Strong Contenders from Iceland, Denmark, and Lebanon

by Nathaniel R

We're now up to 67 entries for Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film category. We're about two weeks away from the official announcement from the Academy which is typically about 90 films long. The latest announcements:

• Bulgaria - Omnipresent 
  Drama about a man spying on neighbors and employees with hidden cameras. No US distribution yet.
• Canada - Watch Dog 
  This drama stars French-Canadian actor Théodore Pellerin, who has a romantic scene with Lucas Hedges in Boy Erased. This is a very different performance as he's playing a violent troubled young criminal here. No US distribution yet but playing at Chicago Film Festival next month.
• Denmark - The Guilty
  A crime drama about a kidnapped woman and a police office. Opens in the US on October 18th.
• France - Memoir of War
  Sad news for the very passionate fans of French family drama Custody. They went with this WW II drama instead. The film stars Melanie Thierry and Benoît Magimel. In limited release in US theaters now.
• Iceland - Woman at War 
  You already know I love this oddball environmental activist movie! It's from Benedict Erlingsson, a former actor, who with his second film, confirms that he's Iceland's most exciting new director. Magnolia Pictures will release in the US...date TBA
• Lebanon - Capernaum
  This is widely expected to be Oscar-nominated. But a word of caution always with the foreign category: there are regularly surprises. Nadine Labaki's previous Lebanese submission Where Do We Go Now? was expected to be Oscar-nominated after winning prizes at Cannes and TIFF's People's Choice Award in 2011...but had to settle for a Critics Choice nomination only when the mainstream awards season hit. Opens in the US on December 14th
• Macedonia - Secret Ingredient
  Dramedy about a man who makes his father a pot cake and soon has neighbors and criminals after him. I believe this is available on HBO Go but will have to double check.
• Nepal - Panchayat
  Panchayat refers to an old style of local political systems in South Asian countries in which five elders would settle disputes between individuals and villages. No US distribution yet.
• South Africa - Sew the Winter to my Skin
  An "existentialist-adventure" set in the 1950s about a Robin Hood like outlaw who steals from white settlers and becomes a hero to the indigenous population. No US distributor yet.

If patterns from past years hold we'll see one switcheroo with a different title than was previously announced and one other title will be mysteriously missing due to disqualification or whatnot. So these charts are accurate from press announcements until they're not should unforseen circumstances occur.

FOREIGN PREDICTIONS
Submissions pt 1 - Austria through Estonia
Submissions pt 2 - Finland through Montenegro
Submissions pt 3 - The Netherlands through Venezuela

Comments

[Joseph]

I liked other titles more than Capernaum so I’d be ok if it got left out - Shoplifters, Cold War, The Guilty, Woman at War and I’m assuming I’ll like Roma too so that’s five.

[Cash]

Maybe this category should expand to have 6-10 nominees like best picture. Really excellent selections get overlooked every year.

[joe]

I want to see Roma and Shoplifters

[Ilia]

Just saying that Bulgarian "Omnipresent" should be available in USA through ROW8 (new VOD service).

Regarding the pattern you mention, I suppose that a very few film producers from small countries announce being chosen without the official decision being really made to get their small minute of glory. I assume it, because in the past if the film was disqualificated there was some kind of announcment or at least we knew the reason why this or that film is not presented on the list.

[adri]

Nathaniel: I really appreciate the way you seek out Scandinavian film. There’s so many I wouldn’t have heard of if you hadn’t pointed them out. “Woman at War” sounds particularly interesting.

[Rod]

Watch Dog is very good. It’s available on iTunes right now.

[ken s.]

As expected, Poland has chosen Cold War as its entry. Now my 5 choices would be: Cold War, I Am Not a Witch, Burning, Graves with No Names, Roma