More updates to the foreign film Oscar pages. Nearly sixty have been named which means almost all titles are named. (If past years are indicators a few that weren't announced before hand will still show up and a couple that were will mysteriously vanish once AMPAS makes it official with their press release later this month)Page 1: Argentina to Finland
Page 2: France to Mexico
Page 3: The Netherlands to Vietnam
Many of the submissions are tiny in scale but there's always some productions trying the epic route. Here's a few trailers to whet your appetite for the big. Clockwise from left: Vietnam's most expensive production ever White Silk Dress, Kazakshtan's Gengis Khan film (franchise?) Mongol, the Bollywood extravaganza Eklavya, The Royal Guard and the first 10 minutes of Thailand's King Naresuan Part 2
Which of the 58 films are you rooting for?
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32 comments:
They all look very interesting. If you judge by the You Tube comments though, "White Silk Dress" seems to be the least offensive and most heart rendering.
Nice to see some other countries in the mix
Naturally, I'm rooting for the Irish selection. I haven't seen it yet but for some reason one of my teachers wants to bring the class to see it, which I'm all too delighted with!
I didn't know Luxembourg would submit a film this year. I hope they won't get disqualified again...
The film is a traditional Oscar film, but will not have the slightest chance (a) because no one will see it, (b) it's typically Luxembourgish (i.e. no one will understand it) and (c) it's not very good.
Still I'm rooting for it, although Fatih Akin's film an the French "Persepolis" are really really good and deserve nominations.
Hmm...some of these are kind of just generic action films, aren't they? Interesting. Although White Silk Dress does look like something I'd see.
I see the one from Poland getting a nod, if only b/c it's a WW2 drama.
I'm rooting for the Romanian entry. It's the best film of the year, foreign or otherwise, and I really hope it makes the final five. It won't, but I'm hoping otherwise.
Right now, I think Austria's got a nod in the bag, though. Don't know about the rest.
the year my parents went on vacation, definetly, I loved that movie, way better than tropa de elite and city of men (by the way it´s not a sequel from city of god, it´s an movie adaptation from the tv series city of men that features 2 (child) actors from city of god playing teenagers dealing with the life in the favelas and the drug war) althought a man´s job from finland seems like a fun movie!
arkaan --i think with the accolades Oscar will think twice before ignoring 4 Months... especially with their new finalist system.
at any rate what i'm most curious about right now is whether IFC will actually go ahead and release it this year. That's the plan but you know with foreign language fare they so often move them at the last second and they're suddenly for the next year's top ten lists. UGH.
Yeah, I'm thinking that Romania's and France's chances are greater with the new system of voting, but the question is whether or not they'll make the top nine. I hope they do, but with this branch you never know. I can't wait until the official list, and then the finalists, are announced!
As a brazilian, of course, I am rooting for "O Ano em que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias".
Just judging from the trailers you've posted I would love to see "White Silk Dress" - it looks like the sort of film that would have critics breathlessly singing it's praises were it from Japan or China (or the US or Europe for that matter). How I would actually see it is another matter altogether. This looks like the sort of film best seen on the big screen - it has the quality of an old-fashioned epic (aka Atonement) but is set in the quite-recent past. I suppose in the US the only chance to see on the big screen will be if it's shown in NYC.
RedSatinDoll
Cesar Charlone's "El baño del papa" is pretty much the best film I've seen all year, and then there's Reygadas' "Silent Light" which like Romania's entry is getting numerous masterpiece-level reviews. Here's hoping for one of those potentially great films to make it!
i am rooting for these five:
argentina's xxy (gender/coming of age)
mexico's silent light (bergman reminiscence)
germany's the edge of heaven (immigration)
romania's 4 months... (abortion/80s)
france's persepolis (middle east/animation)
and it's funny that they all got awards from cannes this year.
No doubt, "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" from Brazil is a heartbreaking film. I hope it gets the nomination. It is amazing, brilliant, touching....
"The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" is everything... It is wonderful to watch a movie like this one... it is a unic experience! I hope the Oscar gets the film the nomination it deserves.
Nathaniel, with IFC I'm not sure how much it matters. Because they release their movies in theatres as well as on television (with their IFC on Demand) on the same day, they're not gonna be eligible for any oscars. So really, the smart move for them would be to give it a one week in 2007 so it appears on those top ten lists, and then release it just after the oscar nominations are announced. Hopefully the nomination and the tagline "appearing on over X top ten lists" drives people to the arthouse.
Oh, and if I don't get to see Silent Night in theatres....
As for the new system, I actually think the opposite. By placing all the weight on a small group of people, individual opinions become more important. Last year, I actually predicted Pan's Labyrinth to be ignored for a nomination and while that didn't happen, it hurt another film (Volver). Negative opinions become that much stronger.
Also, I want to add that I've seen the Brazillian submission, and I'd be surprised if it made it to the final five. It's nothing terrible, just not something to get worked up about.
