58 Foreign-Language Oscar Submissions
by Andre Soares
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that a record fifty-five countries, including first-timers Costa Rica, Fiji, and Iraq — plus Palestine, Puerto Rico, and Hong Kong (which somehow still manages to get into the roster as if it were an independent state within China) — have submitted films* for consideration in the Best Foreign-Language Film category.
Among the 58 submissions are Berlin Film Festival Best Director and Best Actress (Julia Jentsch) winner Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Germany), directed by Marc Rothemund; Bohdan Sláma’s Stesti / Something Like Happiness (Czech Republic), winner of the Golden Shell for Best Picture at the San Sebastián International Film Festival; Cristi Puiu’s Moartea Domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania), winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival; and Reza Mir Karimi’s best picture winner at the 2005 Iran Cinema Celebration Awards, Kheili dour, kheili nazdik / So Close, So Far (Iran).
Also, Cristina Comencini’s La Bestia nel cuore / Don’t Tell (Italy), which won Giovanna Mezzogiorno the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival; the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s L’Enfant / The Child (Belgium); Hany Abu-Assad’s controversial tale of two Palestinian suicide bombers, Paradise Now (Palestine); and Tsai Ming-liang’s sexually-charged Golden Horse Award Best Picture nominee Tian bian yi duo yun / The Wayward Cloud (Taiwan).
* Five other countries submitted films that were, for one reason or another, disqualified: Austria, Caché / Hidden, directed by Michael Haneke; Greece, Brides, directed by Pantelis Voulgaris; Nepal, Basain, directed by Subash Gajurel; Uruguay, Alma Mater, directed by Álvaro Buela; and Venezuela, 1888, el extraordinario viaje de la Santa Isabel, directed by Alfredo Anzola.
Italy’s initial choice, Private, was also deemed ineligible because its dialogue was not in Italian. (Set in the Middle East, Private’s dialogue is spoken mostly in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.). At the time, Italy submitted another film, La Bestia nel cuore.
Language issues were the reason for the disqualification of both Brides (which stars Englishman Damian Lewis) and Caché, whose dialogue is all in French.
(When I called the Academy to find out why those films had been disqualified, I was told that it was "internal information" that would not be made available to the public. The information has since been made available.)
Uruguay is the only country to have had a film taken out of the foreign-language film competition after the nominations were announced. That happened in 1993 (for the year 1992), when Adolfo Aristarain’s Un Lugar en el mundo / A Place in the World was considered ineligible when it was reported that it was mostly an Argentinian production.
Dec. 22 Addendum: Singapore’s submission, Be with Me, has been disqualified because the majority of its dialogue is in English.
Dec. 24 Addendum: The Netherlands’ submission, Bluebird, has been disqualified because it was too similar to a version previously aired on Dutch television.
Bolivia’s Say Good Morning to Dad and Tajikistan’s Sex & Philosophy have been disqualified because 35mm prints of those two films were not delivered at the Academy.
Full list of (eligible) submitted films:
Argentina, El Aura / The Aura, Fabián Bielinsky, director;
Bangladesh, Shyamol Chaya, Humayun Ahmed, director;
Belgium, L’Enfant / The Child, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors;
Bolivia, Say Good Morning to Dad, Fernando Vargas, director;
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Totally Personal, Nedad Begovic, director;
Brazil, 2 Filhos de Francisco / Two Sons of Francisco, Breno Silveira, director;
Bulgaria, Stolen Eyes, Radoslav Spassov, director;
Canada, C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée, director;
Chile, Play, Alicia Scherson, director;
China, Wu ji / The Promise, Chen Kaige, director;
Colombia, La Sombra del Caminante / The Shadow of the Traveler, Ciro Guerra, director;
Costa Rica, Caribe, Esteban Ramírez, director;
Croatia, A Wonderful Night in Split, Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
Cuba, Viva Cuba, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, director;
Czech Republic, Stesti / Something Like Happiness, Bohdan Sláma, director;
Denmark, Adam’s Apples, Anders Thomas Jensen, director;
Estonia, Shop of Dreams, Peeter Urbla, director;
Fiji, The Land Has Eyes, Vilsoni Hereniko, director;
Finland, Mother of Mine, Klaus Härö, director;
France, Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas, Christian Carion, director;
Georgia, Tbilisi-Tbilisi, Levan Zakareishvili, director;
Germany, Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Marc Rothemund, director;
Hong Kong, Perhaps Love, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, director;
Hungary, Sorstalanság / Fateless, Lajos Koltai, director;
Iceland, Ahead of Time, Ágúst Gudmundsson, director;
India, Paheli, Amol Palekar, director;
Indonesia, Gie, Riri Riza, director;
Iran, Kheili dour, kheili nazdik / So Close, So Far, Reza Mir Karimi, director;
Iraq, Requiem of Snow, Jamil Rostami, director;
Israel, What a Wonderful Place, Eyal Halfon, director;
Italy, La Bestia nel cuore / Don’t Tell, Cristina Comencini, director;
Japan, Blood and Bones, Yoichi Sai, director;
Korea, Welcome to Dongmakgol, Kwang-hyun Park, director;
Luxembourg, Renart the Fox, Thierry Schiel, director;
Mexico, Al Otro lado / On the Other Side, Gustavo Loza, director;
Mongolia, The Cave of the Yellow Dog, Byambasuren Davaa, director;
The Netherlands, Bluebird, Mijke de Jong, director;
Norway, Kissed by Winter, Sara Johnsen, director;
Palestine, Paradise Now, Hany Abu-Assad, director;
Peru, Días de Santiago / Days of Santiago, Josué Méndez, director;
Poland, The Collector, Feliks Falk, director;
Portugal, Noite Escura / Dark Night, João Canijo, director;
Puerto Rico, Cayo, Vicente Juarbe, director;
Romania, Moartea Domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Cristi Puiu, director;
Russia, The Italian, Andrei Kravchuk, director;
Serbia & Montenegro, Midwinter Night’s Dream, Goran Paskaljevic, director;
Singapore, Be with Me, Eric Khoo, director;
Slovak Republic, The City of the Sun, Martin Šulík, director;
Slovenia, The Ruins, Janez Burger, director;
South Africa, Tsotsi, Gavin Hood, director;
Spain, Obaba, Montxo Armendáriz, director;
Sweden, Zozo, Josef Fares, director;
Switzerland, Tout un hiver sans feu / A Whole Winter Without Fire, Greg Zglinski, director;
Taiwan, Tian bian yi duo yun / The Wayward Cloud, Tsai Ming-liang, director;
Tajikistan, Sex & Philosophy, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, director;
Thailand, The Tin Mine, Jira Maligool, director;
Turkey, Lovelorn, Yavuz Turgul, director;
Vietnam, Buffalo Boy, Nguyen Vo Nghiem Mihn, director.
The 78th Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 5:30 a.m. (California time), in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Academy Awards ceremony will be held at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday, March 5, 2006.
Oscar 2007 Foreign-Language Submissions Announced
Oscar’s Foreign-Language Film Potential Contenders: 2nd Round
PAN’S LABYRINTH, INVISIBLE WAVES, PAO’S STORY Submitted for Oscar Consideration
Comments
Leave a Reply
Note: All comments are moderated. Different views and opinions are welcome, but abusive/bigoted/flaming comments will NOT be approved. Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has NO contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog or any information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
