Oscar Submissions: Spain, Iran, Lebanon, Portugal, The Phillipines and Finland
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 10:36PM This just in... well, actually it's been burning a whole in my inbox for a day or two. SPAIN, no stranger to Oscar glory with 19 nominations and 4 wins behind them, have narrowed their Oscar list down to 3 films.
It's a fairly standard choice facing Spain. They've got a Pedro Almodóvar film (The Skin I Live In), which automatically assures high profile discussions and viewers in the States even if the film isn't particularly Oscar-ready competing with a lesser known film which is more loved at home (Agustí Villaronga's Pa Negre or Black Bread) and a new film that not a lot of people have seen that hasn't even been released yet (Benito Zambrano's La voz dormida). The latter film is based on a novel and about women who were jailed during the Franco years.
I'm guessing they go with Pa Negre (which translates to Black Bread) since it made such a very impressive showing at the Goyas this year taking Best Picture and eight more trophies along with it. The film is set in rural Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War and features Sergí Lopez (Pan's Labyrinth) and I hear that the child actors, one of whom discovers a dead body in the forest, are just great in it. I posted the trailer some months ago. [UPDATE 09/28/11: Yes, it was selected. See the Oscar Charts]
UPDATE: In confusing official and then not official but maybe possibly official eventually news...
IRAN (1 nomination) supposedly submitted Asghar Fahradi's A Separation, (pictured left) which is already an award winning film, a marital drama with a high international profile. Sony Pictures Classics will distribute. I immediately put it in my prediction list. But supposedly Iran wasn't happy that this news rushed out and it wasn't official official. Distinctions! So it might be A Separation but they're now considering Ahmad-Reza Motamedi's Alzheimer's, Bahram Tavakkoli's Here without Me, Ali-Reza Davoudnejad's Salve and Rambod Javan's No Men Allowed as well.
In more official news
FINLAND (1 nomination) has gone with Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre as everyone suspected wish is about a shoe shiner who befriends an immigrant. Kaurismäki gave Finland its only nomination with the dry funny The Man Without a Past some years back.
LEBANON (never nominated) has submitted the musical that's now playing at TIFF, Nadine Labaki's Where Do We Go Now? which is from the director of Caramel.
PORTUGAL (never nominated) will submit José & Pilar, which is a documentary by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes about the bestselling novelist José Saramago (Blindness) and his wife as well as the friction between private artists and their public lives. Sounds interesting. Guess what? Actor Gael García Bernal and director Fernando Meirelles (who were of course both involved in the Blindness film adaptation) also appear in the film.
This just in...
THE PHILIPPINES (never nominated) are submitting Woman in a Septic Tank which sounds really interesting. I'm also in love with the poster.
It's a comedy about the making of a movie as three filmmakers meet in Starbucks, call on their lead actress (played by Eugene Domingo as both herself and the character in the movie) and plan their poverty drama's shoot which will take place in a garbage dump. The movie gets reinvented several times over and changes genres and form in their imaginations.
Reader Comments (22)
Hmm I see you haven't updated the charts with the Portuguese submission, 'José and Pilar'.
I think I sent you an e-mail about it.
Super excited about A Separation.
I'm also watching Where do we go now? this weekend at TIFF. It was totally off my radar until you pointed it out in your suggestions. I've heard amazing words from its first screening, so i'm super excited.
Nathaniel, according to presstv and awards daily, Irán rejected the submision and name five finalist-films. This is the note:
http://presstv.com/detail/199141.html
Also, Tehran Times doesn't have the Sunday news. Look:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index.php/component/content/article/2462
I believe this is a battle between the Comitée and Farhadi and there's a possibility than Farhadi lose this match
I know this is way off topic, but Gwyneth Paltrow won the guest actress comedy emmy!! Yay!
And Justin Timberlake won yet two more Emmys.
leon - the original Variety column that reported A Separation was submitted as Iran's candidate didn't really mention if the news was confirmed by AMPAS or not. Apparently they leaked the news sooner than the Iranian media, which apparently pisses off the Iranian ministry of culture, so they publish their original 5-film shortlist. Now no one knows if they've actually made the decision or not. I really hope the original story in Variety was the correct version.
You nailed the usual standard Spanish choice. There's always a film to be released yet, a prestigious one that was in many cases sight unseen (this one in particular, Pa Negre) until the awards happened, and then a third one that may be Almodóvar, Amenábar, Trueba ... a big name, better if known internationally.
I really doubt the efficiency of this shortlist which is supposed to be a box office draw. Pa Negre must on DVD now, La voz dormida hasn't opened yet (and anyway it's based on a best selling novel, so it'll have its followers no matter what) and Almodóvar at the box office does always better than the average Spanish movie.
