Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Language Film, Documentary, Animated Film

Best Film: No Country for Old Men
Until late last week, things were still somewhat murky in the best film race. No Country for Old Men (above, with Tommy Lee Jones) and There Will Be Blood were the front-runners, while Juno was the fluffy dark horse that could potentially tip the scale against the heavy-drama heavyweights. But after its SAG best ensemble and DGA wins, No Country for Old Men, about a drug deal gone murderously wrong, has become the official front-runner.
 

Best Foreign Language Film: Katyn (Poland)
As I’ve said before, this is the toughest feature-film category to predict. None of the five nominees — Beaufort, 12, The Counterfeiters, Mongol, and Katyn — has been widely reviewed in the United States.
I’d [...]

Oscar 2008: Foreign Language Film Nominees Symposium

Katyn (top); The Counterfeiters (middle); Mongol (bottom)

The filmmakers of this year’s Academy Award-nominated foreign-language films will take part — "subject to availability" — in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Foreign Language Film Award Nominees Symposium on Saturday, February 23, at 10 a.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. [2008 Foreign Language Film Academy Award Symposium Photos.]
The event, which includes clips from the nominated films and a Q&A session with audience members, will be moderated by Oscar-winning producer and Foreign Language Executive Committee Chair Mark Johnson.
The 2007 Foreign Language Film nominees are:

Austria, The Counterfeiters, Stefan Ruzowitzky, director
Israel, Beaufort, Joseph Cedar, director
Kazakhstan, Mongol, Sergei Bodrov, director
[...]

Berlin 2006: Andrzej Wajda, Ian McKellen to Receive Honorary Golden Bears

The 56th Berlin International Film Festival will present the 2006 Honorary Golden Bears to Polish director and screenwriter Andrzej Wajda (above, left) and British actor Ian McKellen (above, right).
Andrzej Wajda, one of Poland’s best-known filmmakers, has had several of his films in competition in Berlin, including Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania, Miss Nobody, and Holy Week. Among his forty or so features, most of which are highly politicized, are A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds, Danton, Man of Marble, and Man of Iron. In 2000, Wajda was given an honorary Oscar for his career achievements.
Wajda will be handed the Honorary Golden Bear on February 15 at 8.30 pm in the Kino International. [...]