Austria's "Joy" is out of the Oscar race

by Cláudio Alves

...And then there were 91...

As we predicted back when Nigeria's Oscar submission was disqualified from the Best International Feature race, the same fate has befallen Austria's Joy. Despite some German dialogue, most of the film is in English, due to the fact it tells the story of Nigerian immigrants living in Europe. After all, Nigeria's official language is English. Once again, such news makes us ask ourselves if this is a fair predicament. One thing's for sure – it's ridiculous that the Academy doesn't vet the country's submissions before announcing the list of eligible films. It'd certainly avoid a great deal of scandal.

Even if it's amply justifiable, such disqualification is unfortunate, even a bit sad, because Joy's an achingly poignant triumph. The sort which deserves to be celebrated by the Academy, but seldomly is…

Click to read more ...

"Pain and Glory" leads the European Film Award Nominations

by Nathaniel R

The European Film Awards will be held in Berlin in just one month (December 7th) and big names are nominated: Pedro Almodóvar, Antonio Banderas, Yorgos Lanthimos, Olivia Colman, Roman Polanski, and more. But the question is who will actually attend and who will win? The Oscar submitted titles from Spain (Pain and Glory) and Italy (The Traitor) lead the nominations along with Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy from France. Almodóvar is of course an old favourite of the EFAs. With the Pain & Glory nominations he's now up to 22 EFA nominations (he's won 6 times plus received a special honor). His movies have won the top prize twice (All About My Mother and Talk To Her) while Volver won an "audience" version of Best Film, too. 

A full list of nominations with more comments is after the jump...

Click to read more ...

How to fix the Best International Film category?

by Cláudio Alves

This year, the Best International Film category celebrated a record-setting number of submissions - 93 in total. 2019 has also been marked by the renaming of the award, which was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, as well as some new rules that slightly change the voting process. However, one of the unhappiest yearly traditions associated with this honor refuses to go away. Once more, some films are being disqualified.

Nigeria's Lionheart isn't eligible for the Oscar. This is particularly terrible when one considers it's the first submission from one of the few African nations with a thriving film industry. Not surprisingly, the decision has generated quite a bit of controversy, with such renowned filmmakers as Ava DuVernay criticizing it…

Click to read more ...

Best International Feature: New Rules, New Possibilities

by Cláudio Alves

Will the new rules booster Parasite's Oscar chances?

As we get closer to the peak of Awards Season, the Academy has been divulging new rules and approaches to their voting process. Most of the changes have to do with online accessibility to screeners, making it easier for the voters to have seen the films before sending in their ballots. One of the categories most affected by these changes is that of the recently renamed Best International Feature Oscar.

For one, the shortlist, which will be announced on December 16th, has been expanded from 9 to 10 films. Voters who want to help delineate this selection will have to watch at least 15 of the record-breaking 93 submitted features. Seven finalists will be selected by these voters, while the other three will be “saved” by a special committee.

That’s hardly different from the previous process. The relatively big change happens after the shortlist has been decided…

Click to read more ...

How had I never seen... "Farewell My Concubine" (1993)

In this new series, members of Team Film Experience watch and share their reactions to classic films they’ve never seen. 

by Tim Brayton

I wish there was a good reason why it took me 26 years to catch up with Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine, co-winner of the 1993 Palme d'Or, two-time Oscar nominee for Best Cinematography and Best Foreign-Language Film, and the film that did more than probably any other single title to present Chinese art cinema to international audiences in the 1990s. Instead, I only have a very terrible reason: it's 171 minutes long, and I never quite managed to make it my top priority in those moments when I had three uninterrupted hours.

To the surprise of nobody, including myself, that turns out to have been a terrible mistake. As long as the film is – and I'd be fibbing if I said that I never once felt that running time – it's unquestionably filling every last one of those minutes with a whole lot of immensely appealing stuff. That Best Cinematography nomination wasn't for show: this is an unbelievably lavish epic of 20th Century history, surely one of the most gorgeous motion pictures of its decade...

Click to read more ...