Suggested Viewings KCL Film Studies

From the module Film Theory I

 

Coeur Fidele (Jean Epstein, 1923) and Smiling Madame Beudet (Germaine Dulac, 1923)

What I liked about those films is their relationship to the Impressionist film theory and movement, I'm becoming more and more fascinated with these early scholarly writings because they make us understand how much we now take for granted in the cinema experience. Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein were exploring the possibility cinema has of exploring the flux of the human consciousness. If you are interested in the topic these films together with the two authors/directors' main writings are key starting points. You will realize how important a close-up (so common and natural nowadays) was to express that possibility, and the status of cinema as the new art.

From the module French New Wave

The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)

Where shall I start? This film, together with Citizen Kane and Casablanca was one of my first and most beloved approaches to the magic of cinema. Truffaut's autobiographical film is not as much an open eye on his life, but the story of a universal situation regarding growing up and being a teenager in a family and society who are not able to understand you. But this is not everything the film is, this film has not influenced the world for its narrative only. Truffaut was able to find his voice in a new poetic of visual, which, more than anything else, hommages the love for cinema as the medium able to, why not, bring out an individual's hidden self, the medium able to speak directly to the soul. Truffaut's career and life will unfortunately conclude in 1984 after one last film: Confidentially Yours (Vivement Dimanche), the ending sequence of this film is a beautiful conclusion to what he started in 1959, watch it to see what I mean, I'll just tell you that the cinema is the game the children live and play with, the cinema is life.

From the module Topics in World Cinema

The Hour of the Furnaces (Octavio Getino and Fernando Solanas, 1968)

We watched the first part of this political manifesto film divided into three parts and coming out at a very particular moment in history: a moment in which all over the world filmmakers and intellectuals were starting to subvert the system at the service of the people. In this context Solanas and Getino wrote the Manifesto Towards a Third Cinema which is still one of the most important writing about cinema. Influenced by Marxist dialectic and based on class struggle the film has a very complex structures. Each part is subdivided into different sections each cross-cutting between intertitles used to deliver the political message, and the most disparate images: newsreels, advertisements, still images about consumerism, white society critique concerning the Unites States especially. The very disturbing slaughter's scene aims to show the unpleasant work behind the making of products and serves as an allegory for the selling of a nation, Argentina in this case. The iconic final shot shows a still of dead Che Guevara's close-up, a scene lasting 2 mins and 40 secs, through its dialectical film form the film requires the people to complete the last stage of class struggle and reach a new synthesis. A must-see for film lovers who appreciate the political engagement cinema offers.

From the module Cinema and Spectatorship

Bush Mama (Haile Gerima, 1979)

Among this list this is probably the most difficult film to find, but if we do, please watch it. It was a different and puzzling experience. The film is set in the black ghetto in LA in the 70s when the white police was violently attacking the black community. This story is not a common story, though we see characters, but we hardly recognize the characters and identify with them, because they embody the story of a social condition more than that of a single person. The recognizable protagonist is Dorothy, a woman and single mother struggling with alcoholism, parenting, marginalization, and the institutions. A touching text which does not leave a lot of space for melodramatic situations, only for the harshness of the truth.

2014 Asia House Pan Asia Film Festival 26 Feb - 9 Mar

I'm glad to announce the programme of this year's Pan Asian Film Festival which will take place around different venues in London between 26 February and 9 March.

The programme was released two days ago and you can get your own copy in the following venues: ICA, Ciné Lumiere, Riverside Studios, Genesis Cinema and Asia House, plus all around London in the following days.

This festival is a great opportunity to become more familiar with different kinds of films and filmmakers covering a huge geographical area, less known by Western audiences.

The programme is vary and it includes Q&As (highlights of the festival), so have look and get your tickets (you can purchase them at the different venues).
For detailed information visit: www.asiahouse.org

I'll be volunteering throughout the whole festival and if I have the chance to see some of the screenings I will certainly review the films and the experience in general!

