Tuesday, January 17, 2012

2012 Oscars Foreign Film Shortlist


Exactly one week from today at 5:38 PST at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce all of the official nominations for the 84th Academy Awards.

This means that either sometime today or tomorrow, they will reveal the nine films that made the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film category.  I will update this post as soon as they are announced, but in the meantime I will post my predictions.

A few years ago, at the 79th Academy Awards in 2007, the rules were changed so that the Best Foreign Language Film nomination procedure became a two-step process.  With an initial committee setup to select the nine film shortlist from the pool of entries, which would then be further whittled down to the official five nominees by two committees, one based in LA and the other in New York.  The entire Academy then votes on the winner from the five final nominees.

Since then, films from 25 different countries have made it to the shortlist.  Canada leads with four shortlists; France, Germany, Israel, and Mexico each have been selected three times; and Algeria, Austria, Denmark, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden all twice.  Twelve other countries have a been represented a single time.

So far this year I have been able to see 25 out of the 63 films submitted to the Foreign Language Film competition, just a few shy of the 28 films I caught by this time last year. 

Read on for the Official 2012 Oscars Best Foreign Language Film Shortlist:

Denmark - SuperClásico
Ole Christian Madsen [Danish, Spanish]
Morocco - Omar Killed Me (Omar m'a tuer)
Roschdy Zem [Arabic, French]
Taiwan - Seediq Bale (賽德克.巴萊)
Wei Te-Sheng [Seediq, Japanese, Taiwanese, Mandarin]

Looks like I was 4/9 with my predictions of Brazil, China, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Poland.

Brazil is the one I'm most unsure of, the fact that it's a sequel may dampen its chances, but it's an excellent standalone film in its own right, and has just the right mainstream appeal.

China's entry has been skewered by the U.S. critics, but it boasts a big name Hollywood star, the director Zhang Yimou has been nominated before, and it also garnered a Golden Globe nod.

Finland's film has got some universal love from the critics including myself, and it has a great message.  This is the first time acclaimed director Aki Kaurismaki has allowed one of his films to be submitted.  I hope it gets a nomination, but I think that's about as far as it will get.

France is always a perennial contender, though I haven't seen it yet I've only heard good things about this touching story about parents who learn that their child has cancer.

Germany's entry is an amazing visual spectacle that blurs the boundaries between feature and documentary, and really shows what can be done with 3D.  It doesn't really fit any category perfectly but I can see this one impressing those on the committee.

Iran's film just won the Golden Globe, and has been the heavy favorite to take it all for several months.  I also expect it will win the Oscar, and deservedly so.   It's a masterful screenplay and an eye opener for us who don't ever get to see what life is truly like in Iran.

Israel is another country that has been nominated a lot lately and Footnote has received much acclaim since its premiere at Cannes in May.

Japan's film took home the Special Jury prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and is said to be director Shindô Kaneto's last film, he turns 100 years old in April so I expect some sentimental support for his film dealing with the tragic human costs of war.

Poland's In Darkness has received a lot of buzz, and gets automatic consideration for being a holocaust film.  Director Agnieszka Holland was previously nominated twenty years ago for Best Adapted Screenplay for Europa Europa.

What do you think of the choices?  Which films should have made this year's shortlist?
     

34 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Quebec always makes great films compared to the rest of the country, I'm really looking forward to that one.

CastorTroy said...

Yep I see it's coming out in a few weeks. About time!

Michael Parent said...

Haven't seen any of those. I'll have to watch Monsieur Lazhar since it's from Qc and this is my province... I'll try to catch the other films too before the ceremony!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yep, I updated the post a few hours ago when the press release came out.  

Good call MMB!

MovieMonstrosityBlog said...

Hey Bonjour Tristesse, Bullhead is on the shortlist. Just saying. :D news/2012/jan/18/no-headline---us--oscars-foreign_film013/

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Looks like I was wrong.  Bullhead got picked for the top 9!

MovieMonstrosityBlog said...

If you put it that way, you might be right ;)

Bonjour Tristesse said...

That one is the biggest surprise for me.  I certainly haven't heard very many good things about it until now.

