The London Film Festival 2014 Part 3: The Documentary Is Alive And Well…

Without further ado, YES, THEY’RE HERE, THE ANNUAL DVDfever AWARDS… AND THE AWARD GOES TO… (cue: dramatic pause, cutaways of the contenders, rustling and sigh of disbelief while virtual envelope is opened)…

We’ve re-examined our notes and re-evaluated our favourites, and can now bring you our much coveted and entirely virtual awards. The films, the stars, the emerging names, the lifetime bests… and the simply unmissable cheatsheet to carry with you at all times, so you can bluff your way into making the correct decisions at your multiplex or arthouse box office. But don’t thank us, we’re just doing our job. Thankfully there are no long, blubbing acceptance speeches here, just the 2014 DVDfever Awards.

BEST FILM, FULL STOP:

Dead heat between: WHIPLASH (Damien Chavelle) and MR TURNER (Mike Leigh)
Runner-up: DUKE OF BURGUNDY (Peter Strickland)

BEST COMEDY:

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE, directed by Justin Simien
Runners-up: SPANISH AFFAIR (Emilio Martinez-Lazaro), PING PONG SUMMER (Michael Tully), LAND HO! (Martha Stephens & Aaron Katz)

BEST THRILLER:

HARD DAY, from Korea, directed by Kim Seong-Hun
Runners-up: THE DROP (US, Michael R Roskam), BLACK SOULS (Italy, Francesco Munzi)

BEST DRAMA:

MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN (Jason Reitman)
Runners-up: MY OLD LADY (Israel Horowitz), THE DINNER (Ivan de Matteo), SECOND CHANCE (Susanne Bier), TIMBUKTU (Abderrahmane Sissako)

BEST DOCUMENTARIES:

NATIONAL GALLERY, from Frederick Wiseman
Runners-up: GREEN PRINCE (Nadav Schirmann), TENDER (Lynette Wallworth), ELECTRIC BOOGALOO (Mark Hartley), SILVERED WATER (Ossama Mohammed & Wiam Simav Bedirxan)

BEST ADAPTATION FROM PLAY OR BOOK:

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH from Vera Brittain’s memoir.
Runners-up: BLACK SOULS; MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN

BEST ACTOR:

TIMOTHY SPALL for Mr Turner
JK SIMMONS and MILES TELLER for Whiplash (right, together)

BEST ACTRESS:

SIDSE BABETT KNUDSEN and CHIARA D’ANNA in Duke of Burgundy

RISING TALENT (MOST PROMISING DIRECTORS):

DAMIEN CHAZELLE (rght) for Whiplash
JULIUS AVERY for Son of a Gun
ISRAEL HOROWITZ for My Old Lady
JUSTIN SIMIEN for Dear White People
DANIEL & MATTHEW WOLFE for Catch Me Daddy
MORGAN MATTHEWS for X+Y
DEBBIE TUCKER GREEN for Second Coming
FELLIPE BARBOSA for Casa Grande
DANIEL RIBEIRO for The Way He Looks
ALONSO RUIZ PALACIOS for Gueros
SUHA ARRAF for Villa Touma
ADITYA VIKRAM SENGUPTA for Labour of Love
AFIA NATHANIEL for Dukhtar

RISING TALENT (MOST PROMISING STARS):

SAMEENA JABEEN AHMED in Catch Me Daddy
ALICE WIKANDER in Testament of Youth, Son of a Gun
KAI FRANCIS-LEWIS in Second Coming
ABDIKANI MUKTAR in Fishing Without Nets
KARIDJA TOURE in Girlhood
GULAGI MALANDA and NADIA MOUSSA in My Friend Victoria
KALKI KOECHLIN in Margarita with a Straw

CAREER BESTS:STEVE CARELL in Foxcatcher
CHANNING TATUM in Foxcatcher
NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU in A Second Chance
TIMOTHY SPALL in Mr Turner
NINA HOSS in Phoenix
ANGELIKI PAPOULIA in A Blast

THE THIRD KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS/GEORGE CLOONEY AWARD FOR FESTIVAL UBIQUITY ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY:

ALICE WIKANDER for Testament of Youth, Son of a Gun
MATTHIAS SCHOENHAERTS for The Drop, A Little Chaos
ALEX LAWTHER as young Turing in The Imitation Game, X+Y
DOMINIQUE PINON for My Old Lady, OXI

AND FINALLY… THE 15 MUST-SEES:

WHIPLASH
MR TURNER
DUKE OF BURGUNDY
HARD DAY (right)
THE DROP
MY OLD LADY
IMITATION GAME
MEN WOMEN & CHILDREN
PING PONG SUMMER
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
SECOND CHANCE
GIRLHOOD
THE DINNER
TIMBUKTU
SPANISH AFFAIR

Check out the BFI London Film Festival 2014 website here.