OSCAR
RACE 2008
commentary
by Nathaniel R
days
until Oscar Nomination are announced
Best Foreign Language Film
Film Experience's google map of this category
_The
Netherlands |
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_Venezuela |
FOREIGN OSCAR RECORDS / 2007 -LAST YEAR'S RACE
Official Contenders
Afghanistan to France / Georgia to Morocco / The Netherlands to Venezuela01/07 Additional info and posters filled in. The Finalist list should be out shortly.
10/17 This is the OFFICIAL SUBMISSION LIST. 67 Countries are competing for the five nominations this year.
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The
Netherlands |
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Sony
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details 98 min (Dutch & Arabic) genre Based on hit TV show starring Eva van de Wijdeven and Maryam Hassouni synopsis the continuing story of a teenage friendship between a Moroccan and Dutch girl. The television stars transfer to the big screen to reprise their roles. |
details 90 min (Norwegian) genre Dramedy starring Baard Owe (as Horten), Ghita Nørby (4 time Bodil winner), Per Jansen, and Espen Skjønberg synopsis ... misc Hamer previously directed Factotum with Matt Dillon and Kitchen Stories |
details 109 min (Arabic & English) genre Romantic Drama starring Suheir Hammad and Saleh Bakri synopsis Soraya is returning to the country her family was exiled from when she falls for Emad who is trying to leave his country for good. misc Jacir's short film Like Twenty Impossibles won several fest awards in 2003 |
details 106 min (Tagalog & Filipino) genre Romantic Drama starring Judy Ann Santos Bodjong Fernandez and Gina Pareño synopsis a man in search of the beautiful woman (Ploning) who has haunted his life, returns to the island of Cuyo to seek her out. She is much different than he expects not selected Serbis, the first Cannes competition Pinoy film in 25 years |
details 95 min (Polish & Italian) genre Drama starring Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak, Tomasz Sapryk and Iwona Fornalczyk synopsis a young boy, eager to get closer to his absent father, starts a chain of possibly dangerous events in play. misc This is the director's sophomore movie. His debut feature was Squint Your Eyes |
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Portugal never nominated Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto (That Lovely August Month) d. Miguel Gomes trailer |
Russia 13 noms / 4 wins The Mermaid (Rusalka) d. Anna Melikyan |
Singapore never nominated My Magic d. Eric Khoo |
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details 147 min (Portugese) genre I don't believe it's a documentary but it borrows from that genre, looking at an entire town's festivities during August. Said to be filled with romance and music. starring Sonia Bandeira, Fabio Oliveria, and Manuel Soares |
details 145 min (Romanian, French and German) genre Period Comedy starring Baard Owe (as Horten), Ghita Nørby (4 time Bodil winner), Per Jansen, and Espen Skjønberg synopsis A heavily fictionalized account of a true story: Romanian director Grigore Brezianu and financial tycoon Leon Popescu join forces to make a movie in 1912 |
details 100 min (Russian) genre Drama starring Mariya Shalayeva, Yevgeni Tsyganov, Mariya Sokova synopsis A shy girl lives a fanciful inner life. She has to face reality when she travels to Moscow. misc Won prizes at both Berlin and Sundance |
details 108 min (Serbo-Croatian) genre Comedy starring Mira Furlan, Tihomir Stanic, Jelena Djokic, Dragaon Nikolic and more... synopsis A group of actors take a tour of war fronts in 1993 |
details 75 min genre Drama starring Francis Bosco, Jathisweran and Grace Kalaiselvi synopsis A once famous magician and father dad struggles to make a comeback and give up drinking misc Eric Khoo was submitted once before with the film Be With Me in 2005 but for some reason the film was disqualified |
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IFC
Films
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details 77 min genre Documentary synopsis ... misc Documentaries aren't unheard of in the submission pool, but I don't believe that one has ever been nominated in the category. please correct me if I'm wrong |
details unknown genre Romantic Drama starring Vlado Novak, Primoz Bezjak, Pia Zemljic, synopsis Ensemble film about a small village and the hidden passions of its citizens |
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details 98 min (Spanish) genre Post War Drama starring Maribel Verdu (Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Javier Camara (Talk to Her) synopsis ... not selected Sangro de Mayo and Seven Tables of French Billiards more... |
details 110 or 125 min ??? (Swedish) genre Costume Drama starring Maria Heiskanen, Jesper Christensen synopsis A large struggling family in the early 20th century. It centers on the matriarch's (Maria) inner life misc A Troell film has never won the Oscar in this category but he's tied with Ingmar Bergman for most nominees from Sweden and one of his films The Emigrants (1972) was even up for Best Picture. not selected Let the Right One In or Wolf |
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Turkey |
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no US distribution | New
Yorker Films -TBA |
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details ??? min (Swiss German) genre Drama starring Philippe Graber, Johanna Bantzer, Andrea Bürgin and Michel Voïta |
details 129 min (Mandarin, Taiwanese, Japanese and English) genre Music Drama starring ... synopsis a singer, a model and five other ordinary citizens form an unlikely rock band in Henghun. |
details 154 min -- reports vary (Thai) genre Family Drama, Gay starring Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Mario Maurer, Chermarn Boonyasak, Sinjai Plengpanich, Songsit Rungnopakunsri, Kanya Rattanapetch, Aticha Pongsilpipat synopsis The film is about a Catholic family. The daughter is missing. The parents are estranged and the son starts a relationship with a boyhood friend he remeets at university |
details 109 min (Turkish) genre Drama starring Yavuz Bingöl and Hatice Aslan synopsis The title refers to the famous 'no see, no hear, no speak' monkey pantomime. A family is denying the truth. misc Ceylan, who won Best Director at Cannes, has been submitted before but he's awfully formal and cold for general Oscar tastes. |
details unknown genre Drama starring Andrei Panin (A Driver for Vera), Alexei Gorbunov (12), Alyona Babenko, Sergey Garmash synopsis A business man suffers severe psychological stress and begins to confuse illusion and reality after a brutal attack misc based on a book by Vice Premier Alexander Turchynov |
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Film
Experience's Discuss the Oscars on the Blog A
round of applause for contributing readers: Aldo, Alex, Arietro,
Arkaan, Bar, Blaz, Boyd,
Brian, Cristian, Dzong,
Eduardo, Heng,
Ivan, José, KD, Krister, Ludwig, Marco, Marcos, MikeKiddo, Noah,
Oscar, Pasha, Peter Radovan, Sadik, Sean, Spartak, Tomaz, Yonatan
Academy Rejections / Disqualifications |
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United
Kingdom |
Venezuela never nominated The Color of Fame (El Tinte de la Fama) d. Alejandro Bellame Official Site |
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details 120 min (Welsh, Bemba, Swahili, French, German, English and Afrikaans) genre Romantic Drama starring Christine Rochat Genoud, Richard Harrington and Lusungu Munthali synopsis A Madagascan nurse, who survived human trafficking as a teenager, works with hospices in the Congo. She falls in love with a Welsh doctor |
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details unknown genre unknown starring Elaiza Gill and Miguel Ferrari synopsis Hmmm... something to do with Marilyn Monroe and a transsexual who believes in her reincarnation misc apparently shot seven years ago but just released this year |
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