Oscar Watch: Foreign Language Film Submissions

[ejaycat]

Here are the films submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration for the Best Foreign-Language Film category. The 5 finalists will be announced in January '07, with the Oscar ceremony itself being in February. This list might change, if the Academy disqualifies any of the submissions for whatever reason.

I'll be watching the Philippine submission tomorrow; that movie was released here in L.A. in late September and is still showing at the Regent Showcase theater near Melrose and La Brea.

* Argentina — Indigènes (Days of Glory) — Rachid Bouchareb, director

* Australia — Ten Canoes — Rolf de Heer, director

* Austria — You Bet Your Life — Antonin Svoboda, director

* Bangladesh — Nirontor — Abu Sayeed, director

* Belgium — Someone Else's Happiness — Fien Troch, director

* Bosnia & Herzegovina — Grbavica — Jasmila Zbanic, director

* Brazil — Movies, Aspirin, and Vultures — Marcelo Gomes, director

* Bulgaria — Monkeys in Winter (Maimuni prez zimata) — Milena Andonova, director

* Canada — Water — Deepa Mehta, director

* Chile — En La Cama (The Bed) — Matias Bize, director

* China — Curse of the Golden Flower — Zhang Yimou, director

* Colombia — Soñar no cuesta nada — Rodrigo Triana, director

* Croatia — Libertas — Veljko Bulajic, directo

* Cuba — El Benny — Jorge Luis Sanchez, director

* Czech Republic — Šílení (Lunacy) — Jan Svankmajer, director

* Denmark — After the Wedding — Susanne Bier, director

* Egypt — The Yacoubian Building — Marwan Hamed, director

* Finland — Laitakaupungin valot (Lights in the Dusk) — Aki Kaurismäki , director

* France — Orchestra Seats — Danièle Thompson, director

* Germany — The Lives of Others — Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director

* Greece — Chariton's Choir — Grigoris Karantinakis, director

* Hong Kong — The Banquet — Xiaogang Feng, director

* Hungary— White Palms — Szabolcs Hajdu, director

* Iceland — Children — Ragnar Bragason, director

* India— Rang De Basanti — Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, director

* Indonesia — Love for Share — Nia di Nata, director

* Iran — Café Transit (Border Cafe) — Kambuzia Partovi, director

* Israel — Adama Meshuga'at (Sweet Mud) — Dror Shaul, director

* Italy — Nuovomundo (Golden Door) — Emanuele Crialese, director

* Japan — Hula Girls — Lee Sang-il, director

* Luxembourg— My Name is Justine — Franco de Pena, director

* Republic of Macedonia — Contact — Sergej Stanojkovski, director

* Mexico — Pan's Labyrinth — Guillermo del Toro, director

* Netherlands — Black Book — Paul Verhoeven, director

* Norway — Reprise — Joachim Trier, director

* Peru — Madeinusa — Claudia Llosa, director

* Philippines — The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros — Auraeus Solito, director

* Poland — Z odzysku (Retrieval) — Slawomira Fabickiego, director

* Portugal — Alice — Marco Martin, director

* Puerto Rico — Ladrones y Mentirosos (Thieves and Liars) — Ricardo Méndez Matta, director

* Romania — How I Spent the End of the World — Catalin Mitulescu, director

* Russia — 9th Company — Fyodor Bondarchuk, director

* Serbia — Tomorrow Morning (Sutra Ujutru) — Oleg Novkovic, director

* Slovenia — Gravehopping — Jan Cvitkovic, director

* South Korea — Wang-ui namja (The King and the Clown) — Jun-ik Lee, director

* Spain — Volver — Pedro Almodovar, director

* Sweden — Farväl Falkenberg (Falkenberg Farewell) — Jesper Ganslandt, director

* Switzerland — Vitus — Fredi M Murer, director

* Taiwan — Blue Cha Cha — Chen Wen-Tang, director

* Thailand — Invisible Waves —P en-Ek Katanaruang director

* Turkey — Dondurmam Gaymak (Ice Cream, I Scream) — Yüksel Aksu, director

* Venezuela — Maroa — Solveig Hoogesteijn, director

* Vietnam — Chuyen cua Pao (Pao's Story) — Bui Thac Chuyen, director

[KRATK]

"En la cama" was a bad election. Probably "Fuga" (the story of a crazy musician) would have been a better choice.

Anyway, Chile won't won never an Oscar: we lost our only opportunity two years before when "Machuca" wasn't selected by the Academy.

[nykfan845]

My Predix:

*Canada — Water — Deepa Mehta, director

*China — Curse of the Golden Flower — Zhang Yimou, director

*Mexico — Pan's Labyrinth — Guillermo del Toro, director

*Netherlands — Black Book — Paul Verhoeven, director

*Spain — Volver — Pedro Almodovar, director (WINNER)

[Mikel]

Most of "Pan's Labyrinth" cast is Spanish but anyway, I think that "Volver" and this 'Mexican' film will be the favourites.

Pan's Labyrinth- GUILLERMO DEL TORO- Spain-Mexico-USA

Volver- PEDRO ALMODÓVAR- Spain

[baron-pierreIV]

Yeah, Almodovar is a favorite with the Academy.

