Just a few days before the Oscars

It´s just a few days before the Oscars or the Academy Awards ceremony which is the most important event worldwide as far as the film industry is concerned; however, we can´t deny that – these days –  cinema plays a very important role in the entertainment events calendar of different countries. This month also includes a red-letter day for the Spanish film industry because the Goya Awards ceremony was held last Saturday but it is also essential for Britain thanks to the Baftas. However, the event which catches our attention for a longer time is the Berlin film festival which lasts ten days.

 Antonio Banderas was honoured with a Life Achievement Award at the Goya Awards ceremony.

 

                                 The poster for the 65^th Berlin International Film Festival.

The world premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey will take place today at the Berlin film festival. Fifty Shades of Grey is an adaptation of EL James´ bestselling novel of the same name but it does not compete for Berlin´s Golden Bear. Irrespective of the critical reviews, this film has already obtained a great deal of media coverage and its trailer was named the most viewed of 2014. Nevertheless, the Berlin film festival has also focused its attention on less commercial films: Andrew Haigh´s 45 Years, Isabel Coixet´s Nobody Wants the Night, Wim Wenders´ Every Thing Will Be Fine or Werner Herzog´s Queen of the Desert. In addition to Wenders and Herzog, who are two prominent figures of German cinema´s establishment, a new generation of German film-makers is represented by Oliver Hirschbiegel. His Princess Diana biopic Diana was poorly received but Downfall has been described by a German critic as “the ability to turn history into entertainment and also into awe-inspiring art.”

Another film-maker who is worth mentioning is Jafar Panahi. In his third film Taxi, the Iranian director appears as a taxi driver who drives a number of passengers – a DVD bootlegger, a schoolteacher and Panahi´s own niece – through the chaotic streets of Tehran. Jafar Panahi has been arrested in his house since 2010.

Last Sunday –  8^th February – the  historic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden played host to the BAFTA Film Awards , that is, the British Academy Film Awards. Among the winners, some very well-known stars such as Julianne Moore who won the award for her role in Still Alice as best actress in a leading role; she is also nominated for the Oscar award in the same category. Boyhood won the awards for best film and best direction and the actress Patricia Arquette won the award for her role as the supporting actress of this film. The Theory of Everything also won three awards: one award for its adapted screenplay, another one as Best British Film and the actor Eddie Redmayne won the award for his role as a leading actor in this film. This year, the British Academy decided to give its annual Bafta fellowship to Mike Leigh, a veteran director who has been recognised in the same way as Ken Loach, Vanessa Redgrave or Terry Gilliam  were previously honoured with the Bafta fellowship, an award which was first awarded in 1971 to Alfred Hitchcock.

                                                        The 2015 BAFTA winners.

Have you watched any of the films which were competing for the awards that I have mentioned? In what ways does winning an award make a film more appealing to the public?