Film Independent's Spirit Awards 2007 Nominations

Congratulations to all of the nominees for this year's Film Independent's Spirit Awards, as announced on IFC this morning. Many of the films nominated have been covered here at The Film Panel Notetaker this past year including I'm Not There, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Great World of Sound, Quiet City, 2 Days in Paris, and Lust, Caution. Below is a complete list of the nominees.

BEST FEATURE
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik
"I'm Not There"Producers: Christine Vachon, John Sloss, John Goldwyn, James D. Stern
"Juno"Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
"A Mighty Heart"Producers: Dede Gardner, Andrew Eaton, Brad Pitt
"Paranoid Park" Producers: Neil Kopp, David Cress

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes, "I'm Not There"Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"Jason Reitman, "Juno"Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Gus Van Sant, "Paranoid Park"

BEST FIRST FEATURE
"2 Days in Paris," Director: Julie DelpyProducers: Julie Delpy, Christophe Mazodier, Thierry Potok
"Great World of Sound," Director: Craig ZobelProducers: Melissa Palmer, David Gordon Green, Richard Wright, Craig Zobel
"The Lookout," Director: Scott FrankProducers: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Laurence Mark, Walter Parkes
"Rocket Science," Director: Jeffrey BlitzProducers: Effie T. Brown, Sean Welch
"Vanaja," Director: Rajnesh DomalpalliProducer: Latha R. Domalapalli

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
"August Evening," Writer/Director: Chris EskaProducers: Connie Hill, Jason Wehling
"Owl and the Sparrow," Writer/Director: Stephane GaugerProducers: Nguyen Van Quan, Doan Nhat Nam, Stephane Gauger
"The Pool," Director: Chris SmithProducer: Kate NobleWriter: Chris Smith & Randy Russell
"Quiet City," Director: Aaron KatzProducers: Brendan McFadden, Ben StamblerWriters: Aaron Katz, Erin Fisher, Cris Lankenau
"Shotgun Stories," Writer/Director: Jeff NicholsProducers: David Gordon Green, Lisa Muskat, Jeff Nichols

BEST SCREENPLAY
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner, "Starting Out in the Evening"Adrienne Shelly, "Waitress"Mike White, "Year of the Dog"

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Jeffrey Blitz, "Rocket Science"Zoe Cassavetes, "Broken English"Diablo Cody, "Juno"Kelly Masterson, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"John Orloff, "A Mighty Heart"

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"Sienna Miller, "Interview"Ellen Page, "Juno"Parker Posey, "Broken English"Tang Wei, "Lust, Caution"

BEST MALE LEAD
Pedro Castaneda, "August Evening"Don Cheadle, "Talk To Me"Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Savages"Frank Langella, "Starting Out in the Evening"Tony Leung, "Lust, Caution"

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"Anna Kendrick, "Rocket Science"Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Margot at the Wedding"Tamara Podemski, "Four Sheets to the Wind"Marisa Tomei, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Talk To Me"Marcus Carl Franklin, "I'm Not There"Kene Holliday, "Great World of Sound"Irrfan Khan, "The Namesake"Steve Zahn, "Rescue Dawn"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mott Hupfel, "The Savages"Janusz Kaminski, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Milton Kam, "Vanaja"Mihai Malaimare, Jr., "Youth Without Youth"Rodrigo Prieto, "Lust, Caution"

BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Crazy Love," Director: Dan Klores"Lake of Fire," Director: Tony Kaye"Manufactured Landscapes," Director: Jennifer Baichwal"The Monastery," Director: Pernille Rose Gronkjaer"The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair," Directors: Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Director: Cristian Mungiu (Romania)"The Band's Visit," Director: Eran Kolirin (Israel)"Lady Chatterley," Director: Pascale Ferran (France)"Once," Director: John Carney (Ireland)"Persepolis," Directors: Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi (France)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
"I'm Not There," Director: Todd HaynesCasting Director: Laura RosenthalEnsemble Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bruce Greenwood, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Great World of Sound"

Sundance Institute at BAM - "Great World of Sound"

Saturday, June 2, 2007

The Great World of Sound director Craig Zobel and BAMcinematek curator Florence Almozini

Great World of Sound, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, screened at a special series called Sundance Institute at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Saturday. I attended with Liz Nord, director of the documentary Jericho's Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land.

Great World of Sound is directed by Craig Zobel, written by Zobel and George Smith. According to its synopsis, the film is about "when a man answers an ad to train as a record producer, he’s excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered artists only to discover his new job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be."

Zobel spoke during a audience Q&A after the screening. I took the following notes:

Q: How did you find the singers in the film? [In the film, the two producers/unaware "song sharking" salesman played by Pat Healy (Martin) and Kene Holliday (Clarence) conduct auditions in the hotel rooms their company sends them to]

A: Had a script. Identified the set pieces for the auditions. Turned some production offices into hotel rooms. Posted ads in the towns and had real people come in to audition. Some were real actors, but not everyone knew what was going on. Explained it to them after.

Q: What kind of reaction did you get from the people who auditioned?

A: Some said they got "punked." We told them they didn't have to be in the film if they didn't want to. Most people were fine with it and some people were uncomfortable with it.

Q: Will you pay the people if you make money from the movie?

A: I haven't made any money yet.

Q: Where did the choice for the ambiant electronic music come from?

A: Composer David Wingo. The electronic music grew of the scenes from the beginning training sessions, like a corporate training video.

Q: What format was the film shot on?

A: Half of the film was shot in Super 16 and the other half in miniDV.

Q: How did you find the actor who played Clarence?

A: I met him and he convinced me to go to a water park with him.