"Black Swan" sweeps independent film awards

LOS ANGELES | Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:45pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Black Swan," a ballet melodrama that struggled to get made despite an A-list cast and director, swept the independent film world's version of the Oscars on Saturday, a day before it competes for five prizes at the Academy Awards.

The film picked up four Spirit statuettes, including best feature and best female lead for Natalie Portman, who starred as a childlike ballerina consumed by fear and paranoia.

Darren Aronofsky was named best director for his work on the movie, two years after he was honored for "The Wrestler." It also took the cinematography prize for Matthew Libatique.

All three will compete for Oscars on Sunday, with Portman the favorite to win her race. The film will also vie for best picture and editing.

"Winter's Bone," which led the Spirits field with seven nominations, ended up with two prizes. John Hawkes and Dale Dickey won for their supporting roles as threatening characters in a rural American community ravaged by methamphetamines.

The male lead prize went to Oscars co-host James Franco for his role as a hiker forced to amputate his own arm in the true-life tale "127 Hours."

"The Kids Are All Right," with five nominations, received a solitary win in the screenplay category, for director Lisa Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg.

HOLLYWOOD REJECTION

The victory for "Black Swan" is a testament to the risks and rewards of independent filmmaking. Aronofsky and Portman first discussed making "Black Swan" about a decade ago, and when they finally started shooting, the film was on shaky financial ground.

The script also went through dozens of revisions, a financier pulled out, and several Hollywood studios rejected it, including its eventual distributor, Fox Searchlight.

"Any time you try to do something that's not in a box it's a challenge," Aronofsky said of the constant challenge of raising film financing despite his success with such films as "The Wrestler" and "Requiem for a Dream."

Nascent private equity fund Cross Creek Partners came to its rescue, offering to split the $15 million budget in a worldwide deal with News Corp's Fox Searchlight. It turned out to be a lucrative investment. The film has grossed more than $200 million at the worldwide box office to date.

Cross Creek principal Brian Oliver told Reuters he was drawn to Aronofsky's involvement. "I really liked the script and I saw the thriller part of it and I thought it could be one of those movies that could really break out," he said.

The film was also a challenge for Portman and co-star Mila Kunis, who plays her rival in a New York production of "Swan Lake" and a Sapphic fantasy interest. Neither actress is a ballerina, and they trained for months and dieted religiously to get in shape.

The Spirit Awards honor low-budget American films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing.

"The King's Speech," which leads the Oscars field with 12 nominations, was named best foreign film at the Spirits. As a British movie, it was not eligible for consideration in the major categories.

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Foreign films navigate rough waters to reach Oscars

By Mary Milliken

BEVERLY HILLS, California | Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:26pm EST

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) - Acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu knew he was in a bad way when the film critics who loved his drama "Biutiful" kept calling it bleak, dark and depressing.

Those adjectives scared off distributors, particularly in the United States, where the director said "everyone was really afraid of the film" about a dying man played by Javier Bardem.

It took four months to find a U.S. distributor, but now "Biutiful" is playing in major cities and is a front-runner

for best foreign language film at Sunday's Oscars, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bardem, the Spanish Oscar winner, is nominated for best actor.

But the director of "Babel and "21 Grams" still said it was "very tough."

Gonzalez-Inarritu is the most well known of the five directors who met Saturday for a pre-Oscar symposium, but like his fellow nominees he suffers the stresses of making films far from the comforts of the Hollywood studio system.

Whether it is hard-to-digest subject matter or shoestring budgets, these directors fought some epic battles on their way to Hollywood's biggest night.

The Greek director of bizarre family drama "Dogtooth," Yorgos Lanthimos, works on a laughably low budget but now can't get state financing because of Greece's debt crisis.

Algeria's Rachid Bouchareb of "Outside the Law" had to fight to get his film screened at Cannes due to political opposition in France to his depiction of the Algerian fight for independence.

Susanne Bier, the Danish director of "In a Better World," about young boys battling bullies and split families, used her financial limitations to get a sharper focus on the boys.

Canada's Denis Villeneuve, director of the dark drama "Incendies" filmed partly in the Middle East, edited before he shot to reduce waste on the cutting room floor.

PARTICULARLY GRIM YEAR

Every year, the Oscars briefly shine their spotlight on the exotic world of foreign-language films, which often provide a departure from mainstream commercial movies and the widely palatable productions of the United States.

This year is no different. The foreign-language films up for Oscar contention are indeed bleak, dark and depressing.

In fact, of the 66 films submitted to the Academy, only one was a comedy. The day Sweden's "Simple Simon" screened for the selection committee, it was met with loud cheering, but no nomination, alas.

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"Winter's Bone" seeks indie film honors

LOS ANGELES | Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:50pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Winter's Bone," the grim saga of a 17-year-old girl searching for her father in drug-ravaged middle America, could find plenty of acclaim on Saturday at the art-house world's version of the Oscars.

The drama goes into the 26th annual Spirit Awards with seven nominations, leading a field that includes several films with which it will compete at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

The lesbian family comedy "The Kids Are All Right," the ballerina melodrama "Black Swan," and the mountain misadventure "127 Hours" also have multiple bids at both events.

Each year, a handful of Spirit winners usually goes on to earn Oscars thanks in part to the success of low-budget films in the mainstream arena. But the awards ceremonies otherwise could not be more different.

The Oscars take place at a theater in a Hollywood shopping mall. Black tie is obligatory, and everyone is supposed to be on best behavior at an event oozing with seriousness.

The Spirits, famed for their relaxed and boozy atmosphere, are returning to their traditional locale on Santa Monica Beach after an ill-fated switch to a downtown Los Angeles parking building last year.

The stars dress casually, and deliver alcohol-fueled acceptance speeches inside a big marquee. But a cold snap could dampen spirits a little. The two-hour event begins at 2 p.m. PST.

MEAT ON THE 'BONE'

The Spirit Awards honor low-budget American films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter and the degree of independent financing.

"Winter's Bone" will go head-to-head for best feature and director against "The Kids Are All Right" (five nominations), "Black Swan" (four) and "127 Hours" (three).

Critics raved about director/co-writer Debra Granik's depiction of a rural mountain community dotted with methamphetamine labs, and it also picked up four Oscar nominations.

In a career-making role, 20-year-old actress Jennifer Lawrence plays a woman who struggles to care for her disabled mother and two younger siblings. When they face eviction after her father fails to make a court appearance, she must confront her violent neighbors to find out what happened to him.

Lawrence will compete for female lead prize at the Spirits and the best actress race at the Oscars. Indeed, all four of her Oscar rivals received Spirit nominations. "Black Swan" star Natalie Portman is the Oscar favorite.

Among the male headliners, only "127 Hours" star James Franco will compete at both events for his role as a trapped hiker forced to amputate his own arm. He will also co-host the Oscars with Anne Hathaway.

The Spirit Awards make a point of honoring up-and-coming filmmakers with categories for best first feature and first screenplay. This year, Lena Dunham is competing in both races with "Tiny Furniture," a black comedy that grossed a grand total of about $400,000 at the box office.

But her portrayal of a freshly minted college graduate entering adulthood armed only with a useless degree and self-esteem issues caught Hollywood's attention. She is now developing a series at cable channel HBO.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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