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.