Opening Night Gala - 26 Feb - 20.40 - ICA

Unforgiven - dir. Lee Sang-il, 2013, Japan, 135 mins

UK Premiere + Q&A

Award winning director Lee Sang-il (Hula Girls) mounts a handsome, powerful remake of Clint Eastwood's iconic revenge Western. Set in post-Meiji restoration Hokkaido, it stars Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima) as Jubei Kamata, an ageing warrior who has left his crimes under the former Edo shogunate behind him. But poverty, and possibly a chance for redemption, allows a friend to persuade him to come out of retirement. Lavishly recreating its 1880s setting, which includes replacing guns with samurai swords, Lee effortlessly transposes the original film's themes of vengeance, loyalty and regret to its new setting. Unforgiven has been a major hit at festivals the world over, and the Pan-Asia Film Festival is delighted to be hosting the film's UK Premiere as its 2014 Opening Night Gala.

1 Mar - 18.00 - ICA

36 dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2012, Thailand, 68 mins

London Premiere

On the site of a derelict building, location scout Sai meets art director Oom, and they begin working together. Sai records everything on her digital camera, from images of locations to the people in her life. Two years later, Sai is still in the same job, while Oom has moved on. One day her computer crashes, wiping her hard drive, along with the images that capture an entire year of her life. Among them are those she'd taken of Oom, and an intense period of reflection and memory begins. Consisting of 36 shots, 36 won the main prize at the Busan International Film Festival in 2012, and is a delicate contemplation on the nature of memories in the digital age.

1 Mar - 18.30 - CINÉ LUMIÈRE

Dangerous Liaisons - dir. Jin-ho Hur, 2012, China, 106 mins

Gala Screening - UK Premiere

An alluring, stylish adaptation of the 18th century French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos starring Chinese superstar Zhang Ziyi (House of Flying Daggers, Memoirs of a Geisha), Cecilia Cheung, and Jang Dong-Gun. Made widely famous by Stephen Frears' 1988 film adaptation starring Glenn Close, here director Jin-ho Hur translates the novel's story of mind games and sexual intrigue to the glamorous high society of 1930s Shanghai, and creates a taught, powerful drama with phenomenal central performances, and lushly realized production design.

2 Mar - 16.00 - Riverside Studios

The Shape of the Night - dir. Nakamura Noboru, 1964, Japan, 106 mins

UK Premiere

Restored to mark the centenary of Nakamura Noboru's birth, The Shape of the Night is set to re-establish itself as a classic of Japanese cinema. A director famous for his lavish visual style - his Twin Sisters of Kyoto was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1963 - Nakamura Noburo's film sees Yoshie Nogami (an amazing Kuwano Miyuki) work as a factory worker by day, while moonlighting as a bar hostess at night. Seduced by regular Eiji Kitami, she begins a passionate love affair, until Eiji's demeanor changes and she is slowly forced into a life of prostitution. Living a life of despair, she eventually meets building engineer Fujii, who urges her to go straight and run away with him. But this swooning, tragic drama has other plans in store for her. A genuine rediscovery, The Shape of the Night is one of Japan's great female-centered melodramas, to rank alongside those of Ozu, Imamura and Naruse.

2 Mar - 16.30 - Ciné Lumière

Kami's Party - dir. Ali Ahmadzadeh, 2013, Iran, 80 mins

UK Premiere

Negin is spending a few days on holiday with her boyfriend Omid and her sister Nazan in a villa on the banks of the Caspian Sea. Not having had news of Omid for several hours, Negin decides to go with her friend Farnaz to a party being held by Kami, a mutual friend. The two young women drive off to Lavassan, a small district on the outskirts of Tehran, where the party is taking place. But Negin doesn't realize that a surprise awaits her in the trunk of the car. Portraying the life and relationships of the wealthy young adults of Iran, Kami's Party is a road-movie that takes viewers into the well-kept, secret worlds of the country's upper-classes. An important new film showing a side to the country not many in the West will have seen, and an important debut feature from a bright new voice.

