London, UK (10 January 2021): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on January 10 launched its A1Film Awards for 2020, highlighting the achievements of the global cinema industry over the year, despite the immense disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and a plummeting global box office.
The A1Film Awards for 2020 highlights films, writers, producers, actors and directors, from Hollywood, Bollywood, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and the Far East which are reflective of the best of global popular cinema in 2019, Alpha1Media said.
“2020 was Cinema’s Year of Disruption,” said Talal Malik, Chairman and CEO of Alpha1Media. “With half of humanity under lockdown in the first half of the year, and cinemas shut down, this was a year that marks a genuine disruption from what preceded it, with very few major films in the cinema, China’s eclipsing America at the global box office for the first time, and an unprecedented number of luminaries of the silver screen passing on.”
From March 2020 and for many weeks and months, over 3 billion people globally were under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the global box office for movies plummeting more than 72%, from $42.5 billion in 2019 to around $12 billion in 2020.
China supplanted North America as the world’s moviegoing market in 2020, generating $2.7 billion in ticket sales compared to North America’s $2.7 billion, bearing in mind that many cinemas have been closed for more than nine months in the U.S.
Alpha1Media on January 5, 2021, launched its A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020, celebrating the Top 10 Films of 2019, and from this list, Alpha1Media awards the following colleagues in the global film industry with the A1Film Awards 2020, recognising their achievements across the year.
“Now in its eighth year, the A1Film Awards List continues to be the only list of its kind, focusing on the achievements of our industry colleagues in global popular cinema over 2019,” said Ms. Maria Felce, Alpha1Media’s official spokesperson. “But this year will be markedly different, and as we departed from an A1Film Top 10 Best Movies List to a Top 5, in the same way, we have increased our commemoration of those stars of screen from around the world who passed away in 2020.”
In total, the A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2020 has been awarded to stars of cinema including, in order of passing away, Kirk Douglas, Rishi Kapoor, Kelly Preston, Chadwick Boseman and Sean Connery, whilst also recognising at the time of their passing Max Von Sydow, Honor Blackman, Brian Dennehy, Irrfan Khan, Jagdeep, Ragaa El Geddawy, Sir Alan Parker, Dame Diana Rigg and football icon Diego Maradona.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2020 is given to Kirk Douglas, the iconic American actor from Hollywood’s Golden Age, who passed away on February 5, 2020, aged 103. Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, Douglas’ most famous roles include as ‘Spartacus’ (1960), in the epic directed by Stanley Kubrick, and as Vincent Van Gogh ‘Lust for Life’ (1956), the latter for which he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination. He also received Best Actor Oscar nominations for ‘Champion’ (1949) and ‘The Bad and the Beautiful’ (1952). He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 and an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1996. His son is the famous Hollywood actor and producer, Michael Douglas, married to British actress, Catherine Zeta Jones.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2019 is also given to Rishi Kapoor, the famed Indian film actor with a 50-year stellar career in Bollywood, who passed away on April 30, 2020, aged 67. Kapoor was the third-generation scion of the celebrated Kapoor acting dynasty, with his on-screen debut as a child in his father Raj Kapoor’s film, ‘Mera Naam Joker’ (1970) leading to a National Film Award as ‘Best Child Artist’, whilst his on-screen debut as an adult in ‘Bobby’ (1973) won him the Filmfare Best Actor Award. In the 1970s and 1980s, he appeared in the iconic ‘masala’ films, such as ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (1977), ‘Naseeb’ (1981), and ‘Coolie’ (1983), pioneered by director Manmohan Desai, which also co-starred his fellow actor and great friend, Amitabh Bachchan, as well as starring in films such as ‘Karz’ (1980) and ‘Chandni’ (1989).
Kapoor married fellow actress Neetu Singh in 1980, and appeared in over a dozen films films with her over three decades including ‘Khel Khel Mein’ (1975) and ‘Kabhie Kabhie’ (1976) in the 1970s, and in the 2000s in ‘Love Aaj Kal’ (2009), ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ (2010), ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ (2012) and ‘Besharam (2013), with both awarded the “Best Lifetime Couple” at the 2011 Zee Cine Awards ceremony. Kapoor starred in ‘102 Not Out’ (2018) with Amitabh Bachchan, nearly two decades after the two last appeared in the Russian-produced ‘Ajooba’ (1989). In the 2000s, he had critically-acclaimed roles in ‘Agneepath’ (2012) and ‘Mulk’ (2018). For his performance in ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ (2010), Kapoor won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, and for his role in ‘Kapoor & Sons’ (2016), he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
“It was a pleasure to watch the incredibly-popular Rishi Kapoor over the past four decades, as vibrant in his youth as in his seniority,” said Talal Malik, Alpha1Media CEO. “The Indian film industry and his fans globally were immensely fond of him, as we are witnessing with the tributes flowing in.”
