The Nine Foreign Film Finalists for Oscar
Friday, December 16, 2016 at 12:09PM The Academy's complicated process in nominating for Best Foreign Language Film is nearing completion. Last night they winnowed down the 85 film list to a more manageable 9 films. Those 9 will screen for selected panels in multiple cities and 5 nominees will be determined. A few observations and trivia notes about the list after the jump...
- Australia, “Tanna,” Bentley Dean, Martin Butler, directors
- Canada, “It’s Only the End of the World,” Xavier Dolan, director
- Denmark, “Land of Mine,” Martin Zandvliet, director
- Germany, “Toni Erdmann,” Maren Ade, director
- Iran, “The Salesman,” Asghar Farhadi, director
- Norway, “The King’s Choice,” Erik Poppe, director
- Russia, “Paradise,” Andrei Konchalovsky, director
- Sweden, “A Man Called Ove,” Hannes Holm, director
- Switzerland, “My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras, director
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SAVES
Let the speculation begin. Which three films did they save? Given the popularity of Germany's entry for months it seems unlikely that it was an executive committee save. The mainstream appeal of Sweden's comedy also theoretically rules that one out and we already know Oscar likes Asghar Farhadi's work and World War II trues stories so Iran, Norway, and Denmark probably didn't need the help. Everyone but critics seem to enjoy Xavier Dolan's new film. So maybe these three: Australia's Tanna, Russia's Paradise, and Switzerland's My Life as Zucchini? What'cha think?
SCANDINAVIA
The Academy was especially kind to Scandinavia this year giving them 33% of the finalist list. Denmark and Norway's entries are both true stories about World War II, one of Oscar's all time favorite genres, and Sweden's is on the hot topic of immigration, though its treated in comic fashion. A Man Called Ove, for what it's worth, is one of the biggest arthouse hits of the year in the US, grossing more than Poland's surprise hit Ida did a couple of years ago.
TIME TO TINKER WITH THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OR THE FINALIST PROCESS?
Though the new system has definitely upped the quality of the nominees in the past handful of years, it's been very clear that this group within the Academy also needs to diversify. They desperately need to stop shunning Asian films, as we've consistently mentioned, which almost never make it despite healthy film industries and sometimes strong submissions. The Academy's preference for Western European films over everything else has been well documented but there are other regions of the world that produce fine films.
DOLAN FINALLY
Figures that when critics finally turn against their boy wonder Xavier Dolan, after showering him with praise for years, the industry decides to rally behind him with prizes at Cannes and now the finalist list for the Oscar. It's a pity that this didn't happen for Mommy which absolutely deserved to compete against Ida and Wild Tales in 2014.
some of the highest profile titles were axed
CLEARING THE WAY FOR A TONI ERDMANN WIN?
There's really nothing to stop Germany's popular Toni Erdmann from taking this whole thing now that most of the presumed top competition has been axed from the category. The highest profile buzzy films that didn't make the top six of the general committee and weren't saved by the executive committee (they get three choices) were France's Elle starring Isabelle Huppert which recently won the Critics Choice Award, Italy's Fire at Sea which had high profile Hollywood fans campaigning for it like Meryl Streep, Chile's Neruda from Pablo Larraîn just nominated for the Golden Globe, and Spain's Julieta from the internationally beloved auteur Pedro Almodóvar.
BOX OFFICE GAMBLES
Each year several contenders bank on Oscar nominations to support their box office runs, planning their initial bow or their expansion around the end of January. It's always a dangerous game. This year that backfired for Spain's Julieta (late December), Chile's Neruda (opening today), and Belgium's The Ardennes (January). Sometimes releases are even cancelled when that happens though obviously Julieta is safe because Almodóvar is a box office draw whether or not Oscar is in play. The gamble paid off for Iran's The Salesman (January), and Denmark's Land of Mine (February) though it should be noted that box office fates of foreign films rarely closely reflect their Oscar fortunes.