2 Mar - 18.00 - ICA

Mary is Happy, Mary is Happy - dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2013, Thailand, 120 mins

UK Premiere

Mary is a senior in high school. With graduation a few months away, she is faced with crises in life, love, and friendship. Meanwhile, strange, random things keep happening to her. Portraying a character struggling to make sense of her life as it threatens to spin out of control, Nawapol's wickedly inventive second film creates an inventive narrative of an uncontrollable life through a brilliantly modern artistic concept: to adapt a Twitter stream into a fictional film. The director used 410 real Tweets from an anonymous girl as a springboard to create a fantasy world of a contemporary Asian teenager, and the results are funny and strange, a conflation of modern Thai teenage life, Wes Anderson-esque humour, and the possibilities for escape offered by the digital world.

5 Mar - 18.30 - Asia House

The Missing Picture - dir. Rithy Panh, 2013, Cambodia, 90 mins

Inc. Panel Discussion

The winner of Un Certain Regard section of Cannes in 2013, this stunning documentary uses a variety of visual mediums to explore the topic of genocide and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Detailing award-winning director Rithy Panh's attempts to recover and recreate a lost image from the period of Cambodia's recent tragic history, its use of claymation and archive footage offers a moving contemplation of memory and healing. The perfect film for an in-depth discussion hosted at Asia House as part of the Pan-Asia Film Festival, this film addresses one of the most sensitive subjects of recent Asian history in film, and like the recent The Act of Killing, offers a window for deeper understanding of these events.

7 Mar - 19.00 - ICA

The Tale of Iya - dir. Tesuichiro Tsuta, 2013, Japan, 169 mins

UK PREMIERE + Q&A

A beautiful, sweeping drama evoking the relationship between man and nature, set in Japan's last untouched region. A tunnel to be built in Iya threatens to disrupt the natural order as an elderly man (Min Tanaka) and his granddaughter Haruna (Rina Takeda) meet a young man from Tokyo (Shima Onishi), whose life will be changed forever in experiencing their simple, secluded lifestyle. Ambitious, beautiful and moving, Tetsuichiro Tsuta's sophomore feature depicts the nobility of co-existing with nature. Shot on 35mm in the mountains of Tokushima, it captures the changing seasons over the course of a year, creating a dreamlike visual poem that offers viewers a truly cinematic experience. Awarded a Special Mention in the Asian Future section of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

8 Mar - 17.00 - Genesis Cinema

Honour - dir. Shan Khan, 2013, UK, 96 mins

LONDON PREMIERE + PANEL DISCUSSION

An urban thriller set in West London starring Paddy Considine and rising star Aiysha Hart, Honour is one of the most powerful British films of the year. Mona is a young British Muslim girl on the run from her family after they uncover her plans to run away with her Punjabi boyfriend. In a desperate bid to save face and their family honor, her mother and older brother enlist the help of a bounty hunter to track her down. A sensitive, interesting take on debates within British-Asian communities, with a fantastic cast.

Closing Night Gala - 9 Mar - 18.00 - ICA

A Prayer for Rain - dir. Ravi Kumar, India/UK, 2013, 103 mins

UK PREMIERE + Q&A

A drama tackling one of the last half-century's great corporate and environmental scandals, A Prayer for Rain tells the powerful and moving story of the Bhopal tragedy. Featuring both a high profile Indian cast including Fagun Thakrar and Tannishtha Chatterjee, as well as American stars Martin Sheen, Kal Penn, and Mischa Barton, Ravi Kumar's debut is both a labour of love and a timely call for action, arriving on the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Union Carbide plant malfunction, the consequences of which are tragically ongoing. Dramatising the dependence of the local community on the chemical plant that will eventually cause catastrophe, and the series of oversights that led to an event that stands as a benchmark for corporate irresponsibility in the developing world, this is vital and important film with which to close this years festival.

