Foreign Watch: Two Oscar Favorites Join the Fray
Friday, September 30, 2016 at 8:40PM We've been faithfully updating the Oscar charts daily to reflect the submissions in one of our favorite categories. We'd call it our favorite but then how would Cinematography, Production Design, both Actress categories, and Costume Design feel? The deadline for submission is just a few days away so in a week or two the Academy will make the list official. Generally speaking, there are one or two surprises from our charts once they do -- a sudden addition or replacement and maybe a single disqualification. But if this list holds we are just short of the all time record number. The are currently 82 submissions, which is one shy of the record from 2014 (the Ida year).
90 year old legend Andrezj Wajda with his film trophies
Among the newly announced films are After Image, a biopic of an avant garde artist, by Andrzej Wajda for Poland and The Idol, the true story of a man who competed on "Arab Idol," from Hany Abu-Assad of Palestine. Oscar loves these two directors so they're surely threats for the finalist list. Poland has submitted films by Honorary Oscar winner Andrzej Wajda a total of nine times in their history and four of those were nominated: The Promised Land in 1975, The Maids of Wilco in 1979, Man of Iron in 1981, and Katyn in 2007. Meanwhile both of Palestine's nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category come from Hany Abu-Assad: Paradise Now in 2005 and Omar in 2013. Can these men work their Oscar-hooking magic again?
Updates to the charts (part 1, part 2, part 3) also include new contenders from Argentina, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Turkey.
Reader Comments (8)
Saw Elle today. I had so much fun. Clearly not as much as Huppert who's having a ball. I bet she would have paid to play that woman.
The day when the Academy posts the foreign film shortlist is going to be dramatic.
Wajda's first name is AndrZEj not AndrEZj. I'd thought that you just misspelled but the same error is repeated four times on this page so...
"The Idol" is terrible. Such an awful film, really, I don't know how he could have directed such a disaster. No way it's going to be nominated.
someone -- fixed. thank you.
stefano -- well i guess it is divisive. i'm noticing people calling it either heartwarming and great or cheap and cliche-filled. :)
peggy sue -- yay. so glad you liked it.
The Idol was ok. I absolutely loved From Afar, Venezuela's pick.
I thought Poland would go with Anne Fontaine's THE INNOCENTS. Maybe they thought they were trying their luck with another film about nuns and WWII.
Glenn -- The Innocents made France's finalist list so maybe it wasn't Polish enough for Poland?
Andrzej Wajda passed away today at the age of 90.