FEW IN THE US HAVE SEEN THEM
Only two of these films have opened in regular release in the US (to date). Sweden's A Man Called Ove is a hit with a $3 million gross and counting. Australia's Tanna grossed just $5,000 in a short run. It was a rough year for the films that dared to open in the traditional way since almost or maybe none of them will be nominated (which is always upsetting)
PREDICTIONS?
Toni Erdmann is now a lock because the people who love it are obsessed with it and wouldn't have it anywhere but #1 on their ballots. Given the strong films left out of the running, I'd be very surprised to see Denmark's riveting Land of Mine left out because you have to have World War II in there somewhere. Farhadi's The Salesmen will likely factor in, too. That leaves a possibly intense battle for two spots for the other six films to fight over.
ANIMATION!
Only one animated film has ever been nominated in this category, the harrowing war memoir Waltz With Bashir (2008) though most years these days have at least one animated submission. My Life as a Zucchini is also eligible for the animated feature category and was just nominated for the Golden Globe for Animated Feature so their campaign is going well. Good luck getting American audiences to see this one, though, since they have such resistance to animation being used outside of the action/comedy or comedy/musical realm. My Life as a Zucchini is an often quite sad and frank look at abandoned and abused children (though it has sweet funny moments, too).
Thoughts? Agony? Happiness? Reveal them in the comments.
Reader Comments (41)
The Academy's preference for Western European films over everything else has been well documented but there are other regions of the world that produce fine films.
Does it matter when you have to read your movie to comprehend it? Because you're reading your movie your choices are going to lean towards things that are recognizable.
#foreignbranchsowhite
The Oscars should just really rename its Best Foreign Language Film category the Best European Film (and the Occasional Fluke) category. As usual, Asian and African films barely exist to the Academy. Their call for diversity has not reached this desert.
I've already read an article demanding to rearrange the whole process. Excessive, I know, but I honestly don't see the benefits of publishing the shortlist.
I'm sad for Verhoeven. His wicked wit deserved recognition. To shoot that movie at his age!
I'm pleased with the Julieta snub. We must not indulge him. Dear Pedro, stop making pretentious movies just to win la Palme d'Or.
They never choose from latin america, also. The excpetion is when they don't have a choice (alas Wild Tales)
My predictions (mostly sight unseen): Australia, Canada, Germany, Iran and Norway.
Possibly Switzerland, but that double eligibility confuses me.
But Sweden (box office) and Russia (thematically speaking) would both seem likely, but this year? Russia? We'll see.
Nathaniel, thank you so much for your thorough ongoing coverage of this category.
I'm sorry that Fire at Sea didn't make the cut. It's excellent. I really hope it gets nominated for Documentary Feature. Can't wait to see Elle too - and Isabelle Huppert may still be nominated, so all is not lost.
And, although I am a European, I do think this category so often skews far too European. But I don't think the process needs rethiniking. Recent years have been very good in this category. They just need to lean a little less European.
But congratulations to all the shortlistees. Looking forward to seeing these films if/when I can.
My predictions for the final five, as things stand: Denmark, Germany, Iran, Norway, Switzerland.
Kelly -- well not exactly. Both Australia and Iran's entry are not white films. I think Iran is definitely getting nominated. Not so sure about Australia. I wish i had been able to catch it but it seemed like it only played in NYC at one time of the day at one theater for about 4 days or something. I missed it.
/3rtful -- i can't speak for other people but i never even notice i'm reading when I watch foreign films. It's as natural as regular movie watching (now that they fixed the old school problem of white text on sometimes white screens that could mess you up in ye olden times of the 80s and 90s)
Movie watching is a passive exercise. But foreign movie watching is the opposite for me. I can only watch them with my absolute attention.
Thanks for all your coverage on the foreign race.
I'm thrilled that Land of Mine, A Man Called Ove and Toni Erdmann made the final 9. I'm disappointed that From Afar (Venezuela) didn't make it.
I didn't like Tanna, It's Only the End of the World nor the The Salesman.
I really hope to see Switzerland, Russia and Norway soon.