Suggested Viewings KCL Film Studies

From the module Film Theory I

The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjostrom, 1921)

A early Swedish experimental film playing with film form and the possibility cinema has of accessing different worlds and showing them on screen. A good example to discuss the status of cinema as the Seventh Art, which at the time was still very much debated. The film has a very slow pace, seemingly simulating the lasting of real time and trying to transport it to cinema. The story is loosely based on a Swedish legend similar to A Christmas Carol. The great thing is that you can find it in its entirety on Youtube (I mentioned it last year in a blog post about The Shining and some of its inspirations: http://artbookscinema.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/seven-months-of-bfi-southbank.html) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg7hAwUGQmo

From the module French New Wave

Et Dieu...créa la femme/And God Created Woman (Roger Vadim, 1956)

If you are interested in stardom, and in female figures especially, this is the film for you. Brigitte Bardot's big debut with the film that changed her star persona both off and on screen. Moreover, the film, with its controversial topics and attitude, opened a debate on the French youth of the Fifties, its problems, indecision, but also its hunger for life. Delightful performance by what would then become the great Jean Louis Trintignant. A controversial picture which would have a big impact on the birth of the New Wave (pay attention to the use of Bardot's body in the opening sequence especially, and spot this shots in a famous Godard's film, Le Mepris/Contempt, to see the use he makes of the female body).

From the module Topics in World Cinema

The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)

This week was the time of Gillo Pontecorvo's Golden Lion winning. This film is a stunning example of cinematography accompanied by Ennio Morricone's soundtrack and the use of non-professional actors in the roles of the Algerians. My favourite sequence in the whole film constructs a parallel montage of three different spaces as three Algerian women take bombs to different public spaces in the European part of the city. The sequence is beautifully constructed to build suspense, as we know about the bombs, and the camera focuses on the women's performances and the clock slowly approaches the explosions' time. You can watch it here to get an idea of the movie, but I would totally suggest it: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hYtN2zWX8c (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oAtMMvnDy0 (Part 2)

Interesting in form and content as one of the richest documents about the Algerian war from the point of view of the colonized. Very interesting in this merit is the analysis of character identification developed by Murray Smith in the essay "The Battle of Algiers: Colonial Struggle and Collective Allegiance."

From the module Cinema and Spectatorship

Blonde Venus (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)

One of Sternberg's most famous and controversial pictures starring Marlene Dietrich, this film focuses on the performativity of gender (regarding femininity especially) as it portrays all the different roles Dietrich as woman performs. The narrative is not Sternberg's main focus as Laura Mulvey analyses he focuses on the impact of images and on the visual construction of the film, and his use of Dietrich's body deconstruction is a perfect example of psychoanalytic fetishization of the female body. So, have fun analyzing the different readings this film proposes, and Cary Grant is also in the film, but, who cares? Dietrich is The Star.

American Hustle

I went to see American Hustle this afternoon since I don't like hearing too much about a film and see its success without having watched it. I have to say I had great expectations, which unfortunately got quite disappointed.

Firstly, the film uses its main commodity, the extensive use of stars, to deliver its status. Even though I should not go this far, since I have not seen all the nominations for Best Picture for the Oscars, I would say that this film does not configure as the best I have seen, if not for the performances.

I found the plot rather confusing, even though it is pretty basic: "David O Russell's brazen, nerve-jangling, irresistibly watchable black comedy American Hustle is loosely based on a true story from the 1970s of how the FBI forced a notorious New Jersey conman to help entrap corrupt politicians with the offer of bribes from a "fake sheikh", a scam later beloved in British tabloid circles" (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian) and I think the cinematic time was far too long for the development, since I could see the plot developing, but the characters remaining quite flat.

Even Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Rosalyn, for as much as her performance was good, was marginal and used to fill comic spaces, funny and amusing yes (the "To live or Let Die" scene, especially), but not sufficient to compensate big lacks in the script.

