The title of this entry is vague because this past year my awards saw what I hope is the first of two overhauls in these categories. From 1996-2009 I had been satisfied with having but one category in which to honor the talented youths on film. After all save for the Young Artist Awards, which are dedicated solely to young actors, this was one of the only places to honor them alongside their counterparts who are of age. This past year the nominating process became more difficult than ever as the talent pool seemed to be, if not the deepest ever, then one of them. Suddenly, I realized that I would have been eliminating people based on the size of their role and not on the quality of their performance. People like Janina Fautz in The White Ribbon and Billy Unger in You Again would be shutout of the nominating process. One of the benefits of creating your own awards is the ability to improvise.
Looking at the films and performances I’d seen I was able to create two new categories: I was able to make unisex categories for lead and supporting performances and one for ensemble work by youths, which seemed equally overdue. The goal in the 2011 awards is complete parity, meaning male and female lead and supporting categories and ensemble (UPDATE: Mission accomplished! See the results!).
These categories have always been of great importance to me not just because I was 15 when I started picking these awards but because youth performers are and have been greatly overlooked and under-appreciated and deserve some recognition. Especially when you consider that the Academy used to have a Juvenile Award and stopped awarding it.
UPDATE: Since these awards have evolved over the past two years I am for the time being segmenting them by year all winners for 2011 and 2010 can be found together then the single-category honorees from 1996-2009 below that. Next year I may create separate posts.
2011
Best Youth Ensemble
Super 8 Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Gabriel Basso and Riley Griffiths
Zach Mills, Elle Fanning, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Joel Courtney and Gabriel Basso in Super 8 (Paramount)
Best Performance by a Child Actress in a Leading Role
Elle Fanning Super 8
Elle Fanning in Super 8 (Paramount)
Best performance by a Child Actor in a Leading Role
Joel Courtney Super 8
Joel Courtney in Super 8 (Paramount)
Best Performance by a Child Actress in a Supporting Role
Elle Fanning We Bought a Zoo
Elle Fanning in We Bought a Zoo (20th Century Fox)
Best Performance by a Child Actor in a Supporting Role
2011 Ryan Lee Super 8
Ryan Lee in Super 8 (Paramount)
2010
Best Performance by a Child Actor in a Supporting Role
2010 Janina Fautz The White Ribbon
Janina Fautz in The White Ribbon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Best Performance by a Child Actor in a Leading Role
2010 Kodi Smit-McPhee Let Me In
Kodi Smit-McPhee in Let Me In (Hammer Films)
Best Youth Ensemble
2010 Oscar Steer, Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods, Eros Vlahos and Rosie-Taylor Ritson in Nanny McPhee Returns
Oscar Steer, Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods, Eros Vlahos and Rosie-Taylor Ritson in Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal)
Best Performance by a Child Actor
2009 Bill Milner Is Anybody There?
Bill Milner in Is Anybody There? (Stony Island Entertainment)
2008 Will Poulter Son of Rambow
Will Poulter and Bill Milner in Son of Rambow (Paramount Vantage)
2007 Freddie Highmore August Rush
Freddie Highmore in August Rush (Warner Bros.)
2006 Abigail Breslin Little Miss Sunshine
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
2005 Dakota Fanning War of the Worlds
Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds (Paramount)
2004 Ivan Dobronravov The Return
Ivan Dobronravov in The Return (Kino International)
2003 Jeremy Sumpter Peter Pan
Jeremy Sumpter and Rachel Hurd Wood in Peter Pan (Universal)
2002 Haley Joel Osment Edges of the Lord
Haley Joel Osment Edges of the Lord (Miramax)
2001 Haley Joel Osment Artificial Intelligence: A.I.
2000 Haley Joel Osment Pay it Forward
Haley Joel Osment in Pay it Forward (Warner Bros.)
1999 Haley Joel Osment The Sixth Sense
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (Hollywood Pictures)
1998 Vinicius de Oliveira Central Station (Central do Brasil)
Vinicius de Oliveira and Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station (1998)
1997 Jena Malone Bastard Out of Carolina
Jena Malone in Bastard Out of Carolina (Showtime)
1996 Michelle Trachtenberg Harriet the Spy
Vanessa Lee Chester, Michelle Trachtenberg and Gregory Smith in Harriet the Spy (Paramount/Nickelodeon)
skykid
April 8, 2011
I am aware only of few awards aimed towards young talents in cinema. The young artist awards you mentioned , Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards ( kind of ) and may be the annual AFTI Polls. Of course the coming of age movie awards at http://www.theskykid.com and now yours too.
But let`s have a take on yours : Kodi Smit-McPhee is indeed very talented your actor , even if I liked his performance in Matching Jack better than in Let me in.
For one reason and another I failed to fully appreciate The White Ribbon…
The cast of Nanny McPhee Returns got a lot of recognition this year. Personally I have been following the progress of Asa Butterfield – who seems to improve his acting being already quite good in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Believe it or not I still haven`t seen Is Anybody There? even if I have it and it has been recommended highly to me more than ones . Bill Milner is one of my favorite actors , so I guess I am just saving the film for some special occasion.
Freddie Highmore has its own legacy when it comes to young actors. May be it can`t match the one of Haley Joel Osment – but we are yet to see an actor whose work will get such recognition. ( in the past such actor is Baret Oliver )
I have seen Dakota Fanning in only one film ( the latest one that seems to be quite controversial – even if not according to me ) and she is definitely one of the most talented actresses. ( In fact she has her own legacy )
Oh and its a shame that the Academy stopped awarding the Juvenile Award – with their attempts to appeal to younger audience now one may won wonder if the people on there really know what they are doing
bernardovillela
April 8, 2011
Sky Kid,
Thank you for the thoughtful response. I agree regarding the KCAs I even still vote on them and was going to blog about who I picked and why, and not that I disagree but they are very much a popularity contest and always have been. It’s just that when I was younger I tended to agree with the winners more than I do now. Sign of the times or age, I do not know.
I have not yet seen Matching Jack, in fact, you brought it to my attention so I may have to seek it out. In my Awards this is his 2nd straight nomination.
Whether or not you liked The White Ribbon as much as I did, which is rather evident from my nominees last year I think that doesn’t detract from the work the cast, particularly the young actors played in the film.
Asa has been coming along. I read Hugo Cabret and after doing so cannot imagine a better choice to play that role.
You definitely need to be in the mood for “Is Anybody There?” It took me a while to re-watch it on DVD and I quickly recalled why. It is very funny but also I cried two or three times watching it as well.
Yes, it;d be hard to match Haley’s run but there may be more talent around now then there was when he came along. Have you seen “Home of the Giants”?
Is the Dakota Fanning film you refer to “The Runaways”? If so, how’d you like it? I’ve debated seeing it.
You’d think the Academy would un-retire the Juvenile Award even if it were to only come back as an occasional thing like they used to do it and not a fully-nominated annual award.
skykid
April 8, 2011
Oh I have no doubts in the acing abilities of the young cast of The White Ribbon. What`s more one of them – Leonard Proxauf did an interview for theskykid.com. The movie with Dakota Fanning I had in mind is Hounddog (2007). Haven`t seen Home of the Giants yet.
Hugo Cabret is one of the most anticipated coming of age films of 2011 for me.
bernardovillela
April 8, 2011
That’s very cool I’d be interested to read (don’t think I have yet) that please feel free to post a link.
Ah, yes. I haven’t seen “Houdndog” either. What were your thoughts. I might see “Home of the Giants” on Netflix streaming shortly.
Hugo Cabret should be pretty cool considering all those involved.