I wouldn't be so sure about Toni Erdmann's place in the race. It's loved... by critics and Europeans. When I was at NYFF, it seemingly left a lot of shrugs from more casual and older filmgoers. Not to mention that it is extremely long. I wouldn't be surprised if it had to be saved by the Executive Committee.
Most importantly, Land of Mine which I saw this week in NY, is handsomely made, features attractive young men (who sorta play as kids-- a favorite subject of FL voters), is about WWII (even more of a favorite of the voters), and is exceptionally tense. If there were a line in Vegas on this race, my money would be on it.
Also of note: this year, only 37 out of 85 submissions were from Europe. Yet for each of the past five years, the shortlist has included six or seven European films. As Trump would say, "Sad!"
/3rtful -- i dont really understand this from Americans. More and more TV shows that people love feature foreign languages fairly regularly with subtitles and people dont seem to mind.
If the executive committee isn't going to use their power to "save" films the public cares about "Elle"/"Julieta" they should damn well use it to broaden the nominees beyond Europe. Sad.
UGH!!
Yay that Toni Erdmann managed to get in... but of COURSE peak Huppert, masterful Anglo-Iranian horror and excellent Almodovar miss out in favour of that portentous manly Danish sleeping pill and the latest Dolan abortion.
In fact I wouldn't be so confident that Erdmann made it in without the committee's help. While I remain surprised at how wide the film's appeal has turned out to be - I am 95% sure that this appeal would not extend to the Curtises and Borgnines (or at least their still-surviving equivalents) of Ampass. They like their narratives far more traditional, neater and more economical. There's no way they would've kept watching past the petits-fours scene, for example. But even before then they would've been turned off by the free-form tone and structure and ambiguity. Not to mention the length and non-traditionally likable protagonist (referring to the daughter here, rather than the father).
I'm almost certain that was one of the salvaged films and that's partly why the likes of Elle, Julieta and Neruda didn't make it in. If the committee had to spare one of their three slots for Erdmann then naturally there would be less room for the remaining critical darlings.
For all my bitching re. Dolan and the traditional foreign film voter, I'm pretty confident that was the second of the committee's selections. And Zucchini would've been the third. It's lovely but too 'small' to appeal to the people who rejected Persepolis (not to mention 4 Months and - according to heavy rumours - Son of Saul).
I truly think Toni Erdmann was a committee save. The fact that the Cannes jury of industry types shunned it despite the raves shows that it wasn't necessarily their cup of tea. Heck, even the large group of Critics Choice voters went with the more divisive Elle for their winner.
The saves I think were: Toni Erdmann, Tanna (to improve diversity), Paradise (artsy pick). Zucchini was probably mainstream enough to get in on its own.
And I agree with Kelly Garrett. The overwhelming love for European films every year seems to be symptomatic of the same #OscarsSoWhite problem to me. And this can't really be fixed as easily, because this category relies on volunteers (probably a lot of old retired white people with time to spare).
Perhaps they should look at doing a shortlist of 2 or 3 films representing each continent and the final 5 nominees representing the 5 foreign continents (excluding North America and Antarctica)? Would get a truly global list of nominees this way every year but Europe won't like it!
Vanya, I wouldn't like your proposed strategy! I'm all for geographic diversity, but not if it means that exceptional films are left out. This year, for instance, Elle and Toni both deserved nominations!
I'd be more likely to favor a sort of geographic affirmative action-- allowing exceptional European films in, but trying to diversify the list when quality is equivocal. The shortlist really should be representative of the regional breakdown of the submissions, plus or minus a film (to account for the fact that certain regions produce more polished films).
(As an aside, I'm very confused by the love I kept hearing for Julieta. I thought the word from Cannes was that it wasn't that great. Americans seem to love it.)
Vanya, you can't exclude (French-speaking) Canada!
Land Of Mine will definitely be nominted -
Goran, I can't believe you found it sleep inducing -
if anything, it's Julietta that's sleep inducing - not one striking image in the entire movie, save for the stag outside the train compartment, and unengaging story, unengaging characters - I'm glad Julietta was snubbed.
