As the 2018 season draws to a close, we look back on the awards and nominations bestowed upon titles represented by Freeway Entertainment for collection account management and/or licensing.
It was a fantastic season for Luca Guadagnino’s romantic drama Call Me By Your Name, which saw screenwriter James Ivory win a hat trick of Best Adapted Screenplay awards at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars®. Aged 89, Ivory became the oldest Oscar® winner in history. At the BAFTAs, Guadagnino was nominated for the David Lean Award for Direction; the coming-of-age tale was also in the running for Best Film and young lead Timothée Chalamet received nods for Best Leading Actor and the EE Rising Star Award. The Academy was equally entranced by Call Me By Your Name, awarding nominations for Best Picture, Lead Actor (Timothée Chalamet) and Best Original Song for Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Mystery of Love’.
I, Tonya, Craig Gillespie’s biographical story about American figure skater Tonya Harding, also made a big impression on the awards circuit. Alison Janney scored a triple win, receiving Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars® for her role as Harding’s domineering mother. The film received an impressive number of nods across the board; Margot Robbie’s acclaimed performance saw her nominated for Best Leading Actress by the Golden Globes, BAFTA and the Academy. Screenwriter Steven Rogers and Jennifer Johnson were BAFTA-nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Costume Design respectively whilst Film Editor Tatiana S. Riegel was also Oscar®-nominated.
Elsewhere, Foreign Language titles represented by Freeway shone, with Fatih Akin’s German drama In the Fade and Andrey Zvyagintsev's Russian tragedy Loveless both included in the category at the Golden Globes. Loveless was also nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar®, alongside Ruben Östlund's satirical drama The Square.
Animations represented by Freeway also did exceptionally well. Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s Loving Vincent, the first ever fully painted feature, scored a triple nomination for Best Animated Film at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars®, whilst Nora Twomey's story of a headstrong young girl in Afghanistan, The Breadwinner, received Golden Globe and Oscar® nominations in the category. Claude Barras’s stop motion comedy-drama Ma vie de Courgette (My Life as a Courgette) was also BAFTA-nominated for Best Animated Film.
Mudbound, Dee Rees’s powerful drama about racial tensions in post-war rural Mississipi, was another favourite, which saw Rachel Morrison become the first ever Oscar®-nominated female cinematographer. Singer-songwriter/actress Mary J Blige received Golden Globe and Academy Award® nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Virgil Williams and Dee Rees were Oscar®-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also picked up Golden Globe and Oscar® nominations for Best Original Song (‘Mighty River’ - Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Taura Stinson).
It was another strong year for British films represented by Freeway. Armando Iannucci’s political satire The Death Of Stalin and Paul King’s Paddington 2 were both BAFTA-nominated for Outstanding British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay, whilst Hugh Grant was in the running for Best Supporting Actor for his comedy role as a narcissistic actor in the live action animation. BAFTA’s Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer category featured Thomas Napper’s heartfelt boxing drama Jawbone, alongside William Oldroyd’s stark and impactful Lady Macbeth, which ran for Outstanding British Film of the Year. Florence Pugh’s impressive lead performance saw her nominated for the EE Rising Star Award.
Other recognition for Freeway titles included:
Visages Villages (Faces Places) - veteran documentary maker Agnès Varda received her first Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Feature, shared with her co-directors, daughter Rosalie Varda and French photographer and muralist JR. At 89, Varda became the oldest nominee for a competitive Oscar®.
The Big Sick - screenwriters Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani were nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar® for Michael Showalter's romantic comedy.
Wonder - Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini and Arjen Tuiten were BAFTA and Oscar®-nominated for Best Makeup and Hair, for their work on Stephen Chbosky's inspiring film about a boy with facial differences.
The Leisure Seeker - Helen Mirren’s celebrated performance alongside Donald Sutherland in Paolo Virzì’s comedy drama earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Lead Actress.
Martijn Meerstadt said: “Congratulations to all involved in making and releasing this fantastic collection of award-winning and nominated titles. We are incredibly proud to work with so many great productions.”
View the full list of nominees and winners: