Tomorrow is the Submission Deadline in Oscar's Foreign Film Race
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 at 10:40AM At the moment of this typing 67 films have been announced by their home countries as Oscar submissions and our famous charts are all updated to tell you about them with posters, running times, languages spoken, official site links, synopsis and more. This year's race has three countries who've never submitted before (Kosovo, Mauritania, and Panama). That's not a record since that was also true last year. Can we attribute the continual growth of this category to the general democratization of film now that (nearly) everything is digital and filmmaking is (theoretically) more affordable? Or perhaps it's a sure sign that the Oscar is still one of the most significant icons around the world?
The most exciting news this past week was Russia daringly choosing Cannes hit LEVIATHAN - not the kind of film they normally would send.
Other new additions to the chart include Egypt's FACTORY GIRL, India's LIAR'S DICE, and New Zealands THE DEAD LANDS
The most entries this category has ever had was 76 (just last year) but that record is frequently busted. What about this year? My guess is it won't be that many since the films are due tomorrow and we've only heard 66 of them. But, consider this: Ten regularly participating countries are as of yet unannounced. Usually there are a handful of submissions on the official list that weren't covered in the trades or here. And usually at least one previously announced title doesn't appear when all is said and done due to last minute switcheroos by the home country, disqualifications, or politicking of one sort of the other. So my guess is 70-72 competitors this year. I still maintain that the new system of the finalist list that Oscar announces in early January needs tinkering. At nine films it seems cruel so few films lose out on a nomination that was dangling right in front of them. A better and less sadistic and potentially humiliating finalist list would be something like 12 pictures so the majority were runners up. In a general sense though I'm in huge favor of their new culling process; the quality of the shortlist has inarguably improved with all the tinkering in recent years.
Two Biggies Remain Unannounced:
- ARGENTINA - (5 nominations / 1 win)
They haven't skipped the race since 1983. Will it be Wild Tales? UPDATE: YES, IT'S WILD TALES. WOOOO - CHINA - (2 nominations)
They haven't skipped the race since 2001. Despite often high profile entries China has trouble getting nominated. Might they submit Coming Home? It does reteam the auteur Zhang Yimou with his original muse Gong Li and their films together have often won a single Oscar nomination whether that was for cinematography (Shanghai Triad), costumes (Curse of the Golden Flower), or foreign film (Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern). Their other films together were probably near-misses since they won nominations elsewhere (To Live for the Golden Globes and The Story of Qi Ju for The Spirit Awards)
The following countries which semi-regularly submit have not yet announced:
CUBA has a great contender this year in "BEHAVIOR" but did they actually submit it? They sometimes don't bother.
- ALBANIA (never nominated)
- ALGERIA (5 nominations/1 win) - They have a strong record when they submit but they tend to drift in and out of interest in competing unless there's a Rachid Bouchareb film out (he's been their nominee three times: Dust of Life, Days of Glory, and Outside the Law)
- AZERBAIJAN (never nominated) - Submitting for almost a decade now
- CUBA (1 nomination) - They skipped the last two years but Behavior (reviewed) could be a legit contender for the statue if submitted. Their only nominee was the gay drama Strawberry & Chocolate from 1994
- LEBANON (never nominated) - Submitting since the late 90s
- SOUTH AFRICA (2 nominations/1 win) - Since they started submitting regularly in 2004 they've done very well with one nominee (Yesterday), one winner (Tsotsi), and one finalist that didn't quite make it (Life Above All)
- VIETNAM (1 nomination) -The Scent of Green Papaya, their only nominee, was their very first entry into the category
The following countries which occasionally submit have not yet announced:
- ARMENIA, AUSTRALIA, ECUADOR, IRAQ, KYRGYZSTAN, and CAMBODIA which was Cambodia nominated for the first time last year with the incredible documentary The Missing Picture.
The following countries rarely submit but you never know:
- Chad, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji Islands, Greenland, Guatemala, Kenya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Tajikstan, and Tanzania
EXPLORE THE CATEGORY AND SOUND OFF ON WHICH FILMS AND COUNTRIES YOU'D LIKE TO SEE MORE COVERAGE OF RIGHT HERE.