[ejaycat]

UPDATE:

A record of 61 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for next year's Academy Awards. Kazakhstan is making its first entry.

The number may drop to 60; the director of the Finnish submission has indicated he would like to withdraw his film from consideration, but the Academy is initiating a dialogue with him in an effort to persuade him to think otherwise.

Here's the updated list of countries and their film submissions for Oscar consideration:

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;

Argentina, “Family Law,” Daniel Burman, director;

Australia, “Ten Canoes,” Rolf de Heer, director;

Austria, “You Bet Your Life,” Antonin Svoboda, director;

Bangladesh, “Forever Flows,” Abu Sayeed, director;

Belgium, “Someone Else’s Happiness,” Fien Troch, director;

Bolivia, “American Visa,” Juan Carlos Valdivia, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Grbavica,” Jasmila Zbanic, director;

Brazil, “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures,” Marcelo Gomes, director;

Bulgaria, “Monkeys in Winter,” Milena Andonova, director;

Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director;

Chile, “En la Cama,” Matiaz Bize, director;

China, “Curse of the Golden Flower,” Zhang Yimou, director;

Colombia, “A Ton of Luck,” Rodrigo Triana, director;

Croatia, “Libertas,” Veljko Bulajic, director;

Cuba, “El Benny,” Jorge Luis Sanchez, director;

Czech Republic, “Lunacy,” Jan Svankmajer, director;

Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director;

Egypt, “The Yacoubian Building,” Marwan Hamed, director;

France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director;

Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;

Greece, “Chariton’s Choir,” Grigoris Karantinakis, director;

Hong Kong, “The Banquet,” Feng Xiaogang, director;

Hungary, “White Palms,” Szabolcs Hajdu, director;

Iceland, “Children,” Ragnar Bragason, director;

India, “Rang De Basanti,” Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, director;

Indonesia, “Love for Share,” Nia Dinata, director;

Iran, “Transit Cafe,” Kambozia Partovi, director;

Iraq, “Dreams,” Mohamed Al-Daradji, director;

Israel, “Sweet Mud,” Dror Shaul, director;

Italy, “Golden Door,” Emanuele Crialese, director;

Japan, “Hula Girls,” Sang-il Lee, director;

Kazakhstan, “Nomad,” Sergei Bodrov, Talgat Temenov, Ivan Passer, directors;

Korea, “King and the Clown,” Lee Jun-ik, director;

Kyrgyzstan, “The Wedding Chest,” Nurbek Egen, director;

Lebanon, “Bosta,” Philippe Aractingi, director;

Lithuania, “Before Flying Back to Earth,” Arunas Matelis, director;

Macedonia, “Kontakt,” Sergei Stanojkovski, director;

Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director;

Morocco, “The Moroccan Symphony,” Kamal Kamal, director;

Nepal, “Basain,” Subash Prasad Gajurel, director;

The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director;

Norway, “Reprise,” Joachim Trier, director;

Peru, “Madeinusa,” Claudia Llosa, director;

Philippines, “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros,” Auraeus Solito, director;

Poland, “Retrieval,” Slawomir Fabicki, director;

Portugal, “Alice,” Marco Martins, director;

Puerto Rico, “Thieves and Liars,” Ricardo Mendez Matta, director;

Romania, “The Way I Spent the End of the World,” Catalin Mitulescu, director;

Russia, “9th Company,” Fyodor Bondarchuk, director;

Serbia, “Tomorrow Morning,” Oleg Novkovic, director;

Slovenia, “Gravehopping,” Jan Cvitkovic, director;

Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director;

Sweden, “Falkenberg Farewell,” Jesper Ganslandt, director;

Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director;

Taiwan, “Blue Cha Cha,” Cheng Wen-tang, director;

Thailand, “Ahimsa Stop to Run,” Leo Kittikorn, director;

Turkey, “Ice Cream, I Scream,” Yuksel Aksu, director;

Ukraine, “Aurora,” Oxana Bayrak, director;

Venezuela, “Maroa,” Solveig Hoogesteijn, director;

Vietnam, “Story of Pao,” Ngo Quang Hai, director.

61 Countries Seeking Foreign Language Film Oscar

[baron-pierreIV]

And the others that don't get nominated will get picked up by all those pretentious film festivals -- where all the films that can't get a distributor for general release because in reality they are quite terrible -- end up.

[Faster]

Here are the semi-finalist.

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;

Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director;

Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director;

France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director;

Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;

Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director;

The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director;

Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director;

Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director;

Truthfully i hope that Water doesn't make it because its not a true Canadian film and last year C.R.A.Z.Y. was completely ignored yet it is probably the best French Canadian film ever made.

[ejaycat]

Here are the semi-finalist.

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;

Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director;

Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director;

France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director;

Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;

Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director;

The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director;

Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director;

Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director;

Truthfully i hope that Water doesn't make it because its not a true Canadian film and last year C.R.A.Z.Y. was completely ignored yet it is probably the best French Canadian film ever made.

"Water" is a very good film, though. The funny thing is, I just assumed it was an Indian film when I watched it in a theater last year.

Had the Academy not changed the rules for the Foreign Language Film category, "Water" wouldn't have qualified.