London, UK (30 December 2023): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on December 30 launched its A1Film Awards for 2023, its 11th awards, highlighting the achievements of the global cinema industry over the year, as original, innovative and auteur-led content started to rebalance with blockbusters at the box office in what was unanimously, positively and negatively, a year of cinematic inflection.
Now in its 11th year, the A1Film Awards for 2023 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 2023.
“At the start of the year, I said 2023 would be the Year of Cinema’s Inflection, and what happened even exceeded my own expectations,” said Talal Malik, Alpha1Media Founder and Film Producer. “With Thomas Doherty of the Hollywood Reporter in a magisterial analysis, asking, ‘Was this Hollywood’s Worst Year Ever?’ whereas Hollywood auteur Christopher Nolan who made the biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ made a persuasive contrarian case when he told Empire, ‘I’ve just made a three-hour film about Robert Oppenheimer which is R-rated and half in black-and-white – and it made a billion dollars. – the crazy thing is that it’s literally the most successful film I’ve ever made… So I feel great about the state of the movie business, based on my own experience, but also based on seeing other movies break out, seeing audiences come back.’ – so which is it?”
“Global popular cinema in 2023 has witnessed an inflection in the diversification and expansion of content and genres for cinema, a rebalancing between innovative, original auteur-led content and superhero blockbusters, as even A1Film Top 10 2023 expanded to 17 films, with a mixture of studio-produced films and those produced by new production entities such as Apple; while Hollywood, in the the centennial anniversary of the iconic Hollywood sign, faced a year of inflection, with the confluence of the challenges of diversification of movies at the box office, the uber-challenge of A.I. and the impact on people and talent, with union strikes for months for both writers and actors.”
Global box offices revenues are estimated to have shot up by 28% to $33.4 billion in 2023 compared with $26 billion in 2022, but still far from pre-pandemic revenues in 2019 at $42.3 billion.
Alpha1Media’s work to promote industry colleagues in global popular cinema over the past decade with the A1Film Awards helped to influence the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in Hollywood, USA, responsible for the the prestigious Oscars, to announce a new category on August 8, 2018, titled Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film (or the Academy Award for Best Popular Film) but the awarding of it has been postponed until further notice.
Alpha1Media Founding CEO and Writer-Producer Talal Malik on March 27, 2023, published his exclusive perspectiveon ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’ to mark the 50th Anniversary of ‘The Godfather’ winning the Best Picture Oscar. On October 7, 2023, Talal Malik, as inspired by the film ‘Point Break’, conducted his first skydive in Dubai, released as a video titled ‘Point Break – #LiveLifeInTheSky’ on October 21, 2023, with help in inspiration through a motivational review video by Hollywood iconic actor and producer, Will Smith, after his own skydive in Dubai. On November 30, 2023, Talal Malik conducted his first interview with the iconic international film industry magazine, ‘Screen International’, founded in 134 years ago in 1889, about global cinema.
As an attendee of the Red Sea International Film Festival in December 2023, Talal Malik met with iconic Hollywood actor and producer Will Smith, with ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ actor Andrew Garfield (having attended both the European Film Premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ on June 18, 2012, and the World Premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man on April 10, 2014), with director Terry Gilliam, who directed ‘12 Monkeys’ and ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ and with actor John Rhys Davies, who most memorably portrayed the Egyptian excavator Sallah opposite Hollywood movie star Harrison Ford in the iconic ‘Indiana Jones’ film franchise, including in 2023’s final entry, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’. On December 8, 2023, Talal Malik on behalf of Alpha1Media marked the 100th anniversary of the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, with their commemoration fully endorsed on the anniversary day by the Hollywood Sign Trust itself.
At the start of 2023, as part of the A1Film Preview for 2023, Talal Malik had said, “2023 therefore can be potentially ‘The Year of Cinematic Inflection’, with many talent, especially A1Film Awards winners, having significant transition points in their careers: with new ventures such as Christopher Nolan‘s first film outside his traditional studio at Warner Bros, Martin Scorsese teaming up with his greatest muses Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time, in India, Shah Rukh Khan and hit director Rajkumar Hirani teaming up for the first time whilst in China, Jackie Chan and Jing Wu also collaborate across generations; with completion arcs, such as Denis Villeneuve completing ‘Dune’ with its sequel [postponed to 2024], Tom Cruise commencing the end of his ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise, and Sylvester Stallone handing over ‘The Expendables’ franchise; and franchise continuation with quality control for Marvel with Sony’s sequel to their first animated Spider-Man film and the start of the Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”
In 2022, Talal Malik as an official participant at the 75th Festival de Cannes, published his exclusive milestone perspective on the future of global cinema on May 23 in prestigious British newspaper, The Independent’ (Premium Section), expanded exclusively on Alpha1Media.com as ‘Cinema’s Next Quantum Leap’, and also published in Arabic in Fortune Magazine (US) and also in Mandarin.
