"Fill The Void", "The Clown" and "After Lucia" Join the Very Crowded Foreign Race
Friday, September 21, 2012 at 12:40PM Brazil, Israel, and Mexico -- three countries that have yet to produce an Oscar Foreign Film champ despite a small handful or two of previous nominees -- have now joined the fast-growing list of Oscar's subtitled contenders.
The tally now stands at 35...42 films 44 films and 4 finalist lists!
Which means we've only got about 20 films left to hear about officially before the list is complete. October 1st is the deadline for submissions and in mid October Oscar will provide us with the official list which will usually contain a few surprises -- either a last minute film switcheroo, a disqualification, or a country that hadn't publicly announced suddenly surfacing on the list. Let's look at our new contenders and their countries nominee history after the jump.
Israel's New Contender: FILL THE VOID by Rama Burshtein which gives us an intimate look at the Hasidic community in Tel Aviv.
Israel's Nominee History - 10 noms / 0 wins
with links to Netflix pages -- all but one available for rental!
1964 Sallah
1971 The Policeman
1972 I Love You Rosa
1973 The House on Chelouche Street (instant watch!)
1977 Operation Thunderbolt
1986 Beyond The Walls
2007 Beaufort (instant watch!)
2008 Waltz With Bashir
2009 Ajami (instant watch!)
2011 Footnote
Brazil's New Contender: THE CLOWN is about a father (Paulo José) and son (Selton Mello, also the director) who work together as clowns in the circus. The son no longer thinks himself funny and wants to settle down.
Brazil's Nominee History - 4 noms / 0 wins
with links to Netflix pages if available
1962 Keeper of Promises
1995 O Quatrilho
1997 Four Days in September
1998 Central Station is by far the most universally beloved of Brazilian Oscar contenders even netting a well deserved Best Actress nomination for Fernanda Montenegro. In any other year it would surely have been a winning entry but it had the timing misfortune of going up against Life is Beautiful which was that year's even bigger foreign crossover hit, winning 3 Oscars on the big night (Actor, Foreign Film and Original Score) from its hefty 7 nomination tally which included Best Picture and Best Director nods.
Mexico's New Contender: AFTER LUCIA by Michel Franco is about high school bullying and was a hit at Cannes where it won the Un Certain Regard sidebar
Mexico's Nominee History - 8 noms / 0 wins
with links to Netflix pages -- unfortunately spotty
1960 Macario
1961 The Important Man
1962 The Pearl of Tlayucan
1975 Letters from Marusia
2000 Amores Perros (instant watch!)
2002 The Crime of Father Amaro
2006 Pan's Labyrinth
2010 Biutiful (instant watch!)
WHO IS LEFT TO ANNOUNCE?
Plenty of countries in South America and Asia as well as three European biggies. The three countries with the mightiest Oscar stats that have yet to announce this year are...
Denmark everyone assumes it will be the festival hit costume drama A Royal Affair... which has won acting awards and critical favor. So why haven't they announced that yet? Rumor has it they're announcing today so perhaps it's a done deal by the time you read this. YEP. IT'S A ROYAL AFFAIR
Italy Reality had some buzz but NYFF is playing Caesar Must Die so it would sure be convenient... for me ;) ... if it were the latter.
Spain announces next Friday though they've already narrowed it down to three contenders. I'm hoping it's the silent black and white Snow White picture starring the internationally recognized Maribel Verdu (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Pan's Labyrinth, etcetera) because I like annual themes, don't you? See we're drowning in Snow White movies in 2012 -- you'd think this ancient story had just hit the public domain or something? -- so let's finally get a good one in the mix!
Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Oscars (12), Scandinavia, Snow White, foreign films
Reader Comments (20)
Dear Mr. R.,
get well soon, take care of yourself.
Brazil's choice, O Palhaço / The Clown, is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful film that reminds us of Fellini's great films.
The director is a Brazilian actor that works since he was very, very young in this country.
It deverses the nomination. Against it: maybe a little bit slow paced for general viewers. But, I dare say that if it gets nominated the film can actually win.
I watched The Intouchables the other day, it will probably make it, the film is ok, but the abundance of cliches annoys a little bit.
Again, get well soon.
Marcelo - Brazil.
Colombia has also revealed their choice so you can upload it too to your list.
Yep, Denmark chose A Royal Affair.
There's also:
Russia (White Tiger)
Hong Kong (Life Without Principle)
Slovakia (Made in Ash)
Switzerland (Sister)
Dominican Republic (Check Mate)
Finland (Purge)
Woah. That Spanish Snow White actually looks pretty spectacular.
squasher --added. thx. they're just coming in hourly now. whoa
No problem Nathaniel, just keeping you "on your toes". Hope you are recovering well.
