UPDATE: The 2020 Award Ceremony will now take place in collaboration with Sitges Film Festival on Friday, October 16, 2020. Please see this post for details.
(Sarajevo) For the past few years, Sarajevo Film Festival, one of Europe’s most prestigious yearly film events, has played host to the International Casting Directors Network’s annual award ceremony. This year, due to travel restrictions and safety measures under COVID-19, accolades will be handed out in a special online ceremony, featuring special guests and other surprises, on Thursday, August 20th, 2020.
ICDN’s Award for Best Casting was established in 2016 as the first-ever international prize for best casting of a feature film, spotlighting the essential role and extraordinary achievements of casting directors in the filmmaking process.
While some progress has been made in recent years, such as the prestigious Best Casting BAFTA, casting directors are the sole department heads whose names appear in the main titles of a film without any recognition at most of the top award ceremonies (such as the Oscars or David di Donatello Awards). Yet, without them, many films would never get made—much less possess the chemistry and brilliance of an artfully assembled cast.
As ICDN Executive Board Member Lana Veenker noted, “Good casting requires exquisite taste and judgment, intuition, inspiration, curiosity, an encyclopedic knowledge of actors, and an ability to think outside the box. It commands powerful directing skills to draw out nuanced performances, and the diplomacy and tact to play intermediary between creative and financial interests. Casting directors are advocates for actors they believe in, and for artistic choices that bring the whole ensemble together. We are thrilled to announce these nominees, representing the best of our profession, and to celebrate their achievements.”
Nominees for ICDN’S 2020 Best Casting Award
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2019)
Timka Grin | Antoinette Boulat | Sebastian Moradiellos
A PERFECTLY NORMAL FAMILY (Denmark, 2020)
Anja Philip
HORS NORMES (France, 2019)
Élodie Demey | Co-casting: Justine Leocadie, Marie-France Michel
HOPE (Norway, 2019)
Celine Engebrigtsen
PLATZSPITZBABY (Switzerland, 2019)
Corinna Glaus | Co-casting: Nora Leibundgut
Laurels will be presented virtually this year via Zoom on Thursday, August 20th at 19h (CET). Interested parties may receive a link to join the ceremony and press conference by registering at the link below:
ICDN is a professional association bringing together casting directors from over 25 different countries to network, connect, share information, and help raise the profile of the profession. For more information, please visit theICDN.com.
