Oscar's Foreign Race Heats Up With Russian Controversy
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 11:08AM Blow the horn. The nifty annual charts for Oscar's Foreign Language Film competition are up. With 25 films announced (26 if you count Iran's confusing "did they or didn't they?" issues with their internationally acclaimed marital drama A Separation) we're nearing the halfway mark of the list which usually tops out somewhere around 65 films.
Brazil, Bulgaria and Lithuania have announced
Current predictions are for fun speculation only since we don't even have half the official list. Let's not get too crazy in thinking we know how this plays out; this category often surprises both with submission choices and finalists. (Especially with their recent Executive Committee switcheroo powers. That must be how Dogtooth made it last year!)
Albania to Italy the most recent additions are Brazil's Rio slums crime drama Elite Squad 2, Bulgaria's Tilt which seems a little rock and roll / adolescent for Oscar (here's the trailer) and Colombia's The Colors of the Mountain.
Italy to Vietnam one new addition is a father/daughter drama from Lithuania called Back in Your Arms which takes place in the 60s but the backstory is very World War II. I want to see this ... I mean, it even has dance numbers!
RUSSIA has also announced...
When Nikita Mikhalov, the director and star of the very popular Russian Oscar winner Burnt by the Sun (1994) announced he was making the sequel some time ago I immediately predicted that a future nomination was sewn up. But beware of 'looks unbeatable on paper.' Burnt by The Sun 2: Citadel met with surprisingly rough reviews when it hit Cannes and was an expensive box office failure at home.
The controversy doesn't end there. Here's a quote from a recent Guardian article on this selection:
Vladimir Menshov, the chairman of the country's Oscars committee, has publicly called on Mikhalkov to withdraw his film. Apart from anything else, he said, there was something "inappropriate" about the veteran film-maker, who is a member of the committee, having put his own movie forward for consideration.
"This film, which came out in May, had an absolute critical drubbing ... it was never shown anywhere internationally," Menshov told Echo of Moscow radio on Tuesday. "And most importantly, it was a catastrophe at the box office."
Burnt by the Sun (1994), Oscar WinnerOn the other hand if an entire committe is making the decision, why shouldn't one mamber who is a working filmmaker be able to submit their films as long as they don't have deciding power? It'll be interesting to see if Oscar's love for the original transfers. It did provide a memorable moment on the telecast with the director and his adorable daughter Nadezhda (both stars of the film). Or will the Academy give this sequel the cold shoulder that it's receiving elsewhere.
Have you ever seen Burnt by the Sun?
Are you glad to see the charts back?
Oscars (11), Russia, foreign films
Reader Comments (16)
I think you can assume 26 now. The final decision was announced on September 16th that A Separation is sent to the Oscars.
Iran's biggest national news outlet put the new on its website.
(In English) http://english.irib.ir/radioculture/art/cinema/item/78915-farhadi-film-to-represent-iran-in-oscars
And Farabi foundation which is the committee that chooses the film every year announced it on their website too.
Amir -- but wasn't the statement that this wasn't official after the 16th?
or do i have my dates screwed up.
The thing is, the original news was posted on Tehran Times only (an English language publication) and none of the Farsi outlets published it. And the Farabi foundation denied the selection, saying they'll announce their final decision by the end of the week. Then on their own website, they announced on Friday that they chose A Separation.
Tehran Times is also kinda dubious, but now the news is all over the place. (BBC, IRIB, etc.)
Unless the committee hates Farhadi enough to withdraw Iran from this year's race altogether, his film will be in the race.
I'm trying to see if Google Translate can work on Farsi webpages and the translations are really incomprehensible. I'll post the links anyway, in case you know a better translator.
This is Farabi's original post that denied the selection: (http://www.fcf.ir/pe/the-news/pub-news/967-miralayi-jodayi-nader-az-asimin.html)
This is the official press release from 4 days later that announces the final selection: http://www.fcf.ir/pe/the-news/pub-news/972-oscar.html
I'll be REALLY surprised if anything changes at this point.
All i know is that A Separation's facebook page said that they were selected, lol. My predictions are Germany (executive committee selection), Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Poland. Although I guess it's a bit mid-east centric.
