TIFF ’24: Conviction of Character in “Quisling – The Final Days”

By Abe Friedtanzer

Those with unshakable principles are typically fascinating subjects for film and television, even if those principles contrast sharply with what audiences believe to be right and moral. In the opening scene of Quisling – The Final Days, Vidkun Quisling (Gard B. Eidsvold), the minister president of Norway during the Nazi occupation, announces the death of Adolf Hitler over the radio and frames it as a great loss for the nation. His arrest and imprisonment by the new government follow swiftly, and he remains steadfast that he did the right thing at every turn throughout the entire ill-fated process…

Click to read more ...

First & Last 037 (...and our impatience)

Can you guess the movie from its first and last shot?

I think you know how much I elsker this movie if you've guessed it already. The answer is after the jump...

Click to read more ...

7 More Films (Some Surprises) Join the International Oscar Race

by Nathaniel R

While Denmark and Germany have been Oscar's two favourite countries in the past 20 or so years, they weren't always the biggest draws. Four traditionally powerhouse countries in the International Oscar Race -- France, Italy, Sweden, and Spain -- haven't had as much consistent pull of late but underestimate them at your own peril. All four have now announced their horses for the Oscars so it's an exciting week for news in this category. And they weren't the only countries to share their golden news this week. The charts are updated but let's talk about 7 of the new submissions... 

Click to read more ...

TIFF '23: The Best International Film Oscar Race

by Cláudio Alves

The Toronto International Film Festival represents an excellent opportunity to get in touch with cinema from all over the world. For Oscar obsessives, it provides a great chance to catch up with Best International Film submissions, especially as they're announced throughout the festival. I already covered some of them – Australia's Shayda, Bhutan's The Monk and the Gun, Brazil's Pictures of Ghosts, Chile's The Settlers, Finland's Fallen Leaves, Germany's The Teachers' Lounge, Romania's Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, South Korea's Concrete Utopia, and Turkey's About Dry Grasses. However, there are still some more TIFF titles to review.

They are the Netherlands's Sweet Dreams, Tunisia's Four Daughters, and Morocco's The Mother of All Lies. Though they haven't been officially selected, I also saw two of Norway's three finalists, A Happy Day and Songs of Earth…

Click to read more ...

Norway's Oscar Submission Finalists

by Nathaniel R

Since we last discussed the Best International Feature Film four more official submissions have been announced from Egypt, Nepal, Slovakia, and Ukraine which you can read about on those charts (click on the country names) with several more to follow since oft-nominated countries like Spain, Italy, France, and Sweden are all announcing in the next few days. Tonight though, one of my favourite topics: Norway! As longtime readers know I once lived there and was once fluent in Norwegian. Those days are long long gone but I still like to watch Norwegian movies and television and try to turn off the subtitles on occassion.

Norway has announced three finalists for their submission: Let the River Flow, A Happy Day, and Songs of Earth...

Click to read more ...