The nominees for the 81st Golden Globe Awards were announced on Monday 11th December, with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie the most-nominated of the films chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Warner Bros’ Barbie was nominated across 7 categories, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Lead Actress and Supporting Actor, with 3 nominations in the Original Song category for “Dance the Night Away”, “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?”.

Justine Triet’s multi-time European Film Awards winner and the recipient of the 2023 Cannes Palme d’Or, Anatomy of a Fall, was nominated in both the Best Motion Picture – Drama category as well as the Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language category, as was Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. The latter was also nominated in the Best Original Score – Motion Picture category alongside The Boy and the Heron, which is a leading name in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category beside Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The 2024 Golden Globes will take place on 7th January 2024, and will be broadcast in the CBS in the US and in the UK on Paramount+.

The nominees for the 81st edition of the Golden Globe Awards (2024) are as follows:

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Air
American Fiction
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December
Poor Things

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Io Capitano
Past Lives
Society of the Snow
The Zone of Interest

Best Motion Picture – Animated
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Suzume
Wish

Best Director – Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Greta Gerwig (Barbie)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Celine Song (Past Lives)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Greta Lee (Past Lives)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)
Jennifer Lawrence (No Hard Feelings)
Natalie Portman (May December)
Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
Margot Robbie (Barbie)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Julianne Moore (May December)
Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)
Timothée Chalamet (Wonka)
Matt Damon (Air)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Charles Melton (May December)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)
Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach (Barbie)
Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Celine Song (Past Lives)
Tony McNamara (Poor Things)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Jerskin Fendrix (Poor Things)
Ludwig Göransson (Oppenheimer)
Joe Hisaishi (The Boy and the Heron)
Micachu (The Zone of Interest)
Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
Robbie Robertson (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Addicted to Romance” by Bruce Springsteen
“Dance the Night” by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa
“I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt
“Peaches” by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John Spiker, Jack Black
“Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz
“What Was I Made For?” by Finneas O’Connell, Billie Eilish

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
Barbie
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

For the full list of television nominees, please visit the Golden Globes website.

The British Independent Film Awards announced on 2nd November 2023 the nominees for their latest annual awards show, with debut features Rye Lane and Scrapper leading the list of nominated films.

Announced via an event hosted by Susan Wokoma and Morfydd Clark at One Hundred Shoreditch, London, the nominees for what BIFA consider to be the most outstanding British independent films of 2023 were revealed.

Overall, 26 British feature films were included, with Raine Allen Miller’s Rye Lane earning 16 nominations and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper earning 14. Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, starring Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, also earned 14 nominations, with Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex earning 13 in total. Other success stories were Femme (11 nominations) and The End We Start From (9 nominations).

Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall was nominated for Best International Feature Film, as was festival favourite Past Lives, while heavyweights Tilda Swinton, Andrew Scott and Jodie Comer are among those nominated in the Best Lead Performance category.

The nominees for the 2023 British Independent Film Awards are as follows:

Best British Independent Film
All of Us Strangers
Femme
How to Have Sex
Rye Lane
Scrapper

Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Fremont
Monster
Past Lives

Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Lead Performance
Jodie Comer (The End We Start From)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Tia Nomore (Earth Mama)
Nabhaan Rizwan (In Camera)
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)
Tilda Swinton (The Eternal Daughter)

Best Supporting Performance
Ritu Arya (Polite Society)
Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers)
Samuel Bottomley (How to Have Sex)
Alexandra Burke (Pretty Red Dress)
Amir El-Masry (In Camera)
Clair Foy (All of Us Strangers)
Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers)
Alia Shawkat (Drift)
Shaun Thomas (How to Have Sex)
Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From)

Best Joint Lead Performance
Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson (Scrapper)
David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay (Femme)

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film
Raine Allen-Miller (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Savanah Leaf (Earth Mama)
Holly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
Theo Barrowclough (Scrapper)
Georgia Goggin (Pretty Red Dress)
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo (Rye Lane)
Gannesh Rajah (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Chi Thai (Raging Grace)

Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix
Le’Shantey Bonsu (Girl)
Lola Campbell (Scrapper)
Priya Kansara (Polite Society)
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex)
Vivian Oparah (Rye Lane)

Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia (Rye Lane)
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Femme)
Molly Manning Walker (How to Have Sex)
Nida Manzoor (Polite Society)
Charlotte Regan (Scrapper)

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Chloe Abrahams (The Taste of Mango)
Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn (Another Baby)
Ella Glendining (Is There Anybody Out There?)
Alice Russell (If the Streets Were on Fire)
Christopher Sharp (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)

The Raindance Maverick Award
If the Streets Were on Fire
Is There Anybody Out There?
Name Me Lawand
Raging Grace
Red Herring

Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film
Another Body
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
If the Streets Were on Fire
Lyra
Occupied City

Best British Short Film
Christopher At Sea
Festival of Slaps
Lions
Muna
The Talent

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight 
Shaheen Baig (Scrapper)
Kharmel Cochrane (Rye Lane)
Kahleen Crawford (All of Us Strangers)
Isabella Odoffin (How to Have Sex)
Salome Oggenfuss, Geraldine Barón, Abby Harri (Earth Mama)

Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor & Kodak
Olan Collardy (Rye Lane)
Suzie Lavelle (The End We Start From)
Molly Manning Walker (Scrapper)
Jamie D. Ramsay (All of Us Strangers)
James Rhodes (Femme)

Best Costume Design
George Buxton (How to Have Sex)
Oliver Cronk (Scrapper)
Buki Ebiesuwa (Femme)
Cynthia Lawrence-John (Rye Lane)
PC Williams (The End We Start From)

Best Editing 
Jonathan Alberts (All of Us Strangers)
Victoria Boydell (Rye Lane)
Paul Carlin (Bobi Wine: The People’s President)
Avdhesh Mohla (High & Low – John Galliano)
Arttu Salmi (The End We Start From)

Best Effects
Paddy Eason (Polite Society)
Theodor Flo-Groeneboom (The End We Start From)
Jonathan Gales, Richard Baker (The Kitchen)

Best Music Supervision
Ciara Elwis (Femme)
Connie Farr (All of Us Strangers)
David Fish (Rye Lane)

Best Make-Up & Hair Design sponsored by The Wall Group
Zoe Clare Brown (All of Us Strangers)
Claire Carter (Polite Society)
Marie Deehan (Femme)
Natasha Lawes (How to Have Sex)
Bianca Simone Scott (Rye Lane)

Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
Adam Janota Bzowski (Femme)
Patrick Jonsson (Scrapper)
Kwes (Rye Lane)
Anna Meredith (The End We Start From)
Ré Olunuga (Girl)

Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword
Laura Ellis Cricks (The End We Start From)
Sarah Finlay (All of Us Strangers)
Elena Muntoni (Scrapper)
Nathan Parker (The Kitchen)
Anna Rhodes (Rye Lane)

Best Sound supported by Halo
Scrapper
How to Have Sex
All of Us Strangers
Enys Men
The End We Start From

Past Lives (2023)
Director: Celine Song
Screenwriter: Celine Song
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

Two near-identical frames. One of a woman on the edge of the right hand side, sitting at a desk looking down into the lens of her laptop webcam. Another of a man on the edge of the left hand side, sitting at a desk looking down into the lens of his laptop webcam. The film intercuts between them. The framing and the edit creates a closeness between the two subjects, indicating a deep intimacy, while the laptops at the edges of each frame capture love and relationships in the 21st century. Technological devices may connect us all, yet we remain separated by time and space. This scene, with these two intricately designed frames, encapsulate what Past Lives is all about: there is a powerful bond between these two people yet there is always something between them. Will they be able to overcome this obstacle or are they forever destined to be separate?

Past Lives is spread across three decades, and presents the ways in which Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) and Nora (Greta Lee) have come and gone from one another’s lives (almost like Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy condensed into one movie). Nora tells her partner, and consequently each of us, of the Korean word “in-yeon“, meaning “providence” or “fate”, the idea that if two strangers walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush, there have been eight-thousand layers of in-yeon between them. A strong connection clearly exists between Hae Sung and Nora, one that could only be described as in-yeon.

Celine Song captures not only the connections of the twenty-first century but also the profound love between any two people. Most of this is done through the gorgeous cinematography of Shabier Kirchner as well as the blocking of actors within scenes, while the location choices and set design are also noteworthy in this regard. There are numerous moments throughout the film – such as the aforementioned facetime scene – in which Song reminds us of the barriers between the two leads as well as the love that damn near transcends it; the two find themselves holding onto a pole on a train, their hands are mere centimetres away from one another yet the pole stands between them. When we see Hae Sung visiting Nora and her current partner Arthur (John Magaro), Song further uses her blocking of the characters to control the dynamic of the three in such a way that it leaves it up to our own perspectives to decide the dynamic we see from frame to frame. For example, the film opens with a shot of the three of them at a bar, a lone lantern sitting between each character, leaving us to question whether the distance between Nora and Arthur is greater than the distance between Nora and Hae Sung or whether the lantern between Nora and Arthur burns brighter than the one between Nora and Hae Sung.

This dynamic is made even more powerful by all three performers, though it is the performance of Grace Lee that the film hinges upon. Where it is always clear that Hae Sung wants to be with Nora and Arthur fears that she may leave him for the other man, it is in Nora’s conflicted feelings that the drama of the film truly shines. The way she looks at either man with longing or with uncertainty, through her eyes or a smile, forces us to question more than what is said, to read more into the story than is present in its straightforward dialogue.

With this in mind, the beauty of Celine Song’s screenplay cannot be overlooked. Song has penned a love story for the ages that could only be rivalled in its sophistication and grace by the works of Shakespeare, Austen or Brontë. By structuring the work in three parts, three separate decades, Song cements the idea of in-yeon into our minds. Not only is it the only explanation for the connection between Nora and Hae Sung, but in seeing these individual decades we are (in a way) seeing their “past lives” together. In doing so, one can’t help but to feel that the two are destined to be together, leaving us to spend the next hour and forty-five minutes begging for it to happen, emotionally swelling up as the film goes on, waiting for a release that may never come.

Ultimately, Past Lives is a beautiful film that is worthy of great renown. Celine Song offers one of the greatest debut features of all time. In crafting Past Lives, Song has constructed an achingly beautiful film that is certain to strike a chord with many, leaving memories and feelings in each of us for what is sure to be a very long time.

Score: 24/24

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