Julietta is Almodóvar on auto-pilot - I wish he would make more movies in the vein of The Skin I Live In, possibly his best ever.
I like Dolan (I agree that "Mommy" should have been nominated) and I love animated films. But the idea of having "It's only the end of the world" and "My life as a Zucchini" instead of "Elle" and "Julieta" really pisses me off. Damn, both "Elle" and "Julieta" should be nominees and they are even not among the finalists!
At least, not everything is lost with Huppert nomination. Think that precisely Penélope Cruz was nominated for "Volver" although the film did not make the cut (for the nomination, it was in the shortlist nonetheless)...
@Peggy Sue:
I missed Javiern Bardem in Biutiful from the list.
I think it will help Dolan's artistry if we don't feed into the myth that he somehow had made a movie that is secretly good in his conception but terrible in execution. The movie's quality is completely lost on anyone who watches it but the director insists we all misunderstood it and that somehow does not affect its quality. and now a potential Oscar nomination.
See, this is where things get tricky. I would have loved ELLE to get in as much as the next person, but when we start talking about which films "deserve" to get in people almost always go exclusively to the titles they a) already know, b) are made by or with famous people. Notice the movies everybody is going to? Elle, Julieta, Neruda... all directed by or starring famous people. Because they are recognizable. Because most people haven't *seen* all the actual contenders and never will. My favourite foreign language film of the year wasn't even submitted (the other Isabelle Huppert movie, THINGS TO COME). And I know JULIETA is not one of the nine best foreign language films of the year.
All the people say "ELLE WAS SNUBBED"... have they even seen all nine of these films? I doubt it. I'm sure ELLE is better than some of them, at least, but how cool is it that we could get a nomination roster with
a) an animated film
b) the first Australian production ever
c) another recognition of Iran's excellent film industry, and the first ever filmed entirely on Vanuatu
d) Toni Erdmann, a three-hour existential comedy
TANNA is such a great little movie, with incredible cinematography, excellent music, wonderful performances, and a deep, rich back-story. I hope it gets nominated, and not just out of Australian pride, because if there's one thing the Academy - and people in general - flock to less than Asian cinema, it's Pacific/South East Asian cinema.
Glenn
Why not Tanna AND Elle? There are 9 slots for Chrsit-sakes!
"Glad to see that Xavier Dolan's "strict top" interview got him onto the Oscar shortlist for Foreign Language Film." Joe Reid.
Perfect!!
I'm pretty sure, that the special committe's choices had to be at least Germany's Toni Erdmann and Denmark's Land of mine, otherwise Elle and Neruda would be on this list. The question is, which was the third choice? My guess is that it's either Iran, which had one of the loudest buzz, or Russia's Paradise, due to it's win in Venice.
Glenn, yes and no. You're right that none of us have seen all the movies. In fact, I doubt anyone in the entire world has. (I know of one FL voter who is religious about seeing them and even he hasn't seen them all.) So you're right that I can't be 100% sure that Elle should be in the top 9 of the 85 submitted films.
*However,* I have seen seven of the submissions, including two in this shortlist, and I feel that Elle was better than them. On top of this, I've seen another 60ish films from 2016 and Elle remains my #1 film of the year in any language. So I don't think it's too presumptuous for me to assume that Elle belonged on this list.
Moreover, is there any Oscar category where everyone has seen all the contenders? Not seeing every eligible film doesn't disqualify one from having an opinion on say, Best Picture, so why should not having seen all 85 Foreign contenders disqualify one from having an opinion on the outcome in Best Foreign Language Film?
This category is almost as much of a joke as Original Song.
Tanna! What a stayer it is. It feels like it has been on the scene forever. I saw it in the DVD bargain bin at Hub in Newtwon earlier this year! I am really happy for all of the peeps involved with it. In a way it sort of makes up for 10 Canoes missing out a few years back.
Wait, I just looked up 10 Canoes and it came out a decade ago, not a few years ago! Time flies.
Glenn, I don't want to say anything against Tanna out of my own minimal Australian pride. But there is just absolutely no way I will believe you're not being swayed by your own Australian pride.
