List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

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Precious Doll
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Re: List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Post by Precious Doll »

Whilst it was expected the new Yimou Zhang may be China's submission, they have instead gone for a Jiang Wen film. What in hell does Zhangke Jia have to do for China to submit one of his films? Answer: make something that shows China is a pure phoney light. Ash is Purest White was unlikely to get any traction with the Academy but at least China allowed a decent release on the film on home turf as opposed to most of Jia's prior films. I suppose Jia's films just cuts too deep into a China that the Chinese Government would prefer filmmakers stayed clear of.
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Re: List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Post by anonymous1980 »

The official submission list:

Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director
Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director
Argentina, “El Ángel,” Luis Ortega, director
Armenia, “Spitak,” Alexander Kott, director
Australia, “Jirga,” Benjamin Gilmour, director
Austria, “The Waldheim Waltz,” Ruth Beckermann, director
Bangladesh, “No Bed of Roses,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director
Belarus, “Crystal Swan,” Darya Zhuk, director
Belgium, “Girl,” Lukas Dhont, director
Bolivia, “The Goalkeeper,” Rodrigo “Gory” Patiño, director
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Never Leave Me,” Aida Begić, director
Brazil, “The Great Mystical Circus,” Carlos Diegues, director
Bulgaria, “Omnipresent,” Ilian Djevelekov, director
Cambodia, “Graves without a Name,” Rithy Panh, director
Canada, “Family Ties,” Sophie Dupuis, director
Chile, “…And Suddenly the Dawn,” Silvio Caiozzi, director
China, “Hidden Man,” Jiang Wen, director
Colombia, “Birds of Passage,” Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra, directors
Costa Rica, “Medea,” Alexandra Latishev, director
Croatia, “The Eighth Commissioner,” Ivan Salaj, director
Czech Republic, “Winter Flies,” Olmo Omerzu, director
Denmark, “The Guilty,” Gustav Möller, director;
Dominican Republic, “Cocote,” Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, director
Ecuador, “A Son of Man,” Jamaicanoproblem, director
Egypt, “Yomeddine,” A.B. Shawky, director
Estonia, “Take It or Leave It,” Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo, director
Finland, “Euthanizer,” Teemu Nikki, director
France, “Memoir of War,” Emmanuel Finkiel, director
Georgia, “Namme,” Zaza Khalvashi, director
Germany, “Never Look Away,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director
Greece, “Polyxeni,” Dora Masklavanou, director
Hong Kong, “Operation Red Sea,” Dante Lam, director
Hungary, “Sunset,” László Nemes, director
Iceland, “Woman at War,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director
India, “Village Rockstars,” Rima Das, director
Indonesia, “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts,” Mouly Surya, director
Iran, “No Date, No Signature,” Vahid Jalilvand, director;
Iraq, “The Journey,” Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji, director;
Israel, “The Cakemaker,” Ofir Raul Graizer, director;
Italy, “Dogman,” Matteo Garrone, director;
Japan, “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda, director;
Kazakhstan, “Ayka,” Sergey Dvortsevoy, director;
Kenya, “Supa Modo,” Likarion Wainaina, director;
Kosovo, “The Marriage,” Blerta Zeqiri, director;
Latvia, “To Be Continued,” Ivars Seleckis, director;
Lebanon, “Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki, director;
Lithuania, “Wonderful Losers: A Different World,” Arunas Matelis, director;
Luxembourg, “Gutland,” Govinda Van Maele, director;
Macedonia, “Secret Ingredient,” Gjorce Stavreski, director;
Malawi, “The Road to Sunrise,” Shemu Joyah, director;
Mexico, “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, director;
Montenegro, “Iskra,” Gojko Berkuljan, director;
Morocco, “Burnout,” Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, director;
Nepal, “Panchayat,” Shivam Adhikari, director;
Netherlands, “The Resistance Banker,” Joram Lürsen, director;
New Zealand, “Yellow Is Forbidden,” Pietra Brettkelly, director;
Niger, “The Wedding Ring,” Rahmatou Keïta, director;
Norway, “What Will People Say,” Iram Haq, director;
Pakistan, “Cake,” Asim Abbasi, director;
Palestine, “Ghost Hunting,” Raed Andoni, director;
Panama, “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name,” Abner Benaim, director;
Paraguay, “The Heiresses,” Marcelo Martinessi, director;
Peru, “Eternity,” Oscar Catacora, director;
Philippines, “Signal Rock,” Chito S. Roño, director;
Poland, “Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski, director;
Portugal, “Pilgrimage,” João Botelho, director;
Romania, “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians,” Radu Jude, director;
Russia, “Sobibor,” Konstantin Khabensky, director;
Serbia, “Offenders,” Dejan Zecevic, director;
Singapore, “Buffalo Boys,” Mike Wiluan, director;
Slovakia, “The Interpreter,” Martin Šulík, director;
Slovenia, “Ivan,” Janez Burger, director;
South Africa, “Sew the Winter to My Skin,” Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, director;
South Korea, “Burning,” Lee Chang-dong, director;
Spain, “Champions,” Javier Fesser, director;
Sweden, “Border,” Ali Abbasi, director;
Switzerland, “Eldorado,” Markus Imhoof, director;
Taiwan, “The Great Buddha+,” Hsin-Yao Huang, director;
Thailand, “Malila The Farewell Flower,” Anucha Boonyawatana, director;
Tunisia, “Beauty and the Dogs,” Kaouther Ben Hania, director;
Turkey, “The Wild Pear Tree,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “Donbass,” Sergei Loznitsa, director;
United Kingdom, “I Am Not a Witch,” Rungano Nyoni, director;
Uruguay, “Twelve-Year Night,” Álvaro Brechner, director;
Venezuela, “The Family,” Gustavo Rondón Córdova, director;
Vietnam, “The Tailor,” Buu Loc Tran, Kay Nguyen, directors;
Yemen, “10 Days before the Wedding,” Amr Gamal, director.
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Re: List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

