Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Pain and Glory’ Triumphs at International Cinephile Society Awards
By Tim Dams
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The International Cinephile Society is known for going its own way with its annual awards, and its latest edition is no exception. Leading the field for its 17th awards was Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical “Pain and Glory,” which won best picture, and best actor for Antonio Banderas.
The ICS is made up of more than 100 accredited journalists, film scholars, historians and other industry professionals. Led by ICS president Cédric Succivalli, each year the ICS honors the finest in American and international cinema.
Best director went to Céline Sciamma for her 18th-century story of obsession “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” while the film’s Adèle Haenel earned the supporting actress prize.
Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” – which is up for six Oscars this weekend – was another hot ICS favorite, winning original screenplay, ensemble and production design awards.
Vitalina Varela won the lead actress prize for her role as a Cape Verde widow learning about her deceased husband’s immigrant life in Pedro Costa’s “Vitalina Varela.” The film also won best cinematography for Leonardo Simões’ lensing.
Joe Pesci took supporting actor honors for playing an aging gangster in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”
Meanwhile, “Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream,” in which obsessive cinephile Frank Beauvais survives depression via a montage of movie clips, triumphed in the documentary, editing and debut feature categories.
For its 17th awards, ICS created a new format by drawing up a best picture list of 25 films released in countries throughout the world, and discontinuing its non-English language list and the unreleased films list. It has also added two new categories: debut feature and sound design.
Its latest awards honor films released worldwide in 2019.
ICS Award Winners
PICTURE
Winner:
• Parasite
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• Synonyms
• Long Day’s Journey Into Night
• The Irishman
• Vitalina Varela
• Marriage Story
• Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream
• An Elephant Sitting Still
• Little Women
• Transit
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• The Image Book
• Uncut Gems
• Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo
• La Llorona
• I Was at Home, But
• La Flor
• High Life
• Martin Eden
• The Souvenir
• Leto
• A Hidden Life
• Ash is Purest White
DIRECTOR
Winner: Céline Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Runner Up: Pedro Almodóvar – Pain and Glory
• Bi Gan – Long Day’s Journey Into Night
• Bong Joon Ho – Parasite
• Pedro Costa – Vitalina Varela
• Nadav Lapid – Synonyms
ACTOR
Winner: Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
Runner Up: Tom Mercier – Synonyms
• Adam Driver – Marriage Story
• Luca Marinelli – Martin Eden
• Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
• Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems
ACTRESS
Winner: Vitalina Varela – Vitalina Varela
Runner Up: Zhao Tao – Ash is Purest White
• Virginie Efira – Sibyl
• Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
• Noémie Merlant – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• Lupita Nyong’o – Us
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Runner Up: Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse
• Tom Burke – The Souvenir
• Asier Etxeandia – Pain and Glory
• Al Pacino – The Irishman
• Song Kang-ho – Parasite
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Adèle Haenel – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Runner Up: Cho Yeo-jeong – Parasite
• Laura Dern – Marriage Story
• Sandra Hüller – Sibyl
• Margarita Kenéfic – La Llorona
• Fatma Mohamed – In Fabric
ENSEMBLE
Winner: Parasite
Runner Up: La Flor
• The Irishman
• La Llorona
• Little Women
• Pain and Glory
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Parasite – Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won
Runner Up: Pain and Glory – Pedro Almodóvar
• Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
• Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Céline Sciamma
• Synonyms – Nadav Lapid, Haim Lapid
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Transit – Christian Petzold
Runner Up: Little Women – Greta Gerwig
• Asako I & II – Sachiko Tanaka, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
• An Elephant Sitting Still – Hu Bo
• The Irishman – Steven Zaillian
• Martin Eden – Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Vitalina Varela – Leonardo Simões
Runner Up: Long Day’s Journey Into Night – Yao Hung-i, Dong Jingsong, David Chizallet
• 1917 – Roger Deakins
• Atlantique – Claire Mathon
• The Lighthouse – Jarin Blaschke
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire – Claire Mathon
EDITING
Winner: Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream – Thomas Marchand
Runner Up: Parasite – Yang Jin-mo
• The Image Book – Jean-Luc Godard
• The Irishman – Thelma Schoonmaker
• Synonyms – Neta Braun, François Gédigier, Era Lapid
• Uncut Gems – Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Parasite – Lee Ha-jun
Runner Up: Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Barbara Ling
• High Life – François-Renaud Labarthe
• The Lighthouse – Craig Lathrop
• Little Joe – Katharina Wöppermann
• Pain and Glory – Antxón Gómez
SCORE
Winner: A Hidden Life – James Newton Howard
Runner Up: Pain and Glory – Alberto Iglesias
• Ad Astra – Max Richter
• Joker – Hildur Guðnadóttir
• Marriage Story – Randy Newman
• Uncut Gems – Daniel Lopatin
SOUND DESIGN
Winner: Ad Astra – Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Mark Ulano
Runner Up: Climax – Ken Yasumoto
• 1917 – Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson
• The Lighthouse – Mariusz Glabinski, Damian Volpe
• Monos – Eduardo Castillo, Lena Esquenazi, Javier Farina, Javier Umpierrez
• Uncut Gems – Warren Shaw
ANIMATED FILM
Winner: I Lost My Body – Jérémy Clapin
Runner Up: Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles – Salvador Simó Busom
• Bombay Rose – Gitanjali Rao
• Children of the Sea – Ayumu Watanabe
• No. 7 Cherry Lane – Yonfan
• Toy Story 4 – Josh Cooley
DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream – Frank Beauvais
Runner Up: Honeyland – Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska
• Apollo 11 – Todd Douglas Miller
• For Sama – Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
• M – Yolande Zauberman
• Varda by Agnès – Agnès Varda
DEBUT FEATURE
Winner: Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream – Frank Beauvais
Runner Up: An Elephant Sitting Still – Hu Bo
• Atlantique – Mati Diop
• The Chambermaid – Lila Avilés
• End of the Century – Lucio Castro
• The Last Black Man in San Francisco – Joe Talbot