Alpha1Media on December 28, 2023, launched its A1Film Top 10 2023, celebrating the Top 10 Films of 2022, and from this list, Alpha1Media awards the following colleagues in the global film industry with the A1Film Awards 2023,recognising their achievements across the year.
“Now in its 11th 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 2023,” said Ms. Maria Felce, Alpha1Media’s official spokesperson.
In total, the A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2023 has been awarded to stars of cinema including Tatjana Patitz, Gina Lollobrigida, Tom Sizemore,
Lance Reddick, Tina Turner, Glenda Jackson, Alan Arkin, Sinead O’Connor, William Friedkin and Matthew Perry.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2023 is given to Lawrence Turman, the legendary Oscar-nominated Hollywood producer of over 40 films such as ‘The Graduate’ (1967), ‘Short Circuit’ (1986), ‘Short Circuit 2’ (1988) and ‘American History X’ (1998), died July 1, 2023, aged 96. Turman also served as the Endowed Chair of the famed Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California (USC), regarded as the best film production program ìin the world and was the author of the milestone book, ‘So You Want to Be a Producer?’ (2005). Lawrence Turman regarded Talal Malik’s film development projects at Alpha1Media as “excellent” and counselled that “perseverance counts as much as talent and creativity”. “It was a genuine honour to be in touch with Mr. Larry Turman, as a legendary Hollywood Oscar-nominated film producer, teacher and author,” said Talal Malik. “Having read his milestone book, when I quoted to him his view that the two key qualities to be a successful film producer were taste and tenacity, his memorable reply was ‘YOU GOT IT!’ Thank you, Mr. Lawrence Turman.”
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2023 is given to Raquel Welch, the American Hollywood actress who became a global glamour icon in the 1960s and 1970s with her roles in films such as ‘One Million Years BC’, ‘Fantastic Voyage’ and as the poster image of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, who died February 15, aged 82. Born Jo Raquel Tejada of Spanish-Bolivian descent, she had her breakout role in ‘Fantastic Voyage’ in 1966 followed by her iconic role with only three lines of dialogue in ‘One Million Years B.C’ where a publicity still of her became a best-selling iconic postern later used in 1994 as a critical prop in the plot of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, considered one of the greatest films ever made. In 1974, she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress in ‘The Three Musketeers’, and in 1994, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2023 is given to John Romita Sr., the iconic American book comic book artist whose drawings of Spider-Man globalised the superhero character, who died June 12, 2023, aged 93, and whose design of the character and his costume ended ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 List 2021 and the A1Film Best Picture Award 2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, of Sicilian Italian descent, Romita Sr started working in the comic industry in 1949 where he met Timely editor in chief Stan Lee. In 1952, he married Virginia Bruno, and from 1956-65, worked at DC Comics, gaining renown for his depiction of romance and beautiful women. When Spider-Man co-creator and artist Steve Ditko left Marvel in 1966, Lee brought Romita Sr in as the main artist on the ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ series, within a year becoming the company’s top-seller. Romita Sr in 1966 introduced the world to Mary-Jane, Peter Parker’s love interest, with the iconic, “Face it, Tiger – you just hit the jackpot!” and in 1973, depicted the defining arc story of the deaths of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin. Romita Sr would become the definitive artist for Spider-Man and Marvel to the world, as highlighted by Alpha1Media Founder, Talal Malik, in his exclusive perspective on ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’ to mark the 50th Anniversary of ‘The Godfather’ winning the Best Picture Oscar in March 2023, a 1977 style guide for licensing and merchandising guidelines for the superhero which helped the character become a global icon, a year after uncredited work on ‘Superman Vs. The Amazing Spider-Man’. While his main artwork lasted till the 1980s, Romita Sr continued to produce commemorative works till the 2010s and beyond. “John Romita Sr is an icon of global popular culture, as it his artistic work from the 1970s that helped helped globalise Spider-Man, and Marvel, which now dominates global popular cinema today,” said Talal Malik, at the time of his passing in June 2023. “It was a pleasure to have wished him Happy Birthday in January 2023, to have cited his role in the Blockbuster Movie article in March 2023, and to join all those thanking and honouring him today – thank you, John Romita Sr.”
