Awards Season Overview

Media

Jan 4

For those of us working in or around media and entertainment (or any dedicated movie fan), January is the Super Bowl of Awards Season. While major film festivals tend to be both early Autumn and at the start of the year, the snowball of awards start in December and crescendo in January. Because there are so many, let’s do a break down of top award ceremonies and festivals.

AWARDS

For the purposes of this post, we are going with film one. Keep in mind that some carry critical weight, some prestige, some mere celebrity. Many of the film festivals mentioned below also hand out awards, but these are the important ones.

Academy Awards (Oscars)

BAFTA Film Awards
Golden Globes
SAG Awards
Awards from the most prestigious American film critics associations, the "Big Four": the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics' Circle
Independent Spirit Awards - This is small but mighty, and fun

FESTIVALS

There are SO many festivals for movies big and small, that it can be difficult to rank importance alone since any can have an impact on careers, distribution, and yes, awards. These festivals provide a vital platform for showcasing new works to critics, distributors, and fellow filmmakers, often serving as the launchpad for films that achieve international acclaim. For independent filmmakers, festivals are crucial for gaining exposure and recognition - many of these include awards too. Some of the most impactful, including notable film and filmmakers featured there, are:

Cannes Film Festival (France) - "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino, "The Piano" by Jane Campion, "Blue Is the Warmest Colour" by Abdellatif Kechiche.

Toronto International Film Festival (Canada) - "Slumdog Millionaire" by Danny Boyle, "La La Land" by Damien Chazelle, "The King's Speech" by Tom Hooper
Venice Film Festival (Italy) - "Rome, Open City" by Roberto Rossellini, "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa, "Brokeback Mountain" by Ang Lee
Berlin International Film Festival (Germany) - "Taxi Driver" by Martin Scorsese, "The Lives of Others" by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki.
Sundance Film Festival (USA) - "Reservoir Dogs" by Quentin Tarantino, "Little Miss Sunshine" by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, "Get Out" by Jordan Peele.
Telluride Film Festival (USA) - "Juno" by Jason Reitman, "Slumdog Millionaire" by Danny Boyle, "The Imitation Game" by Morten Tyldum
South by Southwest (USA) - "The Hurt Locker" by Kathryn Bigelow, "Short Term 12" by Destin Daniel Cretton, "Ex Machina" by Alex Garland
Tribeca Film Festival (USA) - "The Namesake" by Mira Nair, "The Square" by Jehane Noujaim, "In the Loop" by Armando Iannucci
BFI London Film Festival (UK) - "12 Years a Slave" by Steve McQueen, "Moonlight" by Barry Jenkins, "The King's Speech" by Tom Hooper
Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) - "La Dolce Vita" by Federico Fellini, "The Wonders" by Alice Rohrwacher, "Oldboy" by Park Chan-wook.
*Palm Springs International Film Festival - Special mention as I have volunteered at it many times. This is smaller but many awards too, attracts a lot of top talent before all of the big Los Angeles award shows in January, so it’s a bit of fun.