By Kyle Flynn

In this edition of the Golden Row, we will be going over my pre-fall festival above-the-line predictions and my rundown of the major films at each festival. 

The Fall Festival season is for many the true start of Oscar season. Many of the films that will end up getting nominated at the Oscars will premiere at the festivals. The Four Major Fall Festivals are Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and New York Film Festival (NYFF). I have had the good fortune to attend the fall festivals in the past, and this year I will be attending TIFF and having coverage on From The Fourth Row. It should be exciting. I will try to find a nice mix between the more avant-garde films, likely not to receive distribution or be reviewed on the website, and the more mainstream films we are all thinking about. 

Starting with Venice. The line-up looks great this year with a stacked slate of World Premieres (To play in Competition at Venice, you normally have to be a World Premiere). There has also been a lot drama this year, first with the controversial selection of Alexander Payne as Jury President, the new film from Julian Schanbel ‘In the Hand of Dante’ leaking online in full HD, and the odd decision from Amazon the run After the Hunt out of competition as opposed to having it compete for the Golden Lion. 

The films that I am looking out for are Bugonia, the new film from Yorgos. I don’t think this will be competitive for the Golden Lion, based on the reception of the film it is adapted from, and the contemporary setting. No Other Choice dir. Park Chan-Wook’s film will be a likely audience hit, but I don’t know if this fits the sensibility of Payne. Frankenstein is my most anticipated; I am so excited to hear the reception, but still just don’t know if this is what a Payne-led jury would go for, it may be too genre for them. This leads me to think Jay Kelly is the frontrunner for the Golden Lion. Payne has worked with Clooney before, Baumbach exists in the same type of sentimentality that Payne exists for me, and it’s going to be raw drama with a real Netflix-sized budget.

Golden Lion: Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach

Grand Jury Prize: Duse, Pietro Marcello

Special Jury Prize: Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos

Silver Lion: Frankenstein, Guillermo Del Toro

Volpi Cup, Actress: Amanda Seyfried, Testament of Ann Lee

Volpi Cup, Actor: Paul Dano, Wizard of the Kremlin

Best Screenplay: Kaouther Ben Hania, The Voice of Hind Rajab

The Telluride lineup doesn’t get officially announced till the day prior to the festival, but I am looking out for the reception to Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere and Ballad of a Small Player. I also don’t want to get too much into the Tiff line-up just because I will be attending in person this year, and my schedule is not totally concrete, but curious to see how everything plays there.

People’s Choice Award: Rental Family

People’s Choice First Runner-Up: Frankenstein

People’s Choice Second Runner-Up: Mile End Kicks

The NYFF line-up felt weaker than usual to me. I was surprised that Bugonia did not carry over to the festival from Venice. I am, however, very jealous that Resurrection dir. Bi Gan will be playing at NYFF and will not be coming to TIFF.  This is my most anticipated film for the remainder of the year, and I am very sad, so I am excited to see how it plays at NYFF after the divisive reaction to the film from Cannes. The Closing Night film is the new Bradley Cooper film, Is This Thing On?, and this adds an interesting dynamic to the award season race because I did not believe that Searchlight would continue to run the film during this award cycle. If this hits and is a success at NYFF this year, I may have to add it to my Best Picture line-up.

Best Picture Predictions:

1. Marty Supreme
2. Sinners
3. Sentimental Value
4. Wicked: For Good
5. Rental Family
6. Frankenstein
7. Jay Kelly
8. Hamnet
9. One Battle After Another
10. It Was Just An Accident

Best Director Predictions:

1. Ryan Coogler, Sinners 
2. Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
3. Josh Safdie, Marty Suprme
4. Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
5. Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident

Best Actor Predictions: 

1. Timothee Chalamet, Marty Supreme
2. George Clooney, Jay Kelly
3. Jermey Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
4. Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
5. Daniel Day-Lewis, Anemone

Best Actress Predictions:

1. Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
2. Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
3. Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
4. Cynthia Erivo, Wicked For Good
5. Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Supporting Actress Predictions:

1. Ariana Grande, Wicked For Good
2. Gwyneth Palrow, Marty Supreme
3. Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
4. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
5. Glen Close, Wake Up Dead Man

Supporting Actor Predictions:

1. Stellan Skarsgard, Sentimental Value
2. Delroy Lindo, Sinners
3. Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
4. Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
5. Jermey Strong, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Marty Supreme
2. Sinners
3. Sentimental Value
4. Rental Family
5. Jay Kelly

Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Frankenstein
2. Wake Up Dead Man
3. Hamnet
4. One Battle After Another
5. Ballad of a Small Player

Best Casting

1. Sinners
2. Wicked: For Good 
3. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
4. Marty Supreme
5. Sentimental Value

Best International Feature

1. Sentimental Value
2. The Secret Agent
3. No Other Choice
4. The President’s Cake
5. Sound of Falling

Best Animated Feature

1. Kpop Demon Hunters
2. Scarlet 
3. Zootopia 2
4. Ne Zha 2
5. Arco

Best Documentary Feature

1. 2000 Meters to Andriivka
2. The Perfect Neighbor
3. Cover-Up
4. Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
5. Seeds

I’m feeling pretty good about my predictions and the state of the race, I am sure I’ll laugh next March about how wrong I am. Thank you for reading.