Denis Villeneuve is now one of the favorites to land an Oscar nomination in the Best Direction category. The name of the Quebec filmmaker is indeed among the five finalists for the DGA Award in the feature film category, a very prestigious prize awarded by the Directors Guild of America.
Posted at 4:41 p.m.
The director of Dunes will be in very good company. Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) and Steven Spielberg (West Side Story) are also in the running. The selection couldn’t be higher.
Determined by peer vote, this distinction usually paves the way for the next race for the golden statuette. For 10 years, all the winners of the DGA Award, with two exceptions, have subsequently been able to add the Oscar for best achievement to their collection. The Directors Guild ceremony will take place on March 12.
Five years after being quoted thanks to Arrival (The arrival), the year Damien Chazelle was consecrated with La La Land, Denis Villeneuve is once again propelled into the highest spheres of Hollywood cinema. Joined by The Press a few minutes after the announcement, the filmmaker was obviously delighted.
“I am touched by this honor, especially since this one comes from peers,” he said. It’s like a nice pat on the back from the film industry, a very nice support. We feel that Dunes is much appreciated. I am also very happy with the fact that the majority of the craftsmen who worked on the film are also recognized by the various professional associations. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Denis Villeneuve and Timothée Chalamet on the set of Dunes.
Also selected by the Producers Guild
We also find Dunes in the list of the 10 works retained by the Producers Guild of America for the prize of the best feature film of the year. It is the same for The Power of the Dogthe film by Jane Campion, of which Quebecer Roger Frappier is one of the main producers.
The other eight films in the running for the PGA Award are Being the Ricardos (Aaron Sorkin) Belfast (Kenneth Branagh) CODA (Sian Heder), Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay) King Richard (Reinaldo Marcus Green), Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson), tick, tick… BOOM! (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and West Side Story (Steven Spielberg).
The selections of the Producers Guild are also a very good indicator for the Oscars, whose organizers will reveal the list of finalists on February 8.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog. Jane Campion’s film, of which Roger Frappier is one of the main producers, is also a favorite for the next race for the Oscars.
Other honors for Dunes
Dunes was also able to add other honors on Thursday to those already collected from the various professional groups. The association The American Cinema Editors, which awards the Eddie Awards, highlighted the work of editor Joe Walker by naming him among its finalists. The screenplay, co-written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth based on the novel by Frank Herbert, is also celebrated by the Writers Guild of America, which selected it in the category of best adaptation.
Remember that in 2017, Arrival was cited eight times at the Oscars, notably in the categories of best film and best director, and earned Quebecer Sylvain Bellemarre a statuette in the category of best sound editing.