Forget the Golden Globes as the most reliable Oscar predictor. The Sundance Film Festival is proving some serious powers of prognostication as well. As AMPAS announced its 2008 Oscar nominations earlier this morning, Sundance programmers couldn’t help noticing that several of this year’s nominated films and filmmakers were Sundance alumni.
Julie Christie and Laura Linney showcased their best leading actress-nominated performances (in Away from Her and The Savages, respectively) at Sundance last year, their talented writer-directors, Sarah Polley and Tamara Jenkins, have also landed writing nominations.
Though Juno never made its way to Park City, the film’s director, Jason Reitman, has been a Sundance staple: Three of his short films have screened here—Operation (1998), In God We Trust (2000) and Gulp (2001)—while his feature debut, Thank You for Smoking, screened in 2006. He is also a Short Film Juror at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. (Note: Oscar nominee Ellen Page is at Sundance this year with Smart People, too.)
Documentaries have proven particularly popular, with No End in Sight and War/Dance competing for a statue in the Best Documentary Feature category and Freeheld, La Corona and Salim Baba all in contention for the Best Documentary Short Subject Oscar.
Rounding out the nominations in a variety of categories are nominees Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, whose “Falling Slowly” from Once (2007 World Cinema Audience Award Winner) is up for Best Original Song; I Met the Walrus for Best Animated Short; and Il Supplente (The Substitute) for Best Live Action Short.
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