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2020 is also given to Kelly Preston, the beautiful American actress and wife of the iconic film actor John Travolta, passed away on July 12, 2020, at the age of 57 after suffering from breast cancer for two years.
Having lived in Iraq and Australia as a youngster, Preston returned to America as a young adult and starred in ‘Space Camp’ (1986), alongside a young Joaquin Phoenix. In 1987, she met her later husband John Travolta, when they starred in the film, ‘The Experts’ (1987). She then famously starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in ‘Twins’ (1988) as Marnie Mason.
In 1991, she married Travolta and in 1996, she starred in another famous role, opposite Tom Cruise in ‘Jerry Maguire’ as his fiancé at the start of the film, Avery Bishop. In 1996, she also made an appearance in Robert Rodriguez’s ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ (1996) with George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino. In 1997, Kelly starred in ‘Nothing to Lose’ opposite Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence and in 1998, opposite Michael Keaton in the movie ‘Jack Frost’ (1998). In the 2000s, she starred opposite Kurt Russell in ‘Sky High’ (2005) and opposite her husband in the biopic ‘Gotti’ (2018). John Travolta and Kelly Preston had three children together: Jett, Benjamin and Ella Bleu, and in 2009, Jett tragically died from a seizure whilst on holiday.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2020 is also given to Chadwick Boseman, the now-iconic African American actor who starred as the lead in the cultural milestone, ‘Black Panther’ (2018), died August 28, 2020, aged 43, from stage 4 colon cancer, having been diagnosed with stage 3 in 2016. Of Sierra Leone and Nigerian ancestry, Boseman attended Howard University, where one of his teachers and mentors was Phylicia Rashad, who played Claire Huxtable on the Cosby Show. Rashad helped raise funds so Howard students could attend the summer British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England, which Boseman was able to attend. He later revealed that a critical donor had been iconic actor Denzel Washington. Moving to Los Angeles in 2008, he began starring in films with portrayals of real-life historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson in ‘42’ (2013), James Brown in ‘Get on Up’ (2014) and Thurgood Marshall in ‘Marshall’ (2017).
In 2018, Boseman starred as the Marvel superhero Black Panther, who in reality is King T’Challa of the mythical metropolis of Wakanda, in the film of the same name, a $200 million film with a majorly African-origin cast directed by auteur Ryan Coogler. The film earned $1.34 billion and won Boseman a NAACP Image Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and was also the first film officially shown publicly to cinema audiences in Saudi Arabia in 2018. Boseman would portray the superhero in Marvel’s ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (2016), ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018), and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019). His other film roles included ‘21 Bridges’ (2019) and Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ (2020).
“Essentially Chadwick Boseman immortalised himself in global cinematic history, whilst being terminally ill for four years,” said Talal Malik, CEO of Alpha1Media. “An amazing legacy to leave behind and in a noble and heroic way – Wakanda Forever.”
The final A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2020 is given to Sean Connery, the iconic Scottish actor who portrayed the first cinematic James Bond, passed away on October 31, 2020, aged 90. Connery portrayed the British superspy 7 times, first in ‘Dr. No’ in 1962, then ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Thunderball’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ (1971) and then ‘Never Say Never Again’ (1983). He won an Oscar for his role in ‘The Untouchables’ (1987) with Kevin Costner, and then did a supercameo with Costner in ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991). He also starred as Sharif Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni in ‘The Wind and The Lion’ (1975), as a Saudi Arabian Minister of State in ‘The Next Man’ (1976) and also in ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ (1976) with his friend, Michael Caine, in Morocco. He famously starred as Indiana Jones’ father in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989) with Harrison Ford, in Tom Clancy’s first Jack Ryan film, ‘The Hunt for Red October’ (1990), Michael Crichton’s ‘Rising Sun’ (1993), and Simpson-Bruckheimer’s ‘The Rock’ (1996).
Amongst his last cinematic films before his retirement in 2006 was ‘Entrapment’ (1999) with Catherine Zeta-Jones and ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ (2003) with Naseeruddin Shah. He was voted by People Magazine as the ‘Sexiest Man of the Century’ in 1999, and knighted as a Sir in 2000. “Sir Sean Connery has an active tremendous influence on Alpha1Media’s film work, and his cinematic and cultural legacy is globally-recognised and truly iconic,” said Talal Malik, CEO of Alpha1Media.