If another masterpiece gets the shaft this year, THEN I'll stary complaining that the new system works. In hindsight, the Volver snub really was forseable - critics did not support it the way they usually do Almodovar movies, there was a small, but strong contingent of nay-sayers, and also, they actually had a strong list of viable winners. I think Spain's entry was the best movie period last year, but still, I maintain the overall line-up in this particular category this year was the strongest of the past decade.
Silent light!!!
I've only seen one so far, Hong Kong's Exiled. It's good, though not one of Johnny To's best (try a Hero Never Dies or Running on Karma) and it has no chance whatsoever.
These may not have any greater chance than Exiled, but I'm rooting for them in the hopes that nominations would lead to distribution deals big enough to make sure they play a nearby cinema:
Korea's Secret Sunshine
Mexico's Silent Light
Portugal's Belle Toujours (New Yorker never brought it anywhere near me and I'd rather not resort to DVD with a master like Oliveira)
Sweden's You, the Living
Thailand's King Naresuan Part 2
The order is not only alphabetical. It's roughly in order of preference as well.
lust, caution is the new volver.
A question. US is producing quite a few movies in non-english lenguages these years. Can we submit a film for this category too? Yes/Not why? If not, do you think these rule will change in the near future as many more movies from well known directors are made?
I would love to see mexico, rumania, argentina, korea and hungary to get nominations.
15 to consider
Argentina, XXY
Austria, The Counterfeiters
Brazil, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Czech Republic, I Served the King of England
Denmark, The Art of Crying
France, Persepolis
Germany, Edge of Heaven
Italy, La Sconosciuta
Korea, Secret Sunshine
Lebanon, Caramel
Mexico, Silent Light
Romania, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
Russia, 12
Spain, The Orphanage
Taiwan, Lust, Caution
9 finalists
Brazil, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Denmark, The Art of Crying
France, Persepolis
Germany, Edge of Heaven
Korea, Secret Sunshine
Spain, The Orphanage
Romania, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
Lebanon, Caramel
Austria, The Counterfeiters
5 nominated
Brazil, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Spain, The Orphanage
Germany, Edge of Heaven
Austria, The Counterfeiters
Romania, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
1 winner
Spain, The Orphanage
anonymous @ 12:47pm
No, the USA cannot submit foreign language films at this point. The definition for that category is: "a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track."
I don't think we're gonna see a shift in the rules towards allowing US submissions. What we might see is a relaxing of policies such that the "co-producer" may be able to submit the film (we've seen them already relax the language guidelines, which was instantly beneficial last year for Water; so films like Letters from Iwo Jima might've been eligible as a Japanese production.) But that leads to trickiness regarding credits and so forth.
It's Been Confirmed ：
The Knot is the official submission of China.
Ugh! awful film, awful choice. I'm so embarrassed for my homeland.
At least i have Exiled and Lust,Caution to root for.
mhh.. a lot of movies the academy may like, regardless of their quality (like, WWII movies, or Switzerland's entry).. that said, I'd love to see these 5 arrive to the nomination:
- ROMANIA, "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days" (it's SUCH a good film!)
- TAIWAN, "Lust, Caution" (liked it "so-so" when I first saw it, but as days go by it's groing better and better in my mind)
- FRANCE, "Persepolis" (same comment as the taiwanese entry)
- RUSSIA, "12" (I'm not a big Mikhalkov fan, but this one is simply amazing);
- PORTUGAL, "Belle toujours" (I know, it's impossible, just wishful thinking, but I thought that a sequel to "Belle de jour" would have been a glorious failure, and yet, here it is, a movie that does the trick and perfectly recaptures Buñuel's spirit; furthermore, wouldn't it be great to have Manoel de Oliveira, a 99-years old director, nominated??)
From what I've seen only:
1. XXY (Argentina) *****
2. Silent Light (Mexico) *****
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Rumania) *****
4. The Orphanage (Spain) ****1/2
5. Secret Sunshine (korea) ****1/2
wouldn't mind if Brazil gets in, I liked the film, is touching and beautiful-loking
Variety reports that China has decided to submit The Knot.
The Danish film The Art of Crying just won the Nordic Council Film Price. http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?lang=6&id=7197
It is an intelligent and strong film which could go all the way...
The nominations for the "Hollywood World Awards(r)" are out and include several of the foreign film ontenders: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" (Romania); "The Band's Visit" (Israel); "The Edge of Heaven" (Germany/Turkey); "Persepolis" (France); "Secret Sunshine" (South Korea) and "Silent Light" (Mexico). Plus
"Alexandra" (Russia); "Control" (UK); "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (France); "Import/Export" (Austria).
Las year these nominees included "Pan's Labyrinth" (Mexico) "The Lives of Others" (Germany); "The Queen" (UK); and the winner was "Volver" (Spain).
Variety.com reports that the Academy has disqualified Israel's entry, The Band's Visit, because there is too much English dialogue. They will allow Israel to nominate another film.
...And apparently, Israel's new submission choice is "Beaufort" by Joseph Cedar, whose movies were already Israel's submissions in the 73rd and 77th editions of the Academy Awards
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