Here's that poster for that Slovak film: http://www.filmpro.sk/files/plagat/az-do-mesta-as-film-poster.jpg
I saw Caesar Must Die in Italy this summer, and it was one of the most excruciating filmgoing experiences I have ever endured. Dull, too art film, felt like hours even though it's relatively short. If the Italians pick it, they are shooting themselves in the foot. Magnifica Presenza would fare better with the academy, I think, or Reality, which I have yet to see.
I knew it!! - Israel choose "Fill the Void". :P
Don't forget "Gil Equilibristi" for the Italian submission. The film received warm response in Venice -Valerio Mastrandrea won the Pasineti Award- and could be a better choice for AMPAS. The trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbW8jJXfIs8
Marcelo - Wow, that's great because I expected Brazil would choose "Xingu" as the film. I'm glad Mexico took the best choice for the lackuster shortlist, but unfortunally, I believe "After Lucia" have slim chances even for the 9 finalists. Don't get me wrong, it was a good film, but it was too "artistic" for AMPAS minds and even with the precedent of Dogtooth, I really doubt it. For me, the best option for Latin America is Chile, but Marcelo's comments make me considerate Brazil...
This is my preliminar list:
AUSTRALIA - Lore
AUSTRIA - Amour
CANADA - War Witch
CHILE - No
DENMARK - A Royal Affair
FRANCE - The Untouchables
ISRAEL - Fill the Void
KOREA - Pieta - Wild Card -There's always a edgy film.
SPAIN - Snow White
Blancanieves played at Tiff this year. A friend of mine went to see it, and he said that it was awesome. It's quirky and compelling, according to him. FYI, the seven dwarves are played by little people, and they are bullfighters in the film. They take in snowwhite and teach her how to bullfight and much madness ensues!
Hong Kong's submission opened in HK in October of last year, and lost at the Hong Kong film awards to A Simple Life, the country's submission last year, but which didn't open in HK until March of this year.
The rules are strange.
If you are interested in Maribel Verdu's work, take a look at this film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpvVMJOezR0
kin -- my guess is they did a very quiet limited or one week qualifier for A SIMPLE LIFE. that's what usually explains those oddities or release. But, technically, releasing in October of last year in your home country is within the eligibility range for submissions this year since i believe the calendar year goes October-September for Oscar submissions for this category.
Dear Leon,
Xingu is also a very good film, but The Clown is really great.
If they can sell The Clown for its mixture of light heart dealing with circus, in a Fellinian way, with the depth of father and son's relationship, the film can score a nomination. But I have no idea if there is any company behind it in the US or if the film is among the priorities of any company.
Marcelo.
Nat, do you know why the eligibility period is Oct-Sept? I mean, i am sure they could have a December release ready to be screened by the committee as well. Do they want to ensure the movie has a strong reception back home first?
India just announced their submission - Barfi! I've heard only superlative great things about it. Another strong contender.
Nice list, Leon. I think Romania or Belgium could make the short list over Spain or Korea, the latter of which might be too weird for the Academy. But otherwise, we agree. I'm personally rooting for a nomination for Chile. It'd be such an accomplishment for that small film industry.
The Clown is the best choice for Brazil! The picture was a big hit here. I'll be happy if it will get the nomination...
the more i read about the list the more that this looks like a kind of brilliant strong year. I only wish i could see all of these each year. Last year I did get a lot of the screeners for a change but they all arrived basically at the same time in the heat of EVERYTHING GOING ON (when do they expect people to watch movies when the screeners come during all the craziness of the season and the shows and the holidays and the parties celebrating the movies you're supposed to be watching?) #goodproblemstohaveisuppose
Last year was particularly great in Brazil for films not in English, one of the best years:
Biutiful (Spain)
A Cat in Paris (France)
Certified Copy (France)
Chinese Take-Away (Argentina)
The Concert (France)
I Am Love (Italy)
The Illusionist (France)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada) my favourite
The Kid with a Bike (Belgium)
Of Gods and Men (France)
Outside the Law (Algeria)
Poetry (South Korea)
Saturn in Opposition (Italy)
The Skin I Live in (Spain)
Uncle Boonmee who can Recall his Past Lives (Thailand)
Among others. A really impressive list.
Marcelo - Brazil.
Just moved to madrid for studies, going to watch Blancanieves tonight and see how it goes!!