Two of them are set in Spanish Civil War/post-war and one of them, Pa Negre isn't in Spanish. I don't know if any fellow Spaniard knows how many movies in Catalá if ever, have represented Spain. Regardless of language, I think the chosen one will be Pa Negre, too.
for Philippines: Ang Babae sa Septic Tank
Woman in the septic tank.
http://southomer.com/buzz/2012-oscars-ang-babae-sa-septic-tank-philippines-entry-for-best-foreign-film-6370
it won the top prize in the recently concluded Cinemalaya Film festival where it bagged best director and best actress as well for its lead actress, Eugene Domingo.
Jose & Pilar is a masterpiece!!!
Jose & Pilar is very good, but since it's a doc, probably won't make the cut.
"José and Pilar" is a an amazing film, and manages to transcend its prime genre. I feel towards to call it a doc-fic, in opposition to those classified as fic-doc. You plunge into those people like they were two perfectly constructed characters, in a much more narrative toned pace than one would expect to see in a documentary. It is so beautiful. May the Academy members give it a chance and it can certainly make it, at least to the short list, after which further promotion funds shall be easier to find. Some credibility injection fact, it is co-produced by Fernando Meirelles (O2 Filmes) and Pedro Almodóvar (El Deseo).
Well... "Pina" is a doc too and is a major contender. But is like Diogo said: "José and Pilar" it's more than just a documentary, his structure looks like fiction and the message of love that is brought to us is universal and moving. It's a big movie, lovely and a major surprise!
Whoa! A feature about the Septic Tank film. Nathaniel, "Septic" is a very funny and original film. I'm a Filipino and I must say am impressed that you learned about this film. Eugene Domingo's one of the best actresses here.
Independent filmaking is finally getting it's cred here in the country. Try to look for "Zombadings:Patayin sa Shokot si Remington" for a similar-themed film, which is currently shown in theaters.
"José & Pilar" was a surprise to me. I loved it more than I thought I could love a documentary about a man and his wife. It is so full of meaning and beautiful, but cruel at the same time, but I loved it!
Being a doc doesn't help, surely, but I think it has better chances than last year's submission: "To Die Like a Man". If AMPAS members watch this doc, they will think about this message while they are in the bed trying to fall asleep.
i'm loving these responses. happy to hear from fans of the various films. Last year I did receive several screeners of the subission films buyt the companies oddly waited until the last possible second and in some casees after the finalist list had been revealed making it really difficult to spend the time to watch and write about them.
i'm hoping this year the distributors get cracking earlier.
"The Woman in The Septic Tank" is a very good film but it isn't my favorite Filipino film of the year. "Amok", "Bahay Bata", "Zombadings" and "Amigo" are all better films. I can't help but wonder if the committee choosing our Oscar contender considered "Amigo". It's a film by John Sayles but 2/3rds of the cast, 95 percent of his crew and half of his producers are all Filipinos and more than a third of the film is not in English.
Yes Irvin, Amigo tells so much about Philippine History. I could still remember back then that I was so frustrated that the country did not succeed in pushing "Ploning" for an Oscar nod before. The whole Philippine movie industry supported that film. I'm a big Jose Saramago / Meirelles / Garcia Bernal fan but I hope our own little Septic tank will be selected. Brillante Mendoza won Cannes Best Director so it's still possible we'll make it to Oscar as well!!
I also think it's going to be Pa negre and yes, if that happens it would be the first movie in catalan up for an Oscar.
La piel que habito is SO not Oscars type!
Pa negre It's a very good movie. It's dark and poetic and all the female characters are interesting. Also I found very interesting the way it deals with the subject of homophobia during the spanish civil post-war in a very small village.
My take on the Philippine selection: http://film-otaku.blogspot.com/2011/09/philippine-oscar-entry-ang-babae-sa.html
So Peggy Sue, would you recommend La piel que habito? I haven't seen it yet and I don't know what to expect. When it's about Almodóvar I don't trust critics anymore. I have my issues with Antonio Banderas. Why two of my favourite directors had to cast my not so favourite actors, Owen Wilson and Banderas? They're testing my faithfulness.
Agreed on Pa Negre, really very good movie, an interesting twist on your typical coming of age story during hard times. Not a single bad performance in it, even the period settings look so real, so used and everyday reality. And there's also the amazing and unusual kid, not the cute type, but a really good one. Let's hope he can get a decent career if so he wishes.
José & Pilar is one of the best documentaries ever made, no doubt about it. The director Miguel Gonçalves was able to put together on the screen Saramago's soul and all the elements that surrounded his world, including the major role played by Pilar del Río, his lover and full time companion. The shoots on the island are amazing and Samarago's social sensibility is simply extraordinary. My choice for the Oscar, by far the best one out there.
The Woman in a Septic Tank is hilarious. Its the best comedy (award winning at that) film that was shown in the Philippines! I think the Philippines will finally make it to the Oscars.
i hope Ang Babae sa Septic Tank will be nominated; and win, eventually. I have always admired the writing skill of Chris Martinez.