, The Father
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Frédéric Thoraval, Promising Young Woman
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen, Sound of Metal
Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Judas and the Black Messiah, Sean Bobbitt
Mank, Erik Messerschmidt
News of the World, Dariusz Wolski
Nomadland, Joshua James Richards
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Phedon Papamichael
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Father, Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton
Mank, Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
News of the World, Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
Tenet, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari
VISUAL EFFECTS
Love and Monsters, Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
The Midnight Sky, Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
Mulan, Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
The One and Only Ivan, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
Tenet, Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Collective, Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
Crip Camp, Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
The Mole Agent, Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
My Octopus Teacher, Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
Colette, Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
A Concerto Is a Conversation, Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
Do Not Split, Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
Hunger Ward, Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
A Love Song for Latasha, Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Onward, Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
Over the Moon, Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
Soul, Pete Docter and Dana Murray
Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Burrow, Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
Genius Loci, Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
If Anything Happens I Love You, Will McCormack and Michael Govier
Opera, Erick Oh
Yes-People, Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Feeling Through, Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
The Letter Room, Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
The Present, Farah Nabulsi and Ossama Bawardi
Two Distant Strangers, Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
White Eye, Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman
SOUND
Greyhound, Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
Mank, Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
News of the World, Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
Soul, Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
Sound of Metal, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michellee Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
DIRECTING
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
COSTUME DESIGN
Emma, Alexandra Byrne
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ann Roth
Mank, Trish Summerville
Mulan, Bina Daigeler
Pinocchio, Massimo Cantini Parrini
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Emma, Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
Hillbilly Elegy, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
Mank, Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
Pinocchio, Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami...
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
LaKeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round, Denmark
Better Days, Hong Kong
Collective, Romania
The Man Who Sold His Skin, Tunisia
Quo Vadis, Aida? Bosnia and Herzegovina
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad
The Father, Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
Nomadland, Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao
One Night in Miami…, Screenplay by Kemp Powers
The White Tiger, Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Judas and the Black Messiah, Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
Minari, Written by Lee Isaac Chung
Promising Young Woman, Written by Emerald Fennell
Sound of Metal, Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
The Trial of the Chicago 7, Written by Aaron Sorkin
The 2021 Oscars ceremony begins at 8pm ET Sunday April 25, on ABC, broadcasting live from both Union Station and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC is extending its coverage of the 2021 Oscars with a pre-show beginning at 6:30pm ET (“Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” hosted by Ariana Debose and Lil Rel Howery) and a post-show airing after the Oscars ceremony (“Oscars: After Dark,” with Colman Domingo and Andrew Rannells).
All three programs — “Oscars: Into the Spotlight,” “The Oscars,” and “Oscars: After Dark” — will be available to watch live via ABC.COM and the ABC app, although you will have to provide a cable subscriber log-in in order to access the live stream. Viewers without cable can tune-in by subscribing to a variety of platforms that carry ABC, including Hulu + Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV.
Sir Philip Anthony HopkinsCBE deserves the #Oscar for Best Actor for his astonishing leading role of "Anthony" in Florian Zeller's "The Father".
A classic psychopathethic drama on dementia.
The Synopsis:
Almost 80, mischievous, caustic, and defiantly living alone, Anthony rejects each and every hired caretaker that his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), lovingly introduces. Anne is desperate for help. She can’t make daily visits anymore, and Anthony’s grip on reality is unraveling. Given the ebb and flow of his memory, how much of his own identity and past can he cling to? Anne grieves the loss of her father as he lives and breathes before her—but doesn’t she have the right to live her own life?
Two African films, Outside the Law from Algeria and Life Above All from South Africa are among the 9 films that will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards. They were selected from 66 films that qualified in the category.
Notably is Rachid Bouchareb’s "Outside the Law," the French-Algerian film that annoyed French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's political party, who wanted the film banned at the last Cannes Film Festival, because “it denigrates France and the French military."
"Outside the Law", tells the story of three brothers who fought for Algeria's independence from France after World War II. After losing their family home in Algeria, three brothers were scattered across the globe. Messaoud joined the French army fighting in Indochina; Abdelkader became a leader of the Algerian independence movement; whilst Said moved to Paris to make his fortune in the shady clubs and boxing halls of Pigalle. Gradually, their interconnecting destinies reunited them in the French capital, where freedom is a battle to be fought and won.
"Life, Above All" an emotional and universal drama about a young girl who fought the fear and shame that have poisoned her community. It was directed by South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz who adapted the international award winning novel "Chanda's Secrets" by Allan Stratton.
Chanda, 16, is a smart and determined South African girl on track to win a scholarship – but she’s suddenly thrust into an impossible situation, forcing her to adopt maturity beyond her years. When we first meet her, she’s making funeral arrangements for her year-old sister, Sara. If people begin to suspect Sara’s death was due to more than a passing flu, Chanda will be faced with shame and stigma, not only for the victim, but also for their entire family.
When Lilian’s (Chanda’s mother) illness becomes impossible to hide, their nosy, eccentric next-door neighbor, Mrs. Tafa, engages a spirit doctor to perform a startling ritual. The spirit doctor determines that a curse is hanging over her and her children. In order to lift it, Lilian must return to the village from where she was banished decades before, leaving Chanda alone to care for her siblings.
Meanwhile, Chanda’s best friend, Esther, has turned to prostitution in a desperate attempt to survive and reunite her own family. Though the community shuns Esther, Chanda refuses to reject her friend. To the horror of those around her, Chanda opens her house to Esther at her friend’s moment of greatest need. That’s just the beginning of Chanda’s fight against convention.
When Chanda discovers that her mother may have gone away to die in order to spare her children shame, she ignores the cautions of the meddling Mrs. Tafa, and embarks on a fateful journey to bring her mother home. And in doing so, challenges the people around her to reject their prejudices and embrace the truth.
The 9 films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Algeria, “Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director; Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director; Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director; Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director; Japan, “Confessions,” Tetsuya Nakashima, director; Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director; South Africa, “Life, above All,” Oliver Schmitz, director; Spain, “Tambien la Lluvia” (“Even the Rain”), Iciar Bollain, director; Sweden, “Simple Simon,” Andreas Ohman, director.
Do not be surprised if the director of Avatar, the most debated movie on the Internet, James Cameron loses the coveted Oscar for Best Director to his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow or Lone Scherfig, director of An Education. One thing for sure is it is not going to be a walk over for any of the directors of the films nominated for the Best Picture.
I see Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) clutching their Oscars for the Best Actress and Best Actor in leading roles..Many film critics say it is going to be either George Clooney (Up In The Air) or Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), but I am betting on Jeff Bridges. And of course Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) knows her greatest contender for the Best Actress Oscar is Sandra Bullock. I wish all the Oscar Nominees the best wishes of their dreams.
~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
NOTE: The news video of the Oscars will be on Supple magazine and you can watch it full screen no matter the size of your monitor. Enjoy it!
