Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film News

Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film Announces 2007 Nominations - 'Country', 'Blood' Rise to Top

Nominations for the 14th annual CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS were finalized by the film group’s nominating committee this past weekend. Among the 41 films receiving nominations, two films featuring violence and men obsessed with greed, the Coen brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and THERE WILL BE BLOOD with Daniel Day-Lewis led all comers, each coming away with 5 nods. Just behind them, with 4 nominations each, was a trio of films with standout female lead performances; AWAY FROM HER, Sarah Polley’s directorial debut, Ellen Page’s star-making JUNO, and the exuberant Japanese girl group flick, LINDA, LINDA, LINDA.

BLOOD, MEN and LINDA are all Best Movie nominees, as well as being featured in the acting and screenplay categories while JUNO and AWAY notched most of their nominations in the acting categories. Standing alone in the crowd with 3 nominations was Julian Schnabel’s THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; among the rest with multiple nods were Italy’s THE GOLDEN DOOR, Hal Hartley’s FAY GRIM, foreign Oscar-winner THE LIVES OF OTHERS, and the adaptation of the graphic novel memoir, PERSEPOLIS.

Women overall were well represented, with 8 films helmed by female directors making the list, including one each in the Documentary and Movie categories. Sarah Polley scored a director/actor/writer hat trick, with THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS providing the thespian third. Almost half of the nominated films came from outside the US. Canada, France, Japan and Germany all produced more than one of our finalist films. Bosnia-Herzogovnia made its debut on a Chlotrudis list this year, with GRBAVICA: THE LAND OF MY DREAMS.

In the Society’s most competitive and prestigious category, the Buried Treasure, the final nominees were the award winning Romanian drama 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST; THE LIVE-IN MAID, set in Argentina during economic upset; the documentary ROMANTICO which follows a troubadour emigrating back to Mexico; from Thailand, the comic TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER; and the off-kilter story of one man’s afterlife, WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY. The Buried Treasure is the only category with eligibility requirements: nominated films must have earned less than $250,000 in the U.S., and members can submit no more than 3 entries for films they feel strongly were given distributional short shrift and deserve a wider audience. A shortlist is then compiled, and further ballot votes are taken until the final list is set.

For over a decade, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film has highlighted its commitment to independent and foreign film in style by holding its own black-tie CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS ceremony in early spring. The 2008 edition will be held Sunday March 30th at the historic Brattle Theatre, and the public is invited to join Chlotrudis members, nominees and special guests in the celebration.

In addition to the competitive categories, Chlotrudis also presents special awards that honor individuals or films for particular distinction. Past recipients Ellen Page (Breakthrough Award ‘05), Kerry Washington (Breakthrough Award ‘04), Don McKellar (Body of Work '07) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (first Hall of Fame inductee) are among those who have made the trek to Boston to be honored for their contributions to independent film. This year’s recipients are still being finalized at press time.

The glut of great movies this year made for a particularly long and arduous final nominating session, but in the end quantity rewarded the hard work, with several members commenting that several of the categories’ list of nominees were among the strongest they’d ever seen.

The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film is a Boston-based non-profit group that teaches people to view film actively and experience the world through independent film, and encourages discussion. The group works with film festivals, local art-houses and theatres, production companies, directors and actors to bring creative, quality films to the attention of audiences and film-lovers. Visit its website, http://www.chlotrudis.org for more information.

The complete list of the 14th Annual Chlotrudis Awards nominations:

BEST MOVIE
Linda, Linda, Linda
The Lives of Others
No Country for Old Men
Once
Protagonist
There Will Be Blood

BEST DIRECTOR
Sarah Polley - Away from Her
Julia Loktev - Day Night Day Night
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Tsai Ming Liang - I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
Ethan & Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Gordon Pinsent - Away from Her
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Sam Riley - Control
Ryan Gosling - Lars & the Real Girl
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Parker Posey - Fay Grim
Mirjana Karanovic - Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams
Ellen Page - Juno
Kate Dickie - Red Road
Sarah Polley - The Secret Life of Words