What I enjoyed the most about the performances was the fact that each character was performing himself/herself in turn, from Christian Bale's Irving Rosenfeld, to Amy Adams' Sydney Prosser each of them is performing a show, a desired self.
The power of the film also consists in its drawing on quotable pieces of dialogue (the microwave scene for example), extractable sequences, and a super-catchy soundtrack displaying the allure of the 70s.
My favourite moment was the cameo appearance of Robert De Niro as Victor Tellegio, nonetheless one of the father figures of the "gangster" movies, in the brief shot in which we see him shooting a man all I was thinking was: Here's my man. This said, he was almost put in contrast with the con-players interpreted by Bale and Cooper, the old and the young, and I am sorry, but I would always choose the Scorsese's De Niro.

I genuinely think American Hustle is a well packaged Hollywood product: easily accessible and enjoyable, based on stardom, and focusing on certain sequences made to impress and engage the viewer.
In the end, I found it difficult to find any point of identification, I was feeling pitiful for those figures, neither epic, nor comedic, nor tragic, rather a mixture of all the above which did not manage to develop well-rounded characters. 
I would still go see it for a good laugh and a nice screening experience!

Rosalyn Rosenfeld:    Life is ridiculous.  And you know that I would never say anything bad about your father in front of you, but your father is a sick son-of-a bitch.

Danny Rosenfeld:   Daddy’s a sick son-of-a-b****?

Rosalyn Rosenfeld:   Don’t repeat that… but yes.

Suggested Viewings from KCL Film Studies

From the module Film Theory I

Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)

Silent cinema has the power to communicate through the pure image, the essence of cinema, and Buster Keaton's film is a awesome early example of reflecting on the medium itself and on its capacity of triggering our emotions, and, possibly, changing our lives.

From the module French New Wave

Forbidden Games (René Clément, 1952)

A pre-Nouvelle Vague cinematic text set during 1940s Nazi bombings of France guiding us through the eyes of a spectacular child protagonist, the little Paulette, and her countryside friend, Michel. A human document on childhood's friendship, but also a critique of French society and religion.

From the module Topics in World Cinema

 Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray,1955)

This was my favourite film among this week's, not only did it make me discover the amazing cinema of Ray, but it also is a human document of the finest kind opening Ray's Apu's Trilogy and always focusing on the child's gaze as bearer of the amazement and the surprise in front of the things of daily life. 

From the module Cinema and Spectatorship

 Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960)

I finally had the chance to watch this Powell's gem, the cinematography and camerawork are perfect, and the story makes you question your role as spectator through the discourses on voyeurism and scopophilia. A cinematic thriller interrogating the very essence of the apparatus.

The Oscars 2014 - 86th Academy Awards Nominations

Video of the Oscars Nominations announcement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VlWUkpIJFw

I know I may be repetitive, but 2013 really has been an amazing year for cinema, so I am very excited to see who is going to win. Here is the full list of Nominations:

Actor in a Leading Role

•    Christian Bale in “American Hustle”

•    Bruce Dern in “Nebraska”

•    Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”

•    Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave”

•    Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club”

Actor in a Supporting Role

•    Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips”

•    Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle”

•    Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave”

•    Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street”

•    Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club”

Actress in a Leading Role

•    Amy Adams in “American Hustle”

•    Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine”

•    Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”

•    Judi Dench in “Philomena”

•    Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”

Actress in a Supporting Role

•    Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine”

•    Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle”

•    Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave”

•    Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County”

•    June Squibb in “Nebraska”

Animated Feature Film

•    “The Croods” Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson

•    “Despicable Me 2” Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri

•    “Ernest & Celestine” Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner

