Alexandre Desplat Academy Award win for The Shape of Water

An away win for France at the weekend, with composer Alexandre Desplat winning an Academy Award for the soundtrack to the movie The Shape of Water.

It's the second time Desplat has won an Oscar, having picked one up in 2015 for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel. That year saw him nominated for two different films, the one that eventually won as well as The Imitation Game.

As well as his two wins, he's previously been nominated another seven times for an Academy Award, for films as varied as The Queen, Fantastic Mr Fox, The King's Speech, Argo and Philomena.

He's also previously won two Grammy Awards and three Baftas, as well as three Césars, for the soundtracks for The Beat that my Heart Skipped, The Ghost Writer and Rust and Bone.

The Shape of Water was nominated for 13 Oscars, and picked up four, most significantly the award for Best Picture and Best Director.

Desplat's soundtrack may not have been the critic's favourite for an award this year, that would probably be Jonny Greenwood's work for Phantom Thread. However, The Shape of Water also features a cover of Gainsbourg's La Javanaise by Madeleine Peyroux, hopefully introducing his work to another new audience.

There may have been no French films in the Best Foreign Language category this year, and while Agnes Varda was one of the four recipients of an honourary awards this year, there was no victories on the scale of Jean Dujardin or Marion Cotillard.

But an Oscar for a French musician? Very welcome indeed.

Grand Corps Malade and the César Award nominations

The César Awards shortlist is unveiled today.

It's a prestigious event, like its American equivalent The Oscars, and among the music related nominations, it's a real pleasure to see one of the biggest figures in France's music scene at the receiving end of four nominations.

His film Patients is on the shortlisted for four awards, best adaptation, best first film, best male hope and. most significantly, best film.

Patients is set in a rehabilitation centre for those with disabilities. Some, like the film's protagonist Ben played by César nominated Pablo Pauly, as a result of an accident, others from birth. It tells of the struggle, despair and resignation they face, as well as the friendship and hope they experience as a consequence of their difficulties.

The film was directed by Grand Corps Malade and Mehdi Idir.

Elsewhere in the César shortlist, music related films are at the forefront of this year's main contenders.

A biopic of the chanteuse Barbara is nominate in eight different categories, including best film and best female hope for Jeanne Balibar who took on the lead role.

Elsewhere, 120 battements par minute is set in the early years of the 80s Aids outbreak and tells the story of activists involved in the early fight, with Bronski Beat's anthem Smalltown Boy taking on a central part in the film. It's got 13 nominations and previously won the Cannes film festival Grand Jury prize.

Meanwhile, singer Camélia Jordana, star of TV reality show Nouvelle Star is in the running hfor best female hope for her role in the movie Le Brio, where she starred alongside Daniel Auteuil.

Charlotte Gainsbourg is nominated for best actress for her part in La promesse de l'aube.

The César awards ceremony takes place on March 2 in Paris.

Jane Birkin: Academy Award nomination for film

This year there are no French entries in the Best Foreign Film category for this year's Academy Awards, but a  film featuring Jane Birkin has been nominated for an Oscar.

La femme et le TGV is on the short list for Best Live Action Short Film.

Birkin has the leading role in the 2016 short, by Swiss director Timo von Gunten, playing Elise, a woman whose daily routine for 30 years includes waving at the TGV train that passes her house. Her life changes when she finds a letter from the driver.

The 30 minute film has been described as light and enchanting, bringing to mind work like Chocolat or Amélie.

Birkin's film career stretches back to 1965, with roles in key British films of that era including Blowup,  meeting partner Serge Gainsbourg on the filming of the movie Slogan in 1969.

She's gone on to star in dozens of French and English language films in subsequent decades, with directors including Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Bertrand Tavernier and Alain Resnais, as well as Gainsbourg and her later partner Jacques Doillon.

Elsewhere in the Oscars, Isabelle Huppert is in the Best Actress category for the film Elle.

The 89th Academy Awards are held on 26 February 2017.

Alexandre Desplat: The Grand Budapest Hotel Academy Award

A much deserved Oscar award last night for Alexandre Desplat for his soundtrack to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

It has to be said that Desplat had a reasonable chance of bringing something home to put on his mantlepiece given that he was nominated for two seperate Best Soundtrack Academy awards.

