Deadline Hollywood - Contenders Film: The Nominees - 02/17/24

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P R E S E N TAT I ON S

Napoleon

APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS

Janty Yates (Costume Designer) David Crossman (Costume Designer) Arthur Max (Production Designer)

Killers of the Flower Moon

Rodrigo Prieto (Cinematographer) Jack Fisk (Production Designer) Adam Willis (Set Decorator) Daniel Lupi (Producer) Scott George (Songwriter/Osage Music Consultant)

The Holdovers

FOCUS FEATURES

Alexander Payne (Director) Mark Johnson (Producer) David Hemingson (Writer/Producer) Paul Giamatti (Actor) Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Actor)

DISNEY | PIXAR ANIMATION

Elemental

Peter Sohn (Director)

Nai Nai & Wài Pó

Sean Wang (Director)

STUDIOS DISNEY+

Yi Yan Fuei (Subject) Zhang Li Hua (Subject) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

NOTICE PICTURES

Bobi Wine: The People’s

Christopher Sharp (Director/Producer)

President

Moses Bwayo (Director/Cinematographer)

To Kill a Tiger

Nisha Pahuja (Writer/Director/Producer) Mike Munn (Editor)

NEON

Anatomy of a Fall

Marie-Ange Luciani (Producer) Arthur Harari (Co-Writer)

SCHEDULE, FILMS & SPEAKERS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

EYEING THE FINISH LINE Join us for a close-up on Academy Award hopefuls at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event

BY DAV I D MORGA N

WELCOME TO DEADLINE’S

us today for a Q&A conversation

has taken home hardware from the

CONTENDERS FILM: THE NOMINEES.

about the Best Picture-nominated

Golden Globes, the New York Film

As we race to the Oscar finish line, it

film, we have director Alexander

Critics Circle, the London Film Critics

has certainly been a year to remember.

Payne, producer Mark Johnson, and

and more. Representing the film today

The movie business has clearly shaken

Best Original Screenplay-nominated

at Contenders will be Triet’s co-writer

off the last vestiges of the Covid

writer-producer David Hemingson,

Arthur Harari and producer Marie-Ange

era with the phenomenon that was

who based the East Coast boarding

Luciani, who artfully created a film that

Barbenheimer—collectively, Barbie

school story on his own life experience

bridges genre, language and time.

and Oppenheimer earned more than

and the character of his beloved uncle.

$2 billion globally. Not only is cinema

With them are Supporting Actress

from Apple Original Films has 10

alive and kicking, but both of those

nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph and

nominations, including Best Picture,

box-office behemoths are Academy-

Best Actor nominee Paul Giamatti.

and Best Director for Martin Scorsese

Killers of the Flower Moon

After winning the Palme d’Or at

and Lead Actress for Lily Gladstone,

However, the competition to

Cannes, Anatomy of a Fall has become

who portrays the true story of Mollie

take that particular cake is still very

a huge hit, even though France failed

Burkhart, an oil-rich Osage woman

much on. And Focus Features’ The

to select it for the International race.

preyed upon by her husband Ernest

Holdovers is in the running. Joining

Director and co-writer Justine Triet

(Leonardo DiCaprio). Our panel today

nominated for Best Picture.

features cinematographer Rodrigo

Ugandan pop star that used his music

showers love upon his grandmothers

Prieto, production designer Jack

and popularity to fight the regime

Ye Yan Fuei and Zhang Li Hua, who

Fisk, set decorator Adam Willis,

of dictator Yoweri Museveni. And

also happen to be the best of friends

producer Daniel Lupi and Osage music

incredibly, during the making of the film,

and a ‘supergrandma’ team. That

consultant-songwriter Scott George.

Bwayo survived a gunshot to the face.

indomitable duo will be here with

Writer-director-producer Nisha

their grandson Wang to discuss

Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon from

their filmmaking experience.

Apple Original Films also scored with

Pahuja and editor Mike Munn will also

nominations for Best Visual Effects,

be here to represent Notice Pictures’

Production Design and Costume Design.

Documentary Feature nominee

hand too, to discuss Elemental, his

Here today we have costume designers

To Kill a Tiger, about an Indian

Best Animated Feature nominee

Janty Yates and David Crossman, along

family’s fight for justice after a brutal

from Disney/Pixar Animation Studios.

with production designer Arthur Max.

sexual assault of their daughter.

The film follows a family created

We’re also turning the Deadline

As with Bwayo, this film’s subjects

from fire who face prejudice from

spotlight on documentary, with National

and Pahuja risked their safety to

other elements in their world.

Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s

bring this harrowing story to light.

President. Christopher Sharp and Moses

With documentary short nominee

Bwayo co-directed the story about the

Nai Nai & Wài Pó, filmmaker Sean Wang

Director Peter Sohn will be on

So now, just sit back and enjoy the show. You never know, it just might make you rethink your vote. ★

MEET THE MODERAT YOU R E MCE E

YOUR MODE RATO R S

Must See Movies. He previously held

JOE UTICHI

PETE HAMMOND

producing positions at Entertainment

EXECUTIVE AWARDS EDITOR

AWARDS COLUMNIST/

Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood, The

Joe oversees Deadline’s awards coverage,

CHIEF FILM CRITIC

Arsenio Hall Show, The Martin Short

including its dedicated print magazine

Pete, widely considered to be one of

Show and AMC Networks and is the

for the Oscar and Emmy seasons,

the pre-eminent awards analysts for

recipient of five Emmy nominations

AwardsLine. He also edits Deadline’s

both film and television, has for the

for writing. Pete is only the second

special Disruptors edition for the Cannes

past 11 years been Deadline’s Awards

journalist to have received the

Film Festival and serves as the emcee for

Columnist covering what is seemingly

Publicists Guild of America’s Press

Contenders events. He has been aboard

now the year-round Oscar and Emmy

Award twice, in 1996 and 2013.