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mircea Andreescu - 12:08 East of Bucharest
Kene Holliday - Great World of Sound
J.K. Simmons - Juno
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Steve Zahn - Rescue Dawn
Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Aurora Quattrocchi - The Golden Door
Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
Allison Janney - Juno
Du-na Bae - Linda, Linda, Linda
Margo Martindale - Paris Je T’aime
Adrienne Shelly - Waitress

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
Exiled
The Host
Lars & the Real Girl
Linda, Linda, Linda
No Country for Old Men
Waitress

BEST VISUAL DESIGN
Brand Upon the Brain
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Pan’s Laryrinth
Paprika
Persepolis
Tears of the Black Tiger

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Away from Her
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
Persepolis
There Will Be Blood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fay Grim
The Golden Door
Juno
Linda, Linda, Linda
The Lives of Others

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Helvetica
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Kurt Cobain: About a Son
Lake of Fire
No End in Sight
Protagonist

BURIED TREASURE
12:08 East of Bucharest
The Live-In Maid
Romantico
Tears of the Black Tiger
Wristcutters: A Love Story

PYTHON’S ‘GRAIL’ HEADS CHLOTRUDIS SOCIETY’S TOP 100 FUNNIEST FILMS LIST

For its yearly Top 100 list tradition, the CHLOTRUDIS SOCIETY FOR INDEPENDENT FILM (CSIF) picked perhaps its most subjective category ever for 2007: funniest films of all time. Members weighed in with their picks of the 20 funniest films of all time, then the lists were merged to create this list of laughs. The list is overwhelmingly American, with only fourteen of the 100 films originating without U.S. involvement. Not surprisingly, the UK had the second most representation on the list, including the list's #1 film, MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL!

The films skewed fairly modern, with films since 1980 making up more than half the list. The 80s was the funniest decade, with a total of 28 films from that era. Overall though, the Top 100 spreads things out pretty well with six decades represented, and the first film from this millennium doesn't show up until #15 with Christopher Guest's BEST IN SHOW.

Many filmmakers from various eras appear more than once on the list, including Tim Burton, Charles Chaplin, Christopher Guest, Albert Brooks, John Waters, Buster Keaton, George Cukor, Kevin Smith, Peter Bogdanovich, Carl Reiner, Preston Sturges, Mel Brooks, Howard Hawks, and Woody Allen Rob Reiner holds the distinction for being the only director to have multiple films of his crack the Top 10 with #3 THIS IS SPINAL TAP and #10 PRINCESS BRIDE. Sadly but not surprisingly, only two films helmed by women made the list: Valerie Faris, who co-directed LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE pops up at #20, and Nicole Holofcener squeezes on at #99 with her debut feature, WALKING & TALKING.

There was one filmmaking team who managed a surprising four in the Top 100 list. Joel & Ethan Coen’s films show up more than any other director. Starting with the quirky, cult-fave THE BIG LEBOWSKI at #13, they squeeze two more into the Top 25 with FARGO at #22 and O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU at #25, with RAISING ARIZONA rounding things out at #57.

Films 2 through 10 are, in order:

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, THIS IS SPINAL TAP, SOME LIKE IT HOT, BRINGING UP BABY, AIRPLANE, ANNIE HALL, DR. STRANGELOVE, GROUNDHOG DAY and PRINCESS BRIDE.

For the complete list of the 100 Funniest Films of All-Time, Click Here.

Celebrating its 14th year, the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film has members across the country that share a love of great film. Members participate in regular online discussions & postings, discounted film viewings and occasional filmfest road trips, as well as more formal and programmatic events such as the Sunday Eye Opener, a semester series of film presented in cooperation with the Brattle Film Foundation, sponsorships and co-presentations with area film festivals; and our juried Short Film Festival, now in its 9th year.

Our signature event, the Annual Chlotrudis Awards ceremony, will be held on Sunday March 30th, 2008, to honor the best of 2007’s independent films and film performances, and to recognize and celebrate the talents of individuals who have made a mark. This is our year’s highlight, where members, friends, allies and the public are invited to attend as we announce our category and special award winners. Previous special awardees who joined in our the night’s festivities include Ellen Page, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kerry Washington and Don McKellar.