Screen scene: Local film news

Posted on by Edwin Arnaudin
IN MEMORY OF KEN: Academy Award nominee Lucas Hedges' year in film included lead turns in "Boy Erased," pictured, and "Ben Is Back." The former UNC School of the Arts student received the N.C. Film Critics Association's Ken Hanke Memorial Tar Heel Award, named in honor of the late Xpress film critic. Photo courtesy of Focus Features

• Pisgah Film Project hosts screenings of Shoplifters on Sunday, Jan. 27, at The DFR Room, 36 E. Main St., Brevard. Hirokazu Kore-eda’s family drama won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and is Japan’s 2019 Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film. Showtimes are at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 and available online and at the door. pisgahfilmproject.com

• On Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 6:30 p.m., MountainTrue’s Green Riverkeeper and the Hemlock Restoration Initiative host a screening of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid: The Loss of an Ecosystem at The Purple Onion, 16 E. Main St., Saluda. The event also includes a locally produced short film about a group of kayakers who take on big rapids and attempt to save the hemlocks of the Green River Gorge. A Q&A session will follow the documentaries. Free to attend. purpleonionsaluda.com

• The N.C. Film Critics Association has named Roma the best narrative film of 2018. Among the group’s members are Asheville-area writers Justin Souther for Xpress, Marcianne Miller for Bold Life, Jill Boniske for Chickflix, Gareth Higgins for The Film Talk and God Is Not Elsewhere, Jonathan Rich for Blooperman and BleedingCool, James Rosario for The Daily Orca and Asheville Grit and Bruce Steele and this writer for AshevilleMovies.com.

Alfonso Cuarón’s ’70s-set drama beat out four other nominees: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, First Man and If Beale Street Could Talk. Cuarón also earned best director, best cinematography and best foreign language film.

The awards for performing honored Olivia Colman (The Favourite) for best actress, Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk) for best supporting actress, Ethan Hawke (First Reformed) for best actor and Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther) for best supporting actor. Other winners include Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (The Favourite) for best original screenplay; Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) for best adapted screenplay; A Star is Born for best music; Black Panther for best special effects; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for best animated film; and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? for best documentary film.

In 2016, the NCFCA renamed its “Tar Heel” award, which recognizes a film or performer with a special connection to North Carolina, in honor of the late Xpress film critic Ken Hanke. The winner of the 2018 Ken Hanke Memorial Tar Heel Award is Lucas Hedges, the star of Boy Erased and Ben Is Back. Hedges attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Other nominees were UNCSA alums David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, co-writer/director and co-writer of Halloween, and Raleigh native and UNC Chapel Hill alum Peyton Reed, director of Ant-Man and the Wasp. ncfilmcritics.org

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About Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin is a staff writer for Mountain Xpress. He also reviews films for ashevillemovies.com and is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA). Follow me @EdwinArnaudin
View all posts by Edwin Arnaudin →

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