International
Avatar, The Hurt Locker lead Oscar nominations
MUMBAI: James Cameron‘s box-office success Avatar and the Kathryn Bigelow directed American war thriller The Hurt Locker has bagged nine nominations each for the 82nd Academy Awards.
While Cameron‘s Avatar has been nominated for best picture, best director and a slew of technical categories, The Hurt Locker has bagged nine in categories including best actor for Jeremy Renner.
Meanwhile, Quentin Tarantino‘s Inglourious Basterds bagged eight nominations. Also, Jason Reitman‘s Up In The Air, Sandra Bullock starrer The Blind Side and Lee Daniels‘ Precious won six nominations each.
A peep into the detailed list:
BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In the Air
BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up In The Air
BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up In The Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up In the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up In the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Mo‘nique, Precious
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Matt Damon, Invictus
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell, District 9
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci,
Tony Roche, In The Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, The Hurt locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Up
ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
China‘s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of A GM Plant
Music By Prudence
Rabbit A La Berlin
FILM EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami
El Secreto
Desus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
A Prophet
The White Ribbon
MAKE-UP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
MUSIC: ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
MUSIC: ORIGINAL SONG
The Princess and The Frog – Almost There
The Princess and The Frog – Down In New Orleans
Paris 36 – Loin de Panane
Nine – Take It All
Crazy Heart – The Weary Kind
SHORT FILM: ANIMATED
French Roast
Granny O‘Grimm‘s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady And The Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
SHORT FILM: LIVE ACTION
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Princess And The Frog
The Secret Of Kells
Up
International
Moskino and Bollywood: Moscow Film Cluster and Film City Mumbai signed a cooperation agreement
Moscow Film Cluster has signed a cooperation agreement with Film City Mumbai. The parties agreed to cooperate in developing the film industry, promoting shooting locations and supporting filmmakers.
The memorandum was signed on the sidelines of the India International Film Tourism (IIFTC) Conclave in Mumbai. At this forum, the Moscow Film Cluster presented Moscow’s opportunities for film shooting, including infrastructure projects such as Film City Moskino and Film Factory. Special attention was paid to the Moscow rebate system – up to 45% – and the co-production development.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Film City and Moscow Film Cluster provides for the establishment and development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the film industry development, including joint promotion of shooting locations, support for filmmakers, implementation of marketing and industry events, development of incentive support measures and strengthening of economic and cultural interaction between India and Moscow.
The parties also intend to promote the development of the audiovisual sector through the exchange of experience, joint initiatives and the search for opportunities to create new industry partnerships and clusters.
Moscow Film Cluster is a major city initiative led by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to develop the capital into a global cinema hub. It brings together key production infrastructure – such as the Moskino Film Сity, Film Factory and Gorky Film Studio – along with the Film Commission, digital platform and cinema chain to streamline shooting, support productions and attract international filmmaking to Moscow.
Also, Moscow offers a rebate of up to 45%: 30% as direct production cost compensation, up to 15% for visa and accommodation support. The Moscow Image Grant provides up to $255,000 for films showcasing iconic city views.
The Moscow Film Cluster booth attracted considerable attention from Indian producers and studios. Over 80 business meetings were held, including those with major Indian companies.
One of the booth guests was the famous Indian actress Khushboo Sundar, known to Soviet and Russian audiences for her role in My Soul and considered the leading star of Tamil cinema, in whose honor one of the local temples was even built. Prithul Kumar, representative of the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of the officials responsible for regulating the film industry in the country, also expressed interest in the development of the Moscow Film Cluster.
One of the highlights of the India International Film Tourism Conclave was the awarding of The Greatest of All Time in the For Cinematic Excellence category. The movie was shot in Moscow. The jury members noted the project’s contribution to the development of tourism.
The shooting of The Greatest of All Time AGS by Entertainment was organized with the assistance of the Moscow Film Cluster and the Moscow Film Commission and took place in April 2024 on the streets of Moscow. The scenes were shot in such famous locations as Patriarch Bridge, Teatralnaya Square, Manezhnaya Square, Kazarmenny Lane, Podsosensky Lane, Nikolskaya Street and one of the festival venues of Moscow Seasons.
The Greatest of All Time became a landmark event in Indian box office history. It ranked fourth in box office earnings among all movies released in India in 2024 and is one of the most successful Tamil-language movies in history.
At the same time, the shooting of another joint Russian-Indian movie started at the Moskino Film City in Moscow. A film project dedicated to badminton became one of the first participants in the Moscow rebate program.
A project by Smena & WISH Media (Russia) and Kartina Entertainment And Sports Private Limited (India) will tell the story of a badminton player who travels to India with the Russian national team to compete in a tournament. Russian viewers will see for the first time the scale of sporting competitions in Asia, where badminton is a cult sport and draws packed stands of fans.
The agreement on the joint production of the Smash movie was signed st the Moscow International Film Week in August 2025. And as Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, a rebate application was also submitted at that time to reimburse part of the costs incurred during the shooting process in the Russian capital.
