The winners for the 19th Annual OFTA Film Awards have been announced.
The Online Film & Television Association has selected Birdman as 2014’s best film. In addition, it was presented five other prizes. Alejandros Gonzalez Inarritu’s single-take-simulated film follows the story of a washed-up actor, star of a huge superhero franchise, looking to rediscover his artistic roots by adapting a play on Broadway. The film was also honored for Best Actor (Michael Keaton), Best Ensemble, Best Casting, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography. Richard Linklater received the award for Boyhood. Filmed over a 12-year period, the film chronicled the coming of age of a young boy in a broken family. Linklater’s film received a total of four awards including the Best Director trophy.
Best batch of nominations/winners out of all other organizations this awards season. I still think Whiplash was a bit left out (particularly in the editing and sound fields), and Under the Skin deserved to be mentioned in at least one category, but otherwise a lot of recognition for some of the best movies of the year (a year for great movies too!).
Also forgot to mention Obvious Child, which I sincerely believe deserved to be at least mentioned in both the feature debut and breakthrough female performance categories. But again, that’s just my two cents. All in all I’m pleasantly surprised I saw so eye-to-eye with your voters.