The A1Film In Memoriam Achievement Award 2023 is given to Burt Young, the American actor globally known for his Oscar-nominated signature portrayal of Paulie in Sylvester Stallone’s iconic ‘Rocky’ franchise, died October 8, 2023, aged 83. Born Gerald Tommaso DeLouise in New York, Burt Young was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, making his name for his portrayal as a young working-class Italian American man. In 1974, he appeared in ‘Chinatown’with Jack Nicholson. In 1976, he first portrayed his signature role as Rocky Balboa’s friend (and future brother-in-law) Paulie in ‘Rocky’ for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is one of four actors who have appeared in all of the first six ‘Rocky’ films in 1976, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1990 and 2006. In 1984, Burt Young starred in Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon A Time in America’ with Robert De Niro and James Woods.
The A1Film Best Screenplay Award 2023 is awarded to British-American blockbuster auteur Christopher Nolan for ‘Oppenheimer’, No. 2 film on the A1Film Top 10 Best Movies for 2023. Alpha1Media described Nolan’s work on ‘Oppenheimer’ he “not only enters the biopic genre with the father of the atomic bomb, but at a Shakespearean level, his first tragedy.” Nolan has previously won A1Film Awards in 2014 for Best Picture, Best Producer and Best Screenplay with Jonah Nolan for ‘Interstellar’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2014, the Best Director Award in the A1Film Awards 2017
for ‘Dunkirk’ which was No 2 on A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2017, A1Film Awards in 2020 for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay for ‘Tenet’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2020.
The A1Film Best Actor Award 2023 is awarded to Irish actor Cillian Murphy for his titular portayal in Christopher Nolan’s‘Oppenheimer’, No. 2 film on the A1Film Top 10 Best Movies for 2023. Murphy lost an extensive amount of weight to portray Robert J. Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist often called “the father of the atomic bomb”. Alpha1Media described Murphy’s portrayal as “a tour de force career-defining performance” Murphy’s portrayal was his first lead role working with Nolan, but his sixth collaboration, which includes his role as Scarecrow in ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’, with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ No. 1 on the inaugural A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2012, and roles in ‘Inception’ and‘Dunkirk’ which was No 2 on A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2017.
The A1Film Best Actress Award 2023 is awarded to American actress Lily Gladstone for her portrayal of Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’, No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2023. Gladstone, who is of Native American and European heritage, starred in the lead role opposite two of the greatest film actors in history and both of Martin Scorsese’s leading male actors over the past five decades, twice Oscar-winning actor and A1Film Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2019, Robert De Niro, and Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
The A1Film Best International Picture Award 2023 is awarded to Bollywood superstar actor Shah Rukh Khan for his four films in 2023, ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’ and ‘Dunki’, at No. 8 in the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2023. This year marks the first time ever that Shah Rukh Khan or his films have ever been featured on the A1Film Top 10 and the A1Film Awards. In 2022, Khan was voted one of the 50 greatest actors of all time in a readers’ poll by ’Empire’and in 2023, ‘TIME’ named him as one of the most influential people in the world.
The A1Film Lifetime Achievement and Best Director Award 2023 is given to Oscar-winning Italian American auteur Martin Scorsese for ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’, No. 2 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2023. Alpha1Media described Scorsese’s work on the film at the time of its release as him combining “screen leading men Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to deliver a brave and brisk three and a half hour much-needed story about Machivellian nature, greed & hypocrisy targetting Native Americans as being lesser.” Scorsese has previously won the A1Film Best Director Award 2019 for ‘The Irishman’, No 3. on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2019, .which also won Best Actress for Anna Paquin and A1Film Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2019, Robert De Niro, he also directed ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ starring Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, No. 3 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2014. It was also the first time in the same film Scorsese has worked with both of his leading male actors over the past five decades, twice Oscar-winning actor and A1Film Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2019, Robert De Niro, and Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
The A1Film Best Picture Award 2023 is given to American writer-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, No. 1 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2023. Alpha1Media described the film as “a majestically phenomenal epic penned by Lord & Miller, elevated bars by Daniel Pemberton proving whatever the iteration of Spider-Man, the character is blessed to be the best.” It is the first time an animated film has been awarded the A1Film Best Picture and the first time an animated film has topped the A1Film Top 10 list, with its prequel ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ being the first animated film ever to be featured at No. 6 on the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2018. However, Spider-Man as a character has appeared in five movies in A1Film Best Picture Awards given to Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige such as the A1Film Best Picture Award 2016 for ‘Captain America: Civil War’,
the A1Film Best Picture Award 2017 for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’, the A1Film Best Picture Award 2018 for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, the A1Film Best Picture Award 2019 for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and the A1Film Best Picture Award 2021 for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, making this the first Spider-Man film not helmed by Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to win the A1Film Best Picture Award.
