Roundup: Is the foreign-language category still broken?
Also: Haneke out of home awards, and an Oscar for the director of 'Contraband?'
Lea Seydoux in "Sister."
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The Best Foreign Language Film race so far has proceeded with a minimum of the usual controversy: most countries' selections were met with approval, and the Academy's eventual shortlist is a credible one. Still, dissatisfaction lingers, whether it's with the overwhelmingly European slant of this year's shortlist, or the one-film-per-country rule. Mark Olsen speaks to the directors and distributors of this year's shortlisted films to get their take on the fundamentally flawed award. Jeff Lipsky, head of "Sister" distributor Adopt Films has this to say: "The category is called best foreign language film, not best foreign language film as selected by an overly politicized committee in every nation of the world." (He also describes the widespread presumption that "Amour" is going to win an "inexplicable manifest avalanche.") [LA Times]
Michael Haneke has withdrawn "Amour" from contention at the Austrian Film Awards: it was already ineligible in several categories, and he claims he wants other filmmakers to have a greater chance of being recognized. [The Guardian]
Steve Pond claims Sally Field's "killer speech" at the Palm Springs festival awards gala could help her challenge Anne Hathaway for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. [The Wrap]
Andrew O'Hehir, who's been on great form lately, evaluates "Lincoln" and "Django Unchained" relative to the "new Civil War" he claims is erupting in the US. [Salon]
Anne Thompson talks to composer Thomas Newman: as "Skyfall" gathers momentum, could he nab his 11th Oscar nomination? [Thompson on Hollywood]
Following last year's triumph with "The Artist," the French continue to have a significant presence in this year's awards season. Scott Feinberg discusses. [Hollywood Reporter]
Geoffrey Macnab examines just how important awards attention is for documentaries still seeking an audience. [Screen Daily]
Tom Stempel evaluates "Lincoln," "Flight," "Skyfall" and indie outsider "Middle of Nowhere" from a screenwriting perspective. [The House Next Door]
Nathaniel Rogers considers the waterlogged narratives of many of this year's Oscar contenders, culminating in a discussion of two Scandinavian maritime tales in the running for Best Foreign Language Film. [The Film Experience]
Here's a connection few have picked up on: Baltasar Kormakur, the Icelanic director of one of those films, "The Deep," also helmed last year's Mark Wahlberg thriller "Contraband" (itself a remake of an Icelandic thriller Kormakur produced). [The Carpetbagger]
2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupEvan
January 7, 2013 at 10:02AM EST Reply to CommentWhat's your take on the "Why haven't any Asian films been nominated since Departures?" debate, Guy? I'm all for spreading the wealth, but looking at the past few years of submissions, I can't help but to think that the number of acclaimed Asian films in general is a tiny fraction of the number of acclaimed submitted European films.
Guy Lodge Well, for starters, as a reader quite correctly pointed out the other day, "A Separation" is an Asian film. But even if we limit the question to East Asian films, I can see both sides of the discussion. It's a shame, but it does seem that there have been fewer Asian breakouts on the festival circuit -- which may be the fault of festival programmers as much as anything. This year, of the Asian submissions, only "Pieta" had much of an international profile -- and it's a divisive genre film.
January 7, 2013 at 10:54AM ESTUltimately, as much as we'd like the category to be as diverse and inclusive as possible, I wouldn't want anything approaching quotas. I'm glad, for example, that the executive committee doesn't think, "Oh, we need an Asian film. Let's add 'Pieta'." That'd be patronising.
Evan Ha- I had forgotten A Separation (though I did recall Footnote and Ajami).
January 7, 2013 at 12:12PM ESTBut I agree that quotas in the shortlist or nominations would be a bad thing. I would favor a change in the submissions-stage quotas though, giving the world's largest film industries an additional one or two submissions. In 2006, only 11 countries produced more than 100 films... if you limited the granting of an additional submission to countries that meet that benchmark, you wouldn't be adding that much more of a strain on the system.
meep
January 7, 2013 at 10:48AM EST Reply to CommentPoor prolific Thomas Newman. All those nominations and no wins.
daveylo He joins the company of Morricone (who finally got a special award) and Desplat.
January 7, 2013 at 11:28AM ESTLiz I love Thomas Newman, and it makes me a little sad that he's never won. I remember in 2007 when Errol Morris put together that short film that featured clips of the nominees talking or being interviewed, he said to Newman, "So you've lost eight times before, correct?" And Newman corrected him with, "Seven times. Tonight will be my eighth time."
January 7, 2013 at 12:25PM ESTAww.
GlennAU His score for Skyfall is not good though. Certainly not up to his high standards.
January 7, 2013 at 11:00PM ESTJasper
January 7, 2013 at 11:04AM EST Reply to CommentThe foreign language award is always going to be peculiar. It has the rules in place so that the really small films have a chance (something like Kenya's Nairobi Half Life would never, ever have been seen otherwise), but it also limits as many films as it enables (Rust and Bone, for example).
What I find interesting about the selection this year is that Mungui has a film in the running. I keep having this idea that Beyond the Hills will get nominated as something of an "I'm sorry" nomination. Considering the fact that 4 Months... was the film that brought forth the executive committee, essentially telling the foreign language voters that they have bad taste, they may feel obligated to vote for it. Of course, this is purely speculative, and probably more hopeful than realistic.