Thursday, September 1, 2011

84th Academy Awards (2012) Foreign Film Submissions

2012 Oscars / Academy Awards Foreign Film Submissions

The official submissions to the 2012 Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category were announced on October 13, 2011.  A nine film shortlist was selected on January 18, 2012, and the five official nominees were revealed on January 24, 2012.  The winner will be announced at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony on February 26, 2012.

There are 63 films officially approved to the final list, including an entry from New Zealand for the first time.  Two films were disqualified from the race, Slovenia's Silent Sonata which they forgot to submit in time, and Puerto Rico's America which was rejected because the rules do not allow films from U.S. territories.

As I did for last year's awards, I will maintain a list of all the submissions and try to see as many of the films as possible ahead of the actual ceremonies.  Even though I think the selection process is flawed and the Academy voters often make terrible selections, I find it fun and interesting to watch the wide variety of foreign language submissions, especially the ones from countries not usually known for award winning cinema.

Here is the final list of the 84th Academy Awards Foreign Language Film submissions:
(last updated June 26, 2012 - 34/63)

Shortlisted
Nominated
Academy Award Winner

Albania - Amnesty (Amnistia)
Bujar Alimani [Albanian]
Argentina - Aballay (Aballay, el hombre sin miedo)
Fernando Spiner [Spanish]
Bulgaria - Tilt (Тилт)
Viktor Chouchkov [Bulgarian]
Cuba - Habanastation
IanPadrón [Spanish]
Denmark - SuperClásico
Ole Christian Madsen [Danish, Spanish]
Dominican Republic - Love Child (La Hija Natural)
Leticia Tonos [Spanish]
Egypt - Lust (الشوق)
Khaled El Hagar [Arabic]
Estonia - Letters to Angel (Kirjad Inglile)
Sulev Keedus [Estonian]
Georgia - Chantrapas (შანტრაპა)
Otar Iosseliani [French, Georgian]
Iceland - Volcano (Eldfjall)
Rúnar Rúnarsson [Icelandic]
India - Adaminte Makan Abu (ആദാമിന്റെ മകൻ അബു)
Salim Ahamed [Malayalam]
Indonesia - Under the Protection of Ka’bah (Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah)
Hanny Saputra [Indonesian]
Japan - Postcard (一枚のハガキ)
Kaneto Shindō [Japanese]
Kazakhstan - Returning to the 'A' (Возвращение в А)
Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovskiy [Kazakh, Russian]
Lebanon - Where Do We Go Now? (وهلّأ لوين؟)
Nadine Labaki [Arabic]
Lithuania - Back to Your Arms (Kai apkabinsiu tave)
Kristijonas Vildžiūnas [Lithuanian, Russian, German]
Morocco - Omar Killed Me (Omar m'a tuer)
Roschdy Zem [Arabic, French]
New Zealand - The Orator (O Le Tulafale)
Tusi Tamasese [Samoan]
Peru - October (Octubre)
Daniel Vega Vidal [Spanish]
Philippines - The Woman in the Septic Tank (Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank)
Marlon Rivera [Tagalog]
Russia - Burnt by the Sun 2: Citadel (Утомлённые солнцем 2: Цитадель)
Nikita Mikhalkov [Russian]
Singapore - Tatsumi
Eric Khoo [Japanese]
Slovakia - Gypsy (Cigán)
Martin Šulík [Romany]
South Africa - Beauty (Skoonheid)
Oliver Hermanus [Afrikaans]
Switzerland - Summer Games (Giochi d'estate)
Rolando Colla [Italian]
Taiwan - Seediq Bale (賽德克.巴萊)
Wei Te-Sheng [Seediq, Japanese, Taiwanese, Mandarin]
Thailand - Kon Khon (คนโขน)
Sarunyu Wongkrachang [Thai]
Venezuela - The Rumble of the Stones (El rumor de las piedras)
Alejandro Bellame [Spanish]
Vietnam - Thang Long Aspiration (Khát vọng Thăng Long)
Lưu Trọng Ninh [Vietnamese]

Shortlisted
Nominated
Academy Award Winner
  

25 comments:

Most Popular said...

2012 Nominations are in for Best Foreign Film...

A Seperation
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar

See more: http://mostpopularmovies.org/2012_Oscars/

Lisa Thatcher said...

This is rather exciting!
I'm going to hunt these down over the next few months. 

Amin Davoodi said...

A separation from Iran will be the winner. It won all the Bears from Berlin Festival.

Sam Fragoso said...

This is ridiculous. Most of these films haven't even been released yet. How can any of us have an adequate opinion on films we can't even see? This happens every year. Very frustrating. 

Todor said...

Wow - thank god they accepted "Punk's not dead" from Macedonia. There were some big issues over it - we were told that it didn't make it, because of the deadline. But anyway, everything seems to be cool now. It's a nice movie :) It won some festival awards (including Karlovy Vary).

Arash_shademan said...

Just " Nader and Simin, A Separation".

Bonjour Tristesse said...

What did you make of the acapella group?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

They seem to be able to get the shortlist right, but seldom do i agree with the winner.  Last year my choice would have been Incendies followed by Dogtooth and Confessions.  The actual winner In a Better World, would have a hard time cracking my top 10.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It looks excellent, I'm going to try to see this at the local film festival in a couple weeks

NeverTooEarlyMP said...

So far it looks like I'm 4 for 10, but 2 of those were announced beforehand, so I may need to do better research for next year!

blahblahblahtoby said...

and did you completely disagree with the academy?

derek rampersad said...

yeah, the academy awards can prove a valuable source of good movies.  It can also be a biased directory to flicks that dont deserve praise.

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

Yeah, the Academy shouldn't be viewed as the authorities on what films are really the best but the Awards competition does bring some good publicity to films that might have slipped by otherwise.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

What country, I'm guessing Romania?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yes indeed. 

FrontRoomCinema said...

Cool. I do love this category. I look forward to your reviews

The Reel Foto said...

thanks for keeping us up to date. :)

blahblahblahtoby said...

interesting idea. pretty ambitious too. you've done this before? do you find it easy enough to find the movies?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks again for reading.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah it's practically the only category that interests me, and its more about the range of films than the competition.

d_4 said...

Even if it's flawed, it gives opportunity. Right? Hopefully it'll bring a few good reviews.

Oana Catinas said...

My country submitted a film! Weee :D

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It's always so hard to guess because sometimes it feels like the various selection committees just pick random names out of a hat.  Or choose not necessarily the best films but the most "Hollywood" ones to pander to the Academy.

moviesandsongs365 said...

Happy Happy was good, many things are left unsaid-so there is quite a bit to wonder about afterwards. I had a little debate going with 5plitreel, as she reviewed it a few days ago

Will look up the other titles, which I haven't seen (yet) ( :

deanes said...

It is nice to see other languages are also introduced in the award and gives a chance for the best film to get an honour on the academy awards.Thanks

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