To imply it's somehow richer, more rewarding filmmaking than Elle or Julieta or Neruda or Under the Shadow or hell, even Chevalier or From the Other Side or Houston We Have a Problem is bull. But at least the Tanna crew will get a career boost (which Verhoeven/Almodovar etc. don't remotely need) and especially considering how tokenistic the foreign film category tends to be, that's a plus.
Oh and by the way, I've seen 6 of the shortlist and 10+ of the remainder, so please don't assume people like me who complain about the selection are uninformed just because they disagree with you.
PS. Nathaniel, I just took a look at your very helpful list of each country's submissions. For what it's worth, it's actually not that impossible to attribute Yugoslav nominees to current existing countries. Then again, it's also not very productive. Never mind ;)
Also, while I completely and passionately agree that the routine exclusion of non-European submissions is shameful - I'm just as completely and passionately angry that the likes of The Handmaiden aren't even eligible (!!). And then there's Aquarius, Things to Come etc etc
If Ampass makes a rule change - I think the best one they could make is to allow each foreign film released in L.A. during the year to compete alongside the various national submissions. Because this is otherwise a tad ludicrous. (Though a part of me is also worried that my suggested alternative would lead to an all-French/German/Israeli/Italian slate so hell, what do I know...)
Nathaniel, half my comments are getting blocked again
Elle is out!!??? O no, the movie might b too controversial for the still conservative Oscars committee....seriously worrying abt Huppert's chance of a nom
South Korea messed themselves up by not submitting The Handmaiden. What a shame.
I think It's Only the End of the World is the most mature work of Dolan's, it deserves the nomination.
Still looking forward to "Neruda." Gael Garcia Bernal is one of my favorite actors and I don't know why he has been unloved come Oscar time. He continues to choose challenging projects and hasn't sold out as he very well could have over the last decade. Seriously under appreciated artist.
Goran -- sorry. I went in and fixed current thing. but i'll keep a closer eye. thanks for lettting me know.
Hav -- the way the Oscars ignore Asian films though, maybe they would have stiffed The Handmaiden anyway? They never nominate South Korea :(
Patryk -- the snub of Neruda here really hurts. It's so good. People will see right about now in theaters. At least it got the Globe nod.
Despite being a gay man, I've found every single one of Dolan's films to be highly overrated by everyone in sight. Maybe I'll actually like this one.
I wish the foreign-language film category will be about choosing the best foreign-language film regardless of nationality. If they have 2 Italian films in the top 5, so be it. The whole idea of having just one film represent a country means the national committees selecting their country's entry may overlook another film that may strike a chord with other people more than the official one.
Having said that, choosing the best among a diverse set of national film entries is very subjective and people will definitely feel outraged if their personal choices are not chosen. Beyond the textual meanings of film, I think it's probably the political economy of films that might be at work in the choice for the nominated films: what film gets better mileage from the press, what human-interest story surrounds the creation of the film, what personal/institutional hardship the filmmaker underwent to make the film, and how culturally-specific topics can be easily filtered and digested and proclaimed as "a film with universal appeal."
For me though, a film's greatness is not about netting awards (though it helps in other ways), but it's longevity as a film discussion topic among cinephiles long after the film concludes its theatrical run. Some films don't age well after a few years following their wins; others 'age better' after a few decades; others develop staunch and committed followers. I like 'misunderstood' films (broadly defined) that develop a cult following rather than the commercial and artistic successes that rarely get discussed after a period of time. I like being in midnight film shows because of the camaraderie (even in disagreements) fostered by collectively watching 'difficult'/polarizing/ahead of their time films. Although I get the appeal of commercial films, I'd rather spend my money on films that are emotionally/psychologically challenging to watch. In short, the ones that will never in their lifetimes will get awards.
Owl -- i understand this impulse... but as for the "if they have 2 Italian films..." business. That would make the Oscars infinitely less enjoyable with foreign film recognition because they already have such a pronounced Western European bias. It would be even worse if France and Germany could have the whole category to themselves for example.