The shortlist for the Guardian Film Awards, which was based entirely on readers’ votes, has been announced.Steve McQueen’s slavery drama ‘12 Years a Slave’ dominates across the lists, with nominations for best film, best director, best scene, best line of dialogue and biggest game-changer. It also scores two nominations in the best supporting actor category – for Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s film, The Act of Killing, is also in contention for best film and biggest game-changer – a category which seeks to celebrate innovation in cinema, whether it be technical, creative or financial. It’s up against Gravity, Spike Jonze’s Her, 12 Years a Slave, The Act of Killing, and Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England.
Cate Blanchett and Adèle Exarchopoulos join Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bruce Dern in the race for best actor, while documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer is up for best director alongside Steve McQueen, Spike Jonze, Alexander Payne and Paolo Sorrentino.
Guardian film editor and awards judge Catherine Shoard said:
“It’s really heartening to see what the readers have done with our longlist. By voting for the likes of Adele Exarchpoloulus in the best actor category, and Paolo Sorrentino and Joshua Oppenheimer for best director, they’re shown that regular movie-goers are capable of an imagination – and an inclusiveness – that seems to be beyond the members of most awards bodies.”
Shortlists
Best film
– 12 Years a Slave
– Gravity
– The Great Beauty
– The Act of Killing
– Blue is the Warmest Colour
Best actor
– Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
– Bruce Dern, Nebraska
– Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
– Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
– Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Colour
Best supporting actor
– Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
– Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
– Jared Leto, The Dallas Buyers Club
– Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
– June Squibb, Nebraska
Best director
– Spike Jonze, Her
– Joshua Oppenheimer, The Act of Killing
– Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
– Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty
– Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best scene
– Alan Partridge lip-synching to Roachford in the car in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
– The opening scene of Gravity
– The first party in The Great Beauty
– Patsy returning with the soap in 12 Years a Slave
– The struggle back to the car while overdosing in The Wolf of Wall Street
Best line of dialogue
– She was the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate. Irving (Christian Bale) in American Hustle
– Something to eat and some rest; your children will soon enough be forgotten. Mistress Ford (Liza J Bennett) in 12 Years a Slave
– Anxiety, nightmares and a nervous breakdown, there’s only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) in Blue Jasmine
– I think if Jesus was here now he’d tip you out of that fucking wheelchair and you wouldn’t get up and walk. Martin (Steve Coogan) in Philomena
– What a story; everything but a fire in the orphanage. Liberace (Michael Douglas) in Behind the Candelabra
Best film festival
– Cannes
– Sundance
– London
– Sheffield Doc/Fest
– Toronto
Best marketing campaign
– Philomena
– Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
– Anchorman: The Legend Continues
– Blue is the Warmest Colour
– World War Z
Biggest game-changer
– The Act of Killing
– Gravity
– Her
– 12 Years a Slave
– A Field in England
Best cinema
Free readers’ vote.
So-bad-it’s-good film
Free readers’ vote.
Lifetime achievement
Judges’ vote.