NeverTooEarlyMP said...

I'm guessing that Seediq Bale had to be saved by the Super Committee, and I pity the committee members who have to sit through 4 hours and 25 minutes, along with two other films on the same day!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Nice, you got one more right that I did.

Ali E. said...

I'll say France, Poland, Mexico, Iran, Germany, Israel, Turkey, Austria and Canada. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I'm afraid that's one I haven't seen or heard much about. I do generally enjoy Swiss films though so i will be looking out for it.

filmfreak said...

How about Switzerlands entry, "Giochi d'Estate"? It would deserve it to be on the shortlist

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks AV, what did you think of FoW?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

 Nice, I hope you enjoy it.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I believe the DVD gets released in early February, so you should have a chance to see it soon.

The Angry Vegetarian said...

I truly envy you for being able to view all these movies. 


I was lucky enough to see Flowers of War yesterday. I just wish I would've been able to watch a few of the other potential nominees. 

Also, thanks for the info on the selection process. I've always loved film, especially foreign film (even though it may not show when visiting here), and always found the Academy Awards very magical. I never would've thought that THAT much work went into it. Then again, what else would one expect?

d_4 said...

I still really want to see Pina. This teases my mind.

G said...

I've got Nader and Simin to watch this weekend after the globes...

CastorTroy said...

Sadly, haven't seen any of those. I really want to check out Elite Squad 2 but have absolutely no idea when or if it's going to be released in the US... Like most years, I don't really get to any of the contending foreign films until well after the Oscars.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I didn't forget Bullhead, I have seen it and I do agree it is an excellent film and Schoenaerts' performance is astonishing.  I hope I'm wrong but I just don't think it has enough universal appeal to get shortlisted.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I admit I haven't been following your blog closely enough to know your tastes, but I definitely recommend Le Havre and Pina as well. 

MovieMonstrosityBlog said...

The Artist, A Seperation, Kid With The Bike, The Skin I Live In and how the hell could you forget BULLHEAD: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821593/awards It's genius! Roskam is one of the 10 directors we have to keep an eye on, says Variety Magazine! Plus Matthias Schoenaerts has won several awards since the movie came out!
Haven't seen it yet, Bonjour Tristesse? You should! :D

Max Covill said...

I really wanted to see Kid with a Bike. That being said I believe A Separation will easily be nominated and win this award. I couldn't get a feel for which one I should go out of my to watch from these. Can you try to suggest something?

Beasts in Human Skin said...

They made movies last year?   Do they have girls and gore, or stuff blowing up?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

A Separation for sure.  The other 4 you mentioned were not entered into the race by their respective countries so are not eligible for the award.  It's a remote possibility, but they could however be nominated for any other applicable category.  Oslo August 31 is a film I'm dying to see, I hope it makes it way over here soon.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks, I thought you would.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I'm also certain The Artist will be a Best Picture nominee.  It wasn't submitted to the Foreign Language Film category, probably because it's silent.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yep I would also love to see Le Hare make it but since these are selected by a small committee it is hard to predict, and I won't be surprised to see some really left field selections.

365 moviesandsongs365 said...

A separation , kid with a bike, the skin I live in I would expect to feature at the oscars. I'd also love to see Oslo August 31st  (in my top 5 of 2011) on the nominee list, but probably not mainstream enough.
Sarah's Key  for me  seemed like an oscar-friendly French film, maybe the holocaust theme has been over-exposed,  alas was not submitted by France.
 I'd like to see Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou's films are so visually striking, and Bale is a great actor.

The Angry Lurker said...

I like the Brasil one.....

The Angry Lurker said...

Good update, looking forward to the list...

Christine said...

I'm glad I have someone like you to keep me up-to-date on these things.  I cringe to think at how far behind I am on current foreign films. I'm determined to at least see The Artist when it comes out here next week--but I'm sure that will land a best picture nomination.   

Joe Hill said...

Surely 'A Separation' will be a shoo-in? For a nomination, that is (I find this to be one of the less predictable Oscar categories). I'd love to see Aki Kaurismaki get a nomination too, though Le Havre has been practically impossible to track down in Manchester and I haven't seen it yet.

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