The Canadian choice should be announced shortly. The top candidates seem to be "Monsieur Lazhar" (which won as best Canadian feature at TIFF), "Café de Flore" (latest film by Jean-Marc Vallée, and his first French film since "C.R.A.Z.Y."), and "Starbuck."
If it is "Monsieur Lazhar," it will need a qualifying run, since it's not opening in Québec cinemas until 28 October.
amir and bill thanks for the info.
jack -- good to know. and yes, i doubt they'd go that middle eastern for the bulk of the shortlist. but all three do seem like promising entries
I should have waited a few minutes. It's now official: Canada's choice is "Monsieur Lazhar."
http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/news/releases/2011/09/21/telefilm-canada-announces-philippe-falardeau-s-monsieur-lazhar-canada-s-sel
No mention in the press release as to where they'll do the qualifying run, but it will likely be someplace relatively obscure. When they had to do one for Denys Arcand's "L'âge des tenèbres," they showed it for a week in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Hmm... I had thought "Elena" would be the Russian selection so I guess it's back to the drawing board for my ninth shortlist slot. The other eight I imagine will make it are: Finland, Germany (like Jack, I imagine it'll be an ExCom selection), Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico if they choose Miss Bala (ExCom), Poland, and Spain if they choose the Almodovar.
That feels like a really solid batch so clearly I'll be wrong...
I was not a fan of the first one but I remember a strong performance by Oleg Menchikhov.
Actually, I was forced to watch Burnt by the Sun in college by my Russian political science course! I swear every day of that class began with "OMG! Today's lesson has so much symbolism with what happened in BURNT BY THE SUN!"
By the time we actually watched the film (towards the end of the semester), the film was met with a collective "meh" from the entire class. Sure the (blatantly obvious) symbolism was there, but the more notable part to me was the hilariously awful special effects -- a magic fireball somehow follows everyone/haunts their house? It's bizarre production, for sure.
Come on, Burnt By The Sun is a great, touching movie. Very very moving. Kieslowski should have won, anyway, but he wasn't even nominated for Red. He should have won Best Director. And, -sorry Tarantino, I love you- the Golden Palm too.
Mirko -- eeek. i love oleg menchikov. so sad i never see him in anything. I once met a russian guy at some party back in like 2000 and me being the movie dork i am was like "ohmygod how great is oleg menchikov" and he's like "who?".
(sigh) the same thing happened to me in the heyday of Franka Potente. Met a german guy and topic turned to movies. I'm like "don't you love Franka Potente?".... same thing.
(sigh)
I know someone who loved "Burnt by the Sun" and went to go see the sequel at a recent film festival and walked out. Yikes.
Hi Nat, how are you?
I'm a frequente reader and a fan.
Here's why Brazil submitted "Elite Squad 2", although it's a sequel: it's a very, very good movie. If you forget about the "2" on the title, it stands alone on its own. And it's also the biggest box office hit in Brazilian history, coutning more than 11 (eleven) million paying viewers, which is a lot for a country where more than half of the population never set foot on a movie theater.
The first "Elite Squad" won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival in 2008, and almost was Brazil's selection for that year's Oscar. This time around, the sequel was superior to all other 14 contestants in every way, so its selection was a no-brainer.
Does it have a chance to be nominated? probably. It's a very good thriller co-produced by a Hollywood major. By the way, director José padilha already IS in Hollywood, about to direct the "Robocop" remake.
cheers!
Tony
Well, according to the newspaper "La Presse," "Monsieur Lazhar" will be doing its qualifying run in Calgary...not a particularly obscure place.
I've realized that I'm going to be able to see a few, at least, of the candidates before the nominations are announced. "Omar m'a tuer" is opening here in Montréal tomorrow; the French candidate opens in mid-October; "Pina" is coming our way in December, and there may be others along the way. What a change from the usual "Wait until after the Oscars are come and gone to see a few of the nominees."
I was a fan of the first half of "Burnt by the sun" (though I think it was good one),the second one is not so bad as many of you can think judging by the reviews,but the submission is actually the third part (or "Burnt by the sun 2,part 2) and probably the weakest one,but it's not terrible.I won't give at a chance,but how knows,every time Michalkov took part,Russia at least was nominated.