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Journalism of Courage
Avatar and The Hurt Locker led the Oscar nominees,with nine nominations each,including best picture and best director,as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scattered its honours on Tuesday.
The anti-Nazi Inglourious Basterds followed with eight nominations,including best director for Quentin Tarantino and best supporting actor for Christoph Waltz. The urban drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire,had six nominations,including best picture,best director for Lee Daniels,best actress for Gabourey Sidibe,best supporting actress for MoNique,and best adapted screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher. Daniels made Oscar history as the first black director of a best picture nominee.
Up in the Air also got six nominations,including best picture,best director for Jason Reitman,best adapted script,best actor for George Clooney,and two supporting actress nominations,for Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. One surprise was a best picture nomination for The Blind Side. Sandra Bullock was nominated as best actress for the film.
Other best picture nominees were District 9,An Education,A Serious Man,and Up. District 9,a guerrilla-style look inside a detention camp full of space aliens,was the crowd-pleaser the academys governors had hoped for. Invictus,a movie about sports and healing in South Africa,directed by Clint Eastwood,received two nominations,for its star,Morgan Freeman,and its supporting actor,Matt Damon.
Joining Daniels,Reitman and Tarantino in the best director category are former spouses James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelo for Avatar and The Hurt Locker.
Besides Clooney and Freeman,nominees for best actor also included Jeff Bridges,for his role as a broken-down country singer in Crazy Heart; Colin Firth,who played a gay college professor in A Single Man; and Jeremy Renner,for a playing bomb disposal expert in The Hurt Locker. Best actress nominees included Helen Mirren,who played Tolstoys wife in The Last Station; Carey Mulligan,who played a girl seduced by an older man in An Education; and Meryl Streep for the irrepressible cook in Julie & Julia.
Supporting actress nominations also went to Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart and to Penélope Cruz for Nine. The supporting actor nominees included Woody Harrelson,for The Messenger; Christopher Plummer,for The Last Station; and Stanley Tucci,for The Lovely Bones.
Avatar was also nominated for sound editing,visual effects and editing. Nominations for best original screenplay went to The Hurt Locker,The Messenger,A Serious Man,Up. NYT
Indias only link,Short Film Kavi
NEW DELHI: A 19-minute fictional Hindi film Kavi,shot in the brick kilns of Panchgani,Maharashtra,has made it to the list of films nominated in the Short Film category (Live Action).
Its the story of a boy (Kavi) who is forced into slavery by the kiln bosses. While his family has complied with his fate,Kavis rebellious streak is not willing to accept the oppression and bonded labour.
Directed by American filmmaker Gregg Helvey,the film was made as part of his student thesis project for graduation. My goal is to reach at least 50,000 people with this film in the first year. The purpose is to motivate action through awareness, says Helvey on the official website of the film.
Made with a budget of Rs 14-lakh and shot in 12 days,the film was co-produced by Harish Amin. The film has been appreciated at the Boston Film Festival,Nashville Film Festival and South-Asian International Film Festival.
Last year,Smile Pinki,about an Indian girl with cleft lip,won in Short Film category.
Debesh Banerjee