•    “Frozen” Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho

•    “The Wind Rises” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

Cinematography

•    “The Grandmaster” Philippe Le Sourd

•    “Gravity” Emmanuel Lubezki

•    “Inside Llewyn Davis” Bruno Delbonnel

•    “Nebraska” Phedon Papamichael

•    “Prisoners” Roger A. Deakins

Costume Design

•    “American Hustle” Michael Wilkinson

•    “The Grandmaster” William Chang Suk Ping

•    “The Great Gatsby” Catherine Martin

•    “The Invisible Woman” Michael O’Connor

•    “12 Years a Slave” Patricia Norris

Directing

•    “American Hustle” David O. Russell

•    “Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón

•    “Nebraska” Alexander Payne

•    “12 Years a Slave” Steve McQueen

•    “The Wolf of Wall Street” Martin Scorsese

Documentary Feature

•    “The Act of Killing”Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen

•    “Cutie and the Boxer” Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher

•    “Dirty Wars” Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill

•    “The Square” Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer

•    “20 Feet from Stardom” Nominees to be determined

Documentary Short Subject

•    “CaveDigger” Jeffrey Karoff

•    “Facing Fear” Jason Cohen

•    “Karama Has No Walls” Sara Ishaq

•    “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life” Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed

•    “Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall” Edgar Barens

Film Editing

•    “American Hustle” Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten

•    “Captain Phillips” Christopher Rouse

•    “Dallas Buyers Club” John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

•    “Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger

•    “12 Years a Slave” Joe Walker

Foreign Language Film

•    “The Broken Circle Breakdown” Belgium

•    “The Great Beauty” Italy

•    “The Hunt” Denmark

•    “The Missing Picture” Cambodia

•    “Omar” Palestine

Makeup and Hairstyling

•    “Dallas Buyers Club” Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

•    “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Stephen Prouty

•    “The Lone Ranger” Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Music (Original Score)

•    “The Book Thief” John Williams

•    “Gravity” Steven Price

•    “Her” William Butler and Owen Pallett

•    “Philomena” Alexandre Desplat

•    “Saving Mr. Banks” Thomas Newman

Music (Original Song)

•    “Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone”
Music by Bruce Broughton; Lyric by Dennis Spiegel

•    “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

•    “Let It Go” from “Frozen”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

•    “The Moon Song” from “Her”
Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

•    “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyric by Paul Hewson

Best Picture

•    “American Hustle” Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers

•    “Captain Phillips” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers

•    “Dallas Buyers Club” Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers

•    “Gravity” Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers

•    “Her” Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers

•    “Nebraska” Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers

•    “Philomena” Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

•    “12 Years a Slave” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers

•    “The Wolf of Wall Street” Nominees to be determined

Production Design

•    “American Hustle” Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

•    “Gravity” Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

•    “The Great Gatsby” Production Design: Catherine Martin; Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn

•    “Her” Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

•    “12 Years a Slave” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

Short Film (Animated)

•    “Feral” Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden

•    “Get a Horse!” Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim

•    “Mr. Hublot” Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares

•    “Possessions” Shuhei Morita

•    “Room on the Broom” Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

Short Film (Live Action)

•    “Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” Esteban Crespo

•    “Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)” Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras

•    “Helium” Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson

•    “Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)” Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari

•    “The Voorman Problem” Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

Sound Editing

•    “All Is Lost” Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns

•    “Captain Phillips” Oliver Tarney

•    “Gravity” Glenn Freemantle

•    “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Brent Burge

•    “Lone Survivor” Wylie Stateman

Sound Mixing

•    “Captain Phillips” Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro

•    “Gravity” Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro

•    “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson

•    “Inside Llewyn Davis” Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

•    “Lone Survivor” Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

Visual Effects

•    “Gravity” Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould

•    “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds

•    “Iron Man 3” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick

•    “The Lone Ranger” Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier

•    “Star Trek Into Darkness” Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

•    “Before Midnight” Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

•    “Captain Phillips” Screenplay by Billy Ray

•    “Philomena” Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

•    “12 Years a Slave” Screenplay by John Ridley

•    “The Wolf of Wall Street” Screenplay by Terence Winter

Writing (Original Screenplay)

•    “American Hustle” Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

•    “Blue Jasmine” Written by Woody Allen

•    “Dallas Buyers Club” Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

•    “Her” Written by Spike Jonze

•    “Nebraska” Written by Bob Nelson