New date for award winning films
Black Bear Film Festival has picked them in past MILFORD The Black Bear Film Festival (BBFF) has continued its streak of picking winners. Two of the films from 2009’s festival recently received national attention, five months after they were shown here. In February, actor Ray McKinnon was among the Best Supporting Actor nominees at the Independent Spirit Awards for his performance in the Hal Holbrook drama “That Evening Sun,” and in March a rave review in the New York Times greeted the release of “Children of Invention.” The festival seems to have a knack for spotting special films before the greater public has a chance to see them. “Two Family House” (2000), one of the films from the festival’s first year, won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, proving at the outset that the festival would be defined by its good taste. In ten years of BBFF, many of the festival’s selections have gone on to score at the Oscars. “Little Miss Sunshine,” which was the opening-night feature of 2006, received Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay. Earlier, in 2003, another BBFF choice had been honored in the major Oscar categories when “In America” was recognized with three nominations, including Best Actress for Samantha Morton. Two BBFF offerings got Oscar nominations in the Best Foreign-Language Film category: “Himalaya” (2001) and “Paradise Now” (2005). But the festival has brought the most luck to candidates in the non-fiction categories, with Best Documentary Oscars going to “Taxi to the Dark Side” (2007) and “Man on Wire” (2008). Other BBFF feature-length documentaries received nominations, including “Daughter from Danang” (2002), “Winged Migration” (2003), “The Story of the Weeping Camel” (2004), and “War Dance” (2007). In 2002, BBFF screened “Thoth” (2002), which walked away with the Oscar for Best Documentary Short. And Howl’s “Moving Castle” (2004) became BBFF’s first nominee for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. The 2003 BBFF entry “Osama” was named Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes, an organization that had previously given a Best Actress nomination to Tilda Swinton for “The Deep End”, a 2001 BBFF selection. When awards time rolls around next winter, the odds of gaining attention, whether at the Oscars or the Globes, are increased for any film lucky enough to be slated for the 2010 Black Bear Film Festival, which is to be held over Columbus Day weekend (Oct. 8-10). The envelope please