This morning the Academy announced the nine fimls that will be competing for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at this year’s ceremony. Among them is the Golden Globe Foreign Language winner, Susanne Bier’s excellent In a Better World. Additionally Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies which has received good buzz everywhere it has gone and was recently acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for a April 1 release. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biutiful rounds out the list of expected nominees.
Personally I’m surprised to see Hors la Loi and Dogtooth nominated, but for opposite reasons. Rachid Bouchareb’s Hors la Loi simply isn’t very good, but the fact his 2006 release, Days of Glory (Indigènes), was nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar probably means I shouldn’t be too surprised at the nomination for this pseudo-sequel.
As for Dogtooth from Greek helmer Yorgos Lanthimos, I’m simply surprised because it is a very good film and a bit in the off the wall department. I’m very happy to see it get nominated, but a bit surprised.
When it comes to snubs one is quite glaring and that’s Xavier Beauvois’s Of Gods and Men. I caught Of Gods and Men at Cannes last year and really enjoyed it and it being snubbed here is a surprise. Speaking of Cannes films not making the list, Cannes Palm d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives wasn’t nominated either.
Of the nine films nominated right now my pick would have to be for Incendies to win, but this is a category that’s traditionally difficult to predict and I will never feel too confident in any prediction I make. I have, however, added the nine films to my Oscar predictions.
Below is the list of nine films shortlisted for the Foreign Language Oscar of the sixty-six films that were submitted.
- Algeria, Hors la Loi (Outside the Law), Rachid Bouchareb, director
- Canada, Incendies, Denis Villeneuve, director
- Denmark, In a Better World, Susanne Bier, director
- Greece, Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos, director
- Japan, Confessions, Tetsuya Nakashima, director
- Mexico, Biutiful, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director
- South Africa, Life, above All, Oliver Schmitz, director
- Spain, Tambien la Lluvia (Even the Rain), Iciar Bollain, director
- Sweden, Simple Simon, Andreas Ohman, director
The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 21, through Sunday, January 23, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.
The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
