2010 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film THE WHITE RIBBON
Best Foreign Language Film: Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon
Other nominees: Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s Ajami (Israel), Juan José Campanella’s The Secret of Her Eyes (Argentina), Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of Sorrow (Peru), Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet (France).
Because only a relatively small group of Academy members vote in the special categories — short films, documentaries, foreign language films — winners often surprise and shock, e.g., last year’s Departures over shoo-in Waltz with Bashir. Compounding matters, oftentimes those voters tend to be (much) older than the average Academy member, and their tastes are usually much more conservative. They’re probably the people who placed The Blind Side at the top of their Best Film ballot, thus earning Sandra Bullock’s [...]
by Steve Montgomery | February 12, 2010
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Tags: 2010 Oscar, 2010 Oscar Predictions, A Prophet, Academy Awards, Ajami, Film Awards, Foreign Language Film Category, Michael Haneke, Oscar Predictions, The Milk of Sorrow, The Secret of Her Eyes, The White Ribbon
Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film
2010 Oscar Predictions
Best Foreign Language Film
Ajami, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani (Israel)
A Prophet, Jacques Audiard (France)
The Secret in Their Eyes, Juan Jose Campanella (Argentina)
The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (Germany)
Winter in Wartime, Martin Koolhoven (The Netherlands)
The best foreign language film category is especially difficult to predict because only a group of about 20 Academy members will decide on the five nominees. Thanks to that set-up, Pedro Almodovar’s Volver — sure to get nominated three years ago — was left out.
The White Ribbon, A Prophet, and The Secret in Their Eyes are about as sure to be included as possible. (But don’t forget Volver.) Winter in Wartime would have been a shoo-in if the Academy’s old set-up were still in place — [...]
by Steve Montgomery | January 28, 2010
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Tags: 2010 Oscar, 2010 Oscar Predictions, A Prophet, Academy Awards, Ajami, Film Awards, Foreign Language Film Category, Oscar Predictions, The Secret of Her Eyes, The White Ribbon, Winter in Wartime
Oscar 2010: Prestigious Foreign Language Film Contenders
This year, Scott Foundas won’t be asking, "how do you say ‘Oscar scandal’ in French (or German)?" Two of the most widely acclaimed non-English language films released in 2009 — Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon and Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet — are to be found in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ list of semi-finalists for the best foreign language film Academy Award. In other words, there was no Volver, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, or Gomorrah furor this year.
The White Ribbon, about mysterious and violent occurrences taking place in a small German village shortly before the outbreak of World War I, was last year’s European Film Award winner in addition to also earning Haneke the [...]
by Andre Soares | January 20, 2010
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Tags: 2010 Oscar, A Prophet, Ajami, Film Awards, Foreign Language Film Category, Samson and Delilah (2009), The Milk of Sorrow, The Secret of Her Eyes, The White Ribbon, The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, Winter in Wartime
Oscar 2010: THE WHITE RIBBON, A PROPHET, AJAMI – Foreign Language Film Semi-Finalists
The nine semi-finalists in the Foreign Language Film category for the 2010 Academy Awards have been announced. They are:
Argentina, El Secreto de Sus Ojos / The Secret of Her Eyes, Juan Jose Campanella, director;
Australia, Samson & Delilah, Warwick Thornton, director;
Bulgaria, The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, Stephan Komandarev, director;
France, A Prophet, Jacques Audiard, director;
Germany, The White Ribbon (above), Michael Haneke, director;
Israel, Ajami, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, directors;
Kazakhstan, Kelin, Ermek Tursunov, director;
The Netherlands, Winter in Wartime, Martin Koolhoven, director;
Peru, The Milk of Sorrow, Claudia Llosa, director.
Sixty-five films had originally qualified in the category. Notably absent from the list are Xavier Dolan’s I Killed My Mother (Canada); Miguel Littin’s Dawson, [...]
by Andre Soares | January 20, 2010
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Tags: 2010 Oscar, A Prophet, Academy Awards, Ajami, Film Awards, Foreign Language Film Category, Kelin, Samson and Delilah (2009), The Milk of Sorrow, The Secret of Her Eyes, The White Ribbon
European Film Awards 2009 Predictions: Best Film
What movie is going to dominate the 2009 European Film Awards, to be held tonight in Bochum, in Germany’s Rhein-Ruhr region?
Well, three films will be battling it out for both the best picture and the best director awards: Jacques Audiard’s French prison drama A Prophet, Michael Haneke’s Austrian-German psycho-political drama The White Ribbon (above), and Danny Boyle’s Anglo-American-Indian Bollywoodish Slumdog Millionaire. All three have already won major awards elsewhere: the first two at Cannes; the third title in Hollywood and Britain.
Will the three favorites end up splitting the vote so that a dark horse will come out victorious? Nope. In those types of races, simplistic theories about dark horses winning because favorites split the vote are both bad math [...]
by Andre Soares | December 12, 2009
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Tags: A Prophet, Ajami, Danny Boyle, European Film Awards, European Film Awards 2009, Film Awards, Jacques Audiard, Michael Haneke, Scandar Copti, Slumdog Millionaire, The White Ribbon, Yaron Shani