The world’s first international prize for casting will be presented on October 16, 2020.
(Barcelona) For the past few years, sunny Sarajevo has played host to the International Casting Directors Network’s Best Casting Award ceremony each August.
This year, due to travel restrictions and safety measures under COVID-19, accolades will be handed out instead in collaboration with Sitges Film Festival in Barcelona, in an online ceremony featuring special guests and other surprises.
Sitges, the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, is the number one fantasy film festival in the world. This year’s festival will present a combination of live and online events. ICDN’s award ceremony is slated for a virtual red carpet at 19:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time) on Friday, October 16, 2020.
The 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 around the world 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 recognize these extraordinary artists, representing the best of our profession, and to celebrate their achievements.”
NOMINEES FOR ICDN’S 2020 BEST CASTING AWARD
Timka Grin | Antoinette Boulat | Sebastián Moradiellos
(Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2019)
(Denmark, 2020)
Élodie Demey | Co-casting: Justine Léocadie, Marie-France Michel
(France, 2019)
(Norway, 2019)
Corinna Glaus | Co-casting: Nora Leibundgut
(Switzerland, 2019)
Laurels will be presented virtually this year via Sitges Industry Hub Online on Friday, October 16th at 19h (CEST).
RSVPs are required to access the Industry Hub. Deadline to register is Tuesday, October 13th, 2020.
To confirm attendance, please register at the link below by October 13th, and an invitation will be sent to you:
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 casting profession. For more information, please visit theICDN.com.
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