Awards Countdown - High class of 2007

It is not just a new United Artists that has a prestige movie, but a new MGM, The Weinstein Company as well as Miramax, two Time Warner specialised distributors in Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures, a fully operational Paramount Vantage, and strong independents such as Lionsgate, IFC and ThinkFilm.

That is in addition, of course, to the studios and their heavyweight specialised arms such as Focus, Fox Searchlight and Sony Classics.

And what happened to the theory that the studios were leaving all their prestige titles to their specialised arms’ This year, some of the biggest Oscar prospects are coming from the main studio divisions including American Gangster and Charlie Wilson’s War from Universal and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Michael Claytonfrom Warner Bros.

It is no wonder that some companies released screeners to voters in advance of the traditional screener windows. Searchlight sent out a three-film package of The Namesake, Onceand Waitress on September 4, while DreamWorks-Paramount sent out 6,000 screeners of Things We Lost In The Fire the day the film opened in theatres on October 19.

Screen’s awards countdown begins with our traditional calendar of events, a focus on the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (Bafta) and its increasingly influential film awards and a look at the animated feature films that look likely to lead the pack this year.

AWARDS COUNTDOWN CALENDAR OF EVENTS

NOVEMBER
Nov 1 Bafta/LA Britannia Awards
Nov 3 European Film Awards noms announced in Seville
Nov 9 Deadline for submission of Golden Globe entry forms
Nov 14 Hfpa announces Cecil B DeMille Award
Nov 27 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards noms announced
Nov 27 IFP Gotham Awards in New York
Nov 28 British Independent Film Awards in London

DECEMBER
Dec 1 European Film Awards in Berlin
Dec 5 National Board Of Review Award winners announced
Dec 7 International Documentary Association Awards
Dec 9 Los Angeles Film Critics Association voting takes place
Dec 10 Deadline for receipt of nomination ballots for Golden Globes
Dec 10 New York Film Critics Circle voting takes place
Dec 11 Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice noms announcement
Dec 13 Golden Globe noms announcement
Dec 16 AFI Awards honorees announced
Dec 20 SAG Awards noms announced
Dec 26 Oscar nomination ballots mailed

JANUARY 2008
Jan 6 New York Film Critics Circle awards ceremony in New York
Jan 7 Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles
Jan 8 Directors Guild Of America film noms announced
Jan 9 Deadline for receipt of final Golden Globe ballots
Jan 11 AFI Awards luncheon in Los Angeles
Jan 12 Oscar noms polls closed
Jan 12 Los Angeles Film Critics Association ceremony in Los Angeles
Jan 13 Golden Globe presentation in Los Angeles
Jan 14 Orange British Academy Film Awards Round 2 voting closed
Jan 15 National Board Of Review Awards gala in New York
Jan 17 Orange British Academy Film Awards noms announcement
Jan 22 Oscar noms announced
Jan 26 Directors Guild Of America Awards take place in Los Angeles
Jan 26 American Society Of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards in Los Angeles
Jan 27 SAG Awards take place in Los Angeles
Jan 30 Final Oscar ballots mailed

FEBRUARY 2008
Feb 2 Producers Guild Of America Awards take place in Los Angeles
Feb 4 Oscar nominees luncheon
Feb 4 Orange British Academy Film Awards final voting closed
Feb 9 Writers Guild Awards take place in Los Angeles
Feb 10 Orange British Academy Film Awards in London
Feb 19 Oscar polls close
Feb 23 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards presentation
Feb 24 80th annual Academy Awards
* National Society Of Film Critics announcement is yet to be dated; it usually takes place in the first week of January

LAST YEAR’S KEY WINNERS
ACADEMY AWARDS
Best picture The Departed
Best director Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

GOLDEN GLOBES
Best picture (drama) Babel
Best picture (musical or comedy) Dreamgirls
Best director Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best actor (drama) Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actor (musical or comedy) Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
Best actress (drama) Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best actress (musical or comedy) Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

BRITISH ACADEMY FILM AWARDS
Best film The Queen
Best director Paul Greengrass, United 93
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
Best picture Pan’s Labyrinth
Best director Paul Greengrass, United 93
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
Best film Letters From Iwo Jima
Best director Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE
Best film United 93
Best director Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
Best picture Letters From Iwo Jima
Best director Paul Greengrass, United 93
Best actor (tied) Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat; Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD (SAG) AWARDS
Best actor Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland
Best actress Helen Mirren, The Queen
Ensemble cast award Little Miss Sunshine

DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA (DGA) AWARD
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS
Best film The Lives Of Others
Best director Pedro Almodovar, Volver
Best actor Ulrich Muhe, The Lives Of Others
Best actress Penelope Cruz, Volver

AWARDS CONTENDERS US RELEASE SCHEDULE*

NOV 2 American Gangster (Universal), Bee Movie(DreamWorks), Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead(ThinkFilm), Darfur Now (Warner Independent), Martian Child (New Line)

NOV 9 Lions For Lambs (MGM), No Country For Old Men (Miramax), Southland Tales (Samuel Goldwyn), War/Dance (ThinkFilm)

NOV 16 Beowulf (Paramount), Love In The Time Of Cholera (New Line), Margot At The Wedding (Paramount Vantage), Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Fox-Walden)

NOV 23 August Rush (Warner Bros), I’m Not There (Weinstein Company), Starting Out In The Evening (Roadside Attractions)

NOV 30 The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Miramax), The Savages (Fox Searchlight)

DEC 7 Atonement (Focus Features), The Golden Compass (New Line), Grace Is Gone (Weinstein Company), Man In The Chair (Outsider)

DEC 14 The Kite Runner (Paramount Classics), Juno (Fox Searchlight), Nanking (ThinkFilm), Youth Without Youth (Sony Classics)

DEC 21 The Bucket List (Warner Bros), Charlie Wilson’s War (Universal), The Great Debaters (MGM/Weinstein Company), Persepolis (Sony Classics), PS I Love You (Warner Bros), Rails & Ties (Warner Independent), Sweeney Todd (DW-Paramount)

DEC 28 Cassandra’s Dream (Weinstein Company), Honeydripper (Emerging), The Orphanage(Picturehouse), There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)

*correct as of October 11.