As well as The Grand Budapest Hotel, he also created the soundtrack for the film The Imitation Game which was also nominated for the Best Soundtrack Academy Award this year.

The Grand Budapest Hote had been nominated or a number of Oscars, but still picked up four in total. The Wes Anderson film  missed out on Best Film and Best Director and best Original Screenplay awards. It also failed to get Best Cinematography and best editing, but won Best Costume design, best production design  and best make up and hair design as well as  Best Soundtrack.

Desplat's no stranger to the Oscars ceremony,  having been nominated six times before.

Previous work that earned him nominations are The Queen (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009), Fantastic Mr Fox (2010) The King's Speech (2011), Argo (2013) and Philomena (2014).

He has also won three César awards, for The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2006), The Ghost Writer (2011) and Rust and Bone (2013).

He's also worked on some big name Hollywood films in the past, include The Girl with the Pearl Earing (2003), The Golden Compass (2007),  and Zero Dark Thirty (2012) as well as Harry Potter and Twilight movies.

Alexandre Desplat: 2015 Academy Awards nominations

For many musicians, an Oscar nomination would be the highlight of their career. But this time, for
Alexandre Desplat its something a bit more unusual as he has been nominated for two Academy Awards in the Best Original Score category.

His work for the films The Grand Budapest Hotel and for The Imitation Game earned him the nominations.

However, an Oscar nomination is no new experience for the Paris-born composer, having been nominated six times before.

His previous work that earned him nominations are The Queen (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2009), Fantastic Mr Fox (2010) The King's Speech (2011), Argo (2013) and Philomena (2014).

This time, with two nominations, he must surely be the most likely winner.

In his career he has already won three César awards, for The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2006), The Ghost Writer (2011) and Rust and Bone (2013).

Other Hollywood films he's previously worked on include The Girl with the Pearl Earing (2003), The Golden Compass (2007),  and Zero Dark Thirty (2012) as well as Harry Potter and Twilight movies.

His work with the French film industry includes Quand j'étais chanteur (2006), Coco Before Chanel (2009), the Army of Crime (2009) ,  A prophet (2009) and Cloclo (2012)

Elsewhere, the 2015 Oscar nominations see Marion Cotillard nominated for  Two Days, One Night. Cotillard  previously won the title for her portrayal of Piaf in La Vie en Rose in 2008.

The winners will be revealed on February 22.


 

Izïa Higelin, Oscar and César Awards

A weekend of Award ceremonies, and one that saw a memorable victory for Michael Haneke at the Césars and recognition at the Oscars.

It was a strange situation with almost parallel award ceremonies, Argo winnning best film at the Oscars, best foreign film at the Césars and Amour winning best film at the Césars and best foreign film at the Oscars.

There might not have been a dramatic win at the Oscars like there was last year with The Artist, but for a French cinema industry that has been as badly hit as any by the recession, and while arguments continue to rage over the economics of film making in France, it remains encouraging that the French industry still has a place at the most exclusive table.

You can argue that the Oscars are always going to put the spotlight most favourably on the American film industry, but at the end of the day the USA dominates cinema like no other country, and the fact that France can still compete here is a real cause for celebration.

Meanwhile, the weekend saw the César awards, which put the spotlight firmly on the French film industry. While Haneke dominated, it was nice to see Argo win in the best foreign film category, but for this blog one name did stand out, with Izïa Higelin winning the best female hope award for her role in Mauvaise Fille.

Izïa Higelin is the daughter of singer Jacques Higelin and a singer in her own right. her musical career started when she was 14, and by 16 she was supporting Iggy Pop when he played in Paris and releasing songs on her MySpace.

Her debut album was released in 2009, her second album So Much Trouble coming out in 2011. While musically very different to her father - I doubt he'd have found himself on the same bill as Motorhead -  she's duetted with him on a couple of his releases.

She's no stranger to awards, her debut album saw her scoop two Victoires de la musique awards: best rock/pop album of the year and breakthrough act of the year in 2010, and in 2012 she won another for rock album of the year with so Much Trouble.

Mauvaise Fille was her debut film, and with the reaction she's received she looks certain to be a very big star before too long.