Penrose "Kermode awards"- My Alternate Oscar picks Part 1

With the awards nominations announced and the internet prepare to complain on the outcome, we must remind ourselves that there is more to the world of film than the old crusty academy says it is. So here in the UK, one of the most notable figures in film journalism, Mark Kermode, designed an award specifically to counter the Oscar system known as the Kermode Awards. Simply put there is only one rule, you cannot win in a category you are already nominated in for the Oscars, thats it. Since me and Marks opinions have differed in the past, I thought to make my own winners for films that deserved a chance in the spotlight. Now remember to think about this less as a top 10, and more of a compilation of recommendations for the best of cinema in 2019. So here are my picks for the Penrose "Kermode award" winners, with some added thoughts of the Oscar nominations too.

Best Cinematography

So firstly comes the cinematography award and this year we have nominations for academy favourites like Robert Richardson and Rodrigo Prieto, as well as filmmaking legend Roger Deakins with his staggering 12th nomination. My original pick for this category was gunna be Jarin Blaschke for his gritty and haunting work in The Lighthouse, but that has been snatched by the Oscar category. Therefore instead the Kermode prize this year goes to Hong Kyong-Pyo for his magical work on Parasite. With Parasite collecting an impressive number of nominations, I was surprised to see that Bong Joon ho's signature collaborator missing from the cinematography category. Especially seeing as how the wide lens shots and powerful framing merges seamlessly with the timeless themes of class warfare that has taken the world by storm.


Best Original Score


The soundtrack in a film is one of my favourite elements of cinema so I often treat this category very seriously. The nominations feature a plethora of predictable academy picks with Randy Newman for Marriage Story, Alexandre Desplat for Little Women and as always John Williams for whatever Star Wars film came out this year. Nevertheless I am banking on the winner being Hildur Guonadottir for her fantastic rise to notoriety as a composer for Joker and Chernobyl. However once again lots of the great composers have been snubbed like Max Richter for Ad Astra, or Nicholas Britell for The King. But in 2019, no other soundtrack had me as mesmerised and stunned as Mica Levi's soundtrack for Monos. Mica Levi has become the most original yet hauntingly hypnotic composers of recent years since her debut on the avant garde horror flick Under the Skin. However her work on Monos is nothing short of synthetic brilliance, combining the natural isolation of the amazon rainforest with the dreading, alien signals of war and rage.


Best Documentary

Onto best documentary and this year I'm placing my bets on Waad Al-Kateab's powerful yet political For Sama which definitely deserves its praise for its important subject matter. Yet strangely the Academy has missed out on some truly inspiring pieces of documentary filmmaking from Asif Kapadia's third biographical insight in Diego Maradona, to the moving and joyful recreation of Aretha Franklins church concert in Amazing Grace. But to me, the most shocking absence from this category and worthy winner of the Kermode goes to Todd Douglas Millers Apollo 11. This film, no pun intended, truly goes where no documentary has gone before with complete archival footage of the events of the Apollo 11 moon landing on 70mm film. Only featuring interviews and recreations, this is truly one of the must see experiences for any space or film fan to truly dive into the world of space travel.

Best Screenplay

With the academies classic system of separating Adapted and Original screenplay I decided to combine to give a firm result as to my favourite screenplay of this year. It seems Original screenplay is highly contested with Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story juking it out for the crown, meanwhile Steven Zaillian looks to take best adapted screenplay for The Irishman. Here at Penrose I've chosen an unlikely pick from a film that caught me and cradled me with its charming wit and emotional core in Joanna Hogg's beautifully written The Souvenir. Coming from Hogg's own past at film school, this film portrays an intimate self reflection of love and the apathetic possession it brings with a warm, creative pace and dialogue that matches the artistic helplessness of Honor Swinton Byrne's performance.

Best Foreign Language Film

So now we reach best Foreign Language Film and even with The Academy changing the title to "Best International Feature" to keep The Farewell from the nominations, the list still looks quite barren. It seems obvious at the point that Parasite will be a certainty for the win unless Pedro Almodovars Pain and Glory pulls a shocking upset. Therefore the Kermode shall go to a film which even with its huge film festival success was not chosen to represent its country in the nominations, in Celine Sciamma's mesmerising Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Sciamma has been a favourite among critics and is considered one of the best female directors today, yet is once again snubbed of an Oscar nomination even after the success of her last female led movie Girlhood. Portrait of a Lady on Fire has Sciamma at her best with breathtaking performances from Noemie Merlant and Adele Haenel, who are the heart and soul of this modern love story in a vibrant historical background. It is my favourite LGBT film of the year and its absence is the academies loss, but my own gain.