Contenders Film: Los Angeles Kicks Off Today Spotlighting 28 Awards-Season Movies
18.11.2023 - 17:49
/ deadline.com
Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles kicks off Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. PT spotlighting 28 movies, with panel discussions featuring cast and creatives from this awards season’s most talked-about films, including actors scheduled to return to post-strike duty from Margot Robbie, Bradley Cooper, Cillian Murphy, Jeffrey Wright, Colman Domingo, Lily Gladstone, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Annette Bening to Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman, Carey Mulligan, Anna Kendrick, Eve Hewson and America Ferrara.
During the summer of 2023, with both the writers’ and actors’ strikes in full swing, the future of Contenders was by no means a sure thing. Indeed, SAG-AFTRA’s call to arms immediately preceded the extraordinary double whammy of Barbie and Oppenheimer, right at the moment when it seemed mainstream audiences were ready to go back to the cinema.
After Contenders Film: London in October proved that the films themselves are the real stars, and producers, directors, cinematographers, casting directors, sound designers, costume designers, editors and animators all stepped forward to take the spotlight, telling candid stories of the incredible craft that goes on behind the scenes.
We were in the course of bringing that lesson with us to Contenders Film: Los Angeles when the actors’ strike ended — with the result that our panels were still adding talent as we went to print, so keep an eye out for some surprises not noted in this program.
This has all led to our most wide-ranging lineup yet, filling in the fascinating backstories behind so many of the films that have reignited the box office this year, from the action-packed John Wick: Chapter 4, to the franchise-reviving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,