The A1Film Best Original Screenplay Award 2020 is given to Christopher Nolan, the British-American auteur who also directed for ‘Tenet’. ‘Tenet’ was featured in the A1Top Preview List for 2020 and recognised as No. 1 on the A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020. Nolan has previously won the Best Original Screenplay Award at the A1Film Awards 2014 with his brother, Jonathan Nolan, in 2014 for ‘Interstellar’, which was also No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2014.
The A1Film Best Producer Award 2020 is given for to Emma Thomas, the co-producer of ‘Tenet’ and wife of the film’s director, Christopher Nolan, who also co-produced the film through their company, Syncopy. Christopher Nolan also was co-producer with Emma Thomas on the film he directed, ‘Interstellar’, for which he won the Best Producer Award at the A1Film Awards 2014.
The A1Film Best Foreign Picture 2020 is given to Guan Hu, the Chinese director of the film, ‘The Eight Hundred’, which was recognised as No. 4 on the A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020. ‘The Eight Hundred’ was the world’s highest grossing film in 2020 at $461 million, and also marks the first time that the Chinese box office has overtaken the North American box office globally, with $2.7 billion against $2.3 billion.
The A1Film Best Director Award 2020 is given to Christopher Nolan, the British-American auteur of ‘Tenet’. Nolan also won the Best Director Award at the A1Film Awards 2017 for the film, ‘Dunkirk’, which was No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2017.
The A1Film Best Picture 2020 is given to Christopher Nolan, the British-American auteur and producer of ‘Tenet’, which has won four awards at the A1Film Awards 2020. Nolan also won the Best Picture Award at the A1Film Awards 2014 for ‘Interstellar’. ‘Tenet’ is the third film of Christopher Nolan which has been recognised as the best film of the year, with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ being the No. 1 film on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2012 and ‘Interstellar’ being the No. 1 film on the A1Film Top 10 Films of 2014.
“It should be no surprise that ‘Tenet’, as directed, written and co-produced by its auteur, Christopher Nolan, should have swept the A1Film Awards 2020, as it was the only genuinely Awards-worthy film to be released globally in cinemas after the pandemic, and of course topped the A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020,” said Talal Malik, CEO of Alpha1Media.
‘Tenet’ topped the A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020, with Maria Felce, the leading spokesperson for Alpha1Media, explaining the reasons why.
‘Tenet’ leads our list for a plethora of reasons,” said Ms. Felce, Head of Talent and Media at Alpha1Media on January 6, 2021, at the launch of the A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020.
“It is the definition of the genre of an intelligent blockbuster, an ultra-high concept film mixing contemporary themes with time travel and top-tier action; it is the main film in 2020 that its auteur director Christopher Nolan insisted have a global cinematic release; it is a film that the major studios, public and the media looked at as being the frontrunner for the survival of cinema; it had a budget of $205 million and grossed $350.8 million during the pandemic; it warranted watching at least twice, cinematically even and within Imax; and its auteur director Christopher Nolan bravely told truth to power when he criticised his own major studio Warner Bros. for its decision to have a simultaneous cinema-streaming release for its 2021 slate.”
Major film studio Warner Bros. announced on December 3, 2020, that it will debut all its 2021 movies simultaneously in on its streaming platform HBO Max as well as any cinemas open globally, leading to an outcry from many of the leading filmmakers at Warner Bros. itself such as Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve whilst other filmmakers such as Steven Soderbergh were more conciliatory.
The A1Film Top 5 Best Movies List 2020 launched on 6 January, 2021, are 1) ‘Tenet’; 2) ‘1917’; 3) ‘Wonder Woman 1984’; 4) ‘The Eight Hundred’ and 5) ‘Bad Boys for Life’.
There have been many films in 2020 which cannot be included in the A1Film Top 5/10 List, either due to limited theatrical releases globally and or being primarily released on streaming platforms. These films include ‘Nomadland’, ‘Mank’, ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’, ‘One Night in Miami’, ‘Da 5 Bloods’, ‘Sound of Metal’ and ‘On the Rocks’.
Alpha1Media will also launch its acclaimed annual list of the top films from around the world which cinema audiences were looking forward to in 2021.
Alpha1Media is a global media and entertainment firm. Alpha1Media produces and advises on media creation using 10×10 types of media including phone, print, TV, radio, billboard, computer, cinema and futuristic media based on scale, motion and holograms.
In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services. It currently has six film projects in development with production value estimated at over USD $500 million from 2021-2030, including the industry-acclaimed ‘NANO’.