“At the start of the year, I described 2023 as potentially being ‘The Year of Cinema’s Inflection’ and in March 2023, wrote my opinion-editorial, ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’, which is reflected in the year’s A1Film Awards,” said Talal Malik, Founder of Alpha1Media. “We clearly knew that the likes of Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan were going to challenge the status quo of blockbusters, largely superhero movies, but what we were not aware of was the impact of two Hollywood strikes from actors and writers in this era of A.I., accelerating a disruption, followed by the drastic underperformance of superhero blockbusters, but then another inflection, with the‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ winning the A1 Best Picture Award for 2023, by being unexpectedly more amazing, spectacular and ultimately more cinematic than the auteur-led movies, and as described by Alpha1Media “a majestic phenomenal epic”.
Upon the launch of the A1Film Top 10 Movies for 2023 on 28 December, 2023, Maria Felce, official spokesperson for Alpha1Media said,said, “‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, surprisingly for many, tops the A1Film Top 10 + Films of 2023 as it, rather remarkably, represents 2023 as ‘The Year of Cinema’s Inflection.’ In a year when both Marvel and DC released films which significantly under-performed, with Marvel’s Phase 5 and the end of the DC Cinematic Universe (DCEU) after more than a decade,’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ was a major exception to the superhero blockbuster genre, demonstrating that for a highly quality movie, with an amazing epic story and characters they love like Peter B. Parker, and new ones they instantly grow to love, like his baby daughter Mayday, audiences and critics will show due appreciation. However, it also showed that original auteur-led epic content, often at 3 hours plus as value for money at the cinema compared to streaming, the likes of Christopher Nolan with ‘Oppenheimer’ and Martin Scorsese with ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’ represented a return to the 1970s Blockbusters as written with foresight by Alpha1Media Founding CEO Talal Malik in March this year in his article, ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’.
“The A1Film Top 10 Movies List for 2023 represents a first in many ways: it is the first time an animated film has topped the list (with its prequel ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ being the first animated film ever to be featured on the A1Film Top 10 List at No. 6 in 2018; it also marks the first time an animated movie has hit 8.6 on IMDB, justifying by global popular acclaims the film’s exceptional inclusion;it is the first list to officially be a Top 10 Plus list as it features more than 18 films, which generally represent 2, 3 or 4 films of the same or similar genre or level of innovation; such as ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ or four films throughout the year for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan with ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’ and ‘Dunki’ or a career milestone for global cinema icon from Hong Kong Jackie Chan with ‘Ride On’; and the first list to represent a cinematic inflection, as the attrition between original, innovative films and blockbusters, especially superhero or IP-based, was in full force throughout the year, and especially the summer.”
The A1Film Top 10 +_ Movies of 2023 launched on 28 December, 2023, are 1) ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, 2) ‘Oppenheimer’, 2) ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’, 4) ‘Sound of Freedom’ / ‘The Creator’, 5) ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ / ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, 6) ‘Napoleon’, 7) ‘Air’ / ‘Blackberry’, 8) ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’, ‘Dunki’ / ‘Ride On’, 9) ‘The Marvels’ / ‘Blue Beetle’ and 10) ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ / ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’.
There have been many films in 2023 which cannot be included in the A1Film Top 10 + List, and therefore in the A1Film Awards 2023, either due to limited theatrical releases globally, not representative of global popular cinema, delayed international release, specifically largely for one demographic, being primarily released on streaming platforms, for under-performance or deserve notable or honourable mentions such as ‘Past Lives’, ‘Maestro’, ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘American Fiction’, ‘Barbie’, ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’, ‘Animal’, ‘The Killer’, ‘The Equalizer 3’, ‘Priscilla’, ‘The Zone of Interest’, ‘The Holdovers’, ‘The Iron Claw’ and ‘Godzilla Minus One’.
Alpha1Media will release the A1Film Preview for 2024, highlighting the forthcoming movies that global cinema audiences can enjoy.
Alpha1Media (Media. ENHANCED) is a global media and entertainment firm. Alpha1Media produces and advises onmedia creation using 10×10 types of media including phone, print, TV, radio, billboard, computer, cinema and futuristicmedia based on scale, motion and holograms.
In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services. Itcurrently has six film projects in development with production value estimated at over USD $500 million.