since 2012. Prior to joining, his work

seasons. He is also Deadline’s Chief Film

regularly appeared in his native U.K.—for

Critic, having previously reviewed films

ANTONIA BLYTH

outlets including The Sunday Times and

for MovieLine, Boxoffice magazine,

SENIOR AWARDS EDITOR,

The Guardian—and around the world. He

Backstage, Hollywood.com and Maxim,

AWARDSLINE

has also worked extensively in film and

as well as Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide

Antonia has contributed to Deadline

television, producing EPK and production

for which he was a contributing editor.

and AwardsLine’s print magazines

notes and working as a unit publicist. He

In addition to writing, Pete is also host

since 2014. A native Brit based in LA,

is a member of BAFTA and has sat on

of both the KCET Cinema Series and

prior to joining she covered West Coast

multiple juries for the BAFTA Film Awards.

the weekly KCET television series,

entertainment for ELLE.com, and her

E ATORS work has been featured in The Guardian,

for CNN and CNN.com, Documentary

office beat for Indiewire’s Thompson

U.K. Marie Claire and InStyle. She has

magazine, NBCNews.com and TheWrap.

on Hollywood. He also co-produced Matt Walsh’s film A Better You.

written a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book and is host of the

ANTHONY D’ALESSANDRO

podcast 20 Questions on Deadline,

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/

DOMINIC PATTEN

covering popular onscreen talent. She

BOX OFFICE EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR, LEGAL & TV CRITIC

also appears as an entertainment expert

Anthony covers box office, breaking

Dominic covers litigious Hollywood’s

on French television network TF1.

film news, awards-season features

major lawsuits and weighs in on the

and festival news. His first job in the

current Golden Age of television with

MATTHEW CAREY

film industry was at Savoy Pictures’

his video reviews and more. Before

DOCUMENTARY EDITOR, AWARDS

headquarters in New York where he

joining Deadline back in 2012, he

Matthew Carey joined Deadline fulltime

worked in film distribution. In the

wrote for the New York Times, the

in 2020, after a long association as a

summer of 1999, he was hired by Variety

Los Angeles Times, the Washington

freelancer, to specialize in coverage of

and moved to Los Angeles, where he

Times and the Toronto Globe and Mail.

the nonfiction film landscape. Matthew

remained in the newsroom covering the

He is a frequent guest on NPR, Fox

is a writer and producer whose work has

industry, including box office. Prior to

News Channel, CNN, MSNBC and CBS,

appeared on CNN, CNN International

arriving at Deadline in the fall of 2011,

and he also has been a documentary

and CNN en Español. He has written

where he co-edited the site’s magazine

director, TV producer, national news

extensively about documentary film

AwardsLine, Anthony covered the box

correspondent and a newspaper editor.

THE FILMS

APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS Killers of the Flower Moon Adapted for screen by Eric Roth from David Grann’s true crime book of the same name, Martin Scorsese’s epic Western depicts the serial murders of oil-wealthy Osage Nation Native Americans during the 1920s in Oklahoma.

This string of callous crimes, known as The Reign of Terror, also led to the formation of the FBI. The film stars Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Jesse Plemons.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON NAPOLEON

COLUMBIA PICTURE/ APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS Napoleon This historical epic stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular French commander, Napoleon Bonaparte, charting his rise to power after the French Revolution. Directed by Ridley Scott, Napoleon tells the story of the military leader’s origins and his tenacious climb to become emperor. The film also explores the fraught and passionate relationship with his wife, Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).

NAI NAI & WÀI PÓ

DISNEY+ Nai Nai & Wài Pó Directed by Taiwanese American filmmaker Sean Wang, this 17-minute short film follows the quirky daily lives of his elderly maternal and paternal grandmothers, who are best friends and live together.

Wang started filming in 2021 in between a move from New York to Los Angeles. The doc premiered at SXSW in 2023, where it won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize.

DISNEY | PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS Elemental Pixar’s Elemental, directed by Peter Sohn, follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a fire resident working in her parents’ market, whose hot temper leads her to a chance meeting with Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a sappy water resident working as a city inspector. While fire and water don’t mix well, Ember and Wade form an unlikely friendship.

ELEMENTAL THE HOLDOVERS

FOCUS FEATURES The Holdovers Director Alexander Payne brings us the story of cranky prep school history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) as he gets stuck watching troubled student Angus (Dominic Sessa) over the Christmas holidays. Joined by recently bereaved head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), and left alone in an empty school, the unlikely trio share a series of misadventures as they revisit their pasts and connect with each other over the break.

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT

ANATOMY OF A FALL TO KILL A TIGER

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILMS Bobi Wine: The People’s President Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp’s documentary follows Ugandan singer-activist Bobi Wine as he uses his music to fight against an oppressive regime led by Yoweri Museveni, who has led the country for 35 years and changed the constitution in order to have another five-year term.

NEON Anatomy of a Fall Anatomy of a Fall follows Sandra (Sandra Hüller), a German writer who lives with her French husband Samuel and their 11-year-old son Daniel in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police begin to ask questions: did he fall or was he pushed? Samuel’s death is treated as murder, and Sandra becomes the main suspect.

Directed by Justine Triet, the film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last May. NOTICE PICTURES To Kill a Tiger In 2017, after a 13-year-old girl was brutally sexually assaulted by three young men in the village of Bero in the Jharkhand state, her father Ranjit demanded justice.

This case is explored in the documentary To Kill a Tiger, directed by Nisha Pahuja, and has won more than 20 awards at festivals around the world.

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