In a bold move, the Toronto Film Critics Association has awarded their Best Picture award for 2008 to Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy (review). In addition, they’ve honoured Michelle Williams’ performance with the Best Actress award. Personally, I’m delighted and hope this will draw some attention to this small but devastating film, which has screened only at TIFF so far. They also lavished three awards on Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married, another left-field choice. I’ll be surprised if this list of awards isn’t closer to the Independent Spirit winners than the Oscars or Golden Globes, but I am happy that some neglected work is getting a little attention. The full list of awards follows:
BEST PICTURE
“Wendy and Lucy” (Mongrel Media) (review)
Runners-up:
“Rachel Getting Married” (Mongrel Media)
“WALL*E” (Disney/Pixar)
BEST PERFORMANCE, MALE
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler” (Alliance)
Runners-up:
Sean Penn, “Milk” (Alliance)
Jean-Claude Van Damme, “JCVD” (Peace Arch)
BEST PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
Michelle Williams, “Wendy and Lucy” (review)
Runners-up:
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt” (Maple) (review)
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros)
Runners-up:
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey, Jr, “Tropic Thunder” (Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt” (review)
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt, “Rachel Getting Married”
Runners-up:
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Fox Searchlight)
Viola Davis, “Doubt” (review)
BEST DIRECTOR
Jonathan Demme, “Rachel Getting Married”
Runners-up:
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)
Andrew Stanton, “WALL*E”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Jenny Lumet, “Rachel Getting Married”
Runners-up:
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt” (Maple) (review)
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Ballast”, directed by Lance Hammer (KinoSmith)
Runners-up:
“The Band’s Visit”, directed by Eran Kolirin (Mongrel Media) (review)
“Frozen River”, directed by Courtney Hunt (Mongrel Media)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“WALL*E” (Disney/Pixar)
Runners-up:
“Kung-Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animaton)
“Persepolis” (Mongrel Media) (review)
“Waltz with Bashir” (E1 Films) (review)
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
“Let the Right One In” (Mongrel Media)
Runners-up:
“The Class” (Mongrel Media) (review)
“I’ve Loved You So Long” (Mongrel Media)
“A Christmas Tale” (E1) (review)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Man on Wire” (Mongrel Media) (review)
Runners-up:
“Standard Operating Procedure” (Mongrel Media)
“Up the Yangtze” (KinoSmith/NFB) (review)