Pt. 1 Afghanistan through Ethiopia - 17 official submissions on this page
Pt. 2 Finland through Panama - 28 submissions on this page
Pt. 3 Peru through Vietnam -21 submissions thus far
Reader Comments (21)
Is official!!! Argentina will go with "Wild Tales". Argentine Academy recently announced it. I cross my fingers for it.
I'm interested to see if Difret will get submitted for Ethiopia. It won the audience award at Berlin and Sundance and it's executive produced by Angelina Jolie!
Loved Mommy, Wild Tales, Leviathan, Two Days One Night and Force Majeure - and they're all not gonna make it : (
I think we'll tie the record again with 76 films.....
A few updates!
Lebanon is official and it's light drama "Ghadi"
Albania announced that their selection committee met and decided not to send either of their two eligible films (a confusing decision since one of them- "Amsterdam Express"- was quite well-received). And AMPAS uninvited Puerto Rico in 2010 saying they're not "Foreign".
Kyrgyzstan and the UK have not made official announcements but there are Internet rumors claiming the Kyrgyz sent big-budget historical epic "Kurmandjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains" (which I believe) and that BAFTA sent Turkish-language honor-killing drama "Little Happiness" (which I think might be false).
And Costa Rica, Cuba, Kenya and debutante Nigeria have all announced that they're looking to send films this year. The most likely is Costa Rica for Berlinale drama "Red Princesses".
Indonesia and Moldova are also highly likely to send films this year!
Will the foreign committee watch all 4 hours of the Philippines' submission, "Norte?"
@Raul: I hope so because it's brilliant. :) (Though not as brilliant as Polish "Ida", I must add)
Raul & Someone -- the committee is divvied up into different groups, each with a chunk of films to watch. So, yes, they have to watch the films.
It seems that this year nearly ALL of the critically acclaimed festival films were selected by their home countries as their nominees. There will definitely be some disappointed people once the shortlist is announced, because there are always some surprises that emerge from places you don't expect such as An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Hungary's The Notebook last year
We're at 70 now by my count with South Africa, China, Nigeria (who formed a committee for the first time this year), Kazakhstan (submitted the last eight years), and the various other semi-regulars you mentioned above still outstanding. I think the record is definitely within reach.
Also, Puerto Rico is no longer able to compete because it is a U.S. Commonwealth. They were allowed to submit for years, but the rules were changed two or three years ago, at which point they were disqualified from that year's race and denied the opportunity to submit in the future.
This year is going to be a great competition, but is sure to leave some folks unhappy. I'm already dreading the "XXX didn't get nominated so the category needs to be rethought!" pieces. Less-hyped films to watch out for: Chile's To Kill a Man, Estonia's Tangerines, Finland's Concrete Night, and Venezuela's The Liberator.
This year, I'm most looking forward to Two Days, One Night (seeing it next week!), Mommy, Force Majeure, and Leviathan. The country I want to see more movies from is Georgia, whose In Bloom was their Oscar submission last year and was so wonderful. I hear good things about this year's Corn Island too, but haven't seen it yet.
Just saw that I repeated Dzong (who is *the man*) about Puerto Rico. Sorry about that!
Why can't Cuba compete?
Jaragon- They can compete. They just have chosen not to in recent years.
Jaragon -- they're considered too much a part of the US so apparently it's a no go now. Which is a shame because their film this year is so good. :(
Cuba *can* compete- it's an independent country. Puerto Rico cannot-- it is a U.S. Commonwealth.
Behavior still has hope, but Cuba has to want to submit it, which they haven't in three years.
I hope Azerbaijan goes with "Nabat," which is extraordinary.
OMG. i just got so confused by this thread. PUERTO RICO i meant. CUBA can compete. But i fear they did not actually do the paperwork for Behavior since we have heard nothing.
We want to see more of The Philippines entry Norte: End of History! It is a really great film!
Argentina has 2 wins, not 1! (The Official Story and The Secret in their Eyes)
Singapore announced the Malay movie Sayang Disayang will represent the country for the Oscars race.
https://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/news/singapore-sends-sayang-disayang-oscars-041300053.html
Jeff - that's already listed on the chart
According to the Variety website, Australia is going with "Charlie's Country."