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Well, just about all of the submissions are now in. We are still waiting for China who have been delayed due to some public holidays but Zhang Yimou's latest film Shadow is highly considered to the be the 'chosen one'. Apparently the film is a return to form by Yimou who hasn't made anything of note since House of the Flying Daggers back in 2004.

I've seen 26 (updated 5 November) of the selected films so far and expect to see another half dozen or so in the coming month.

I've already written about most of the films in another thread so I'm not going to repeat myself. Only to say that this is the order that I rank the films that I have seen:

01. Burning (South Korea) 9/10
02. Shoplifters (Japan) 8/10
03. The Heiresses (Paraguay) 8/10
04. I Do Not Care If We Wo Down in History as Barbarians (Romania) 8/10
05. The Waldheim Waltz (Austria) 8/10
06. Woman at War (Iceland) 7/10
07. Girl (Belgium) 7/10
08. I Am Not a Witch (United Kingdom) 7/10
09. Sobibor (Russia) 7/10
10. Dogman (Italy) 7/10
11. The Great Buddha (Taiwan) 7/10
12. Birds of Passage (Columbia) 7/10
13. Donbass (Ukraine) 6/10
14. The Wild Pear Tree (Turkey) 6/10
15. No Date, No Signature (Iran) 6/10
16. Cold War (Poland) 5/10
17. The Guilty (Denmark) 5/10
18. Border (Sweden) 5/10
19. The Family (Venezuela) 5/10
20. The Interpreter (Slovakia) 4/10
21. Euthanzer (Findland) 4/10
22. Yomeddine (Egypt) 4/10
23. Operation Red Sea (Hong Kong) 4/10
24. Champions (Spain) 4/10
25. Polyxen (Greece) 2/10
26. Capharnaum (Lebanaon) 1/10

Any thoughts on additional films I see, I'll add to this thread. As well as nearer the announcement of the shortlist I'll try to make predictions which will no doubt be way off.
Last edited by Precious Doll on Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:22 am, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

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Like with the past thread, I shall be reviewing all the Foreign Language Film entries I see in this thread. Within the next six or so weeks, there's gonna be a bunch of film festivals happening and several of the entries will be screened. The lineup will include: Shoplifters, Burning, Girl, Cold War, among others. Here's the first:

Campeones, Spain (Javier Fesser) 7/10 - An arrogant pro-basketball coach is caught drunk driving and is sentenced to 90 days community service coaching a basketball team comprised of mentally disabled individuals. Hmm. Will the coach learn to humble himself and improve/inspire the team? Will there be a championship game? Will they learn the meaning of teamwork and self-worth? I think we all know where this is heading. This film is a real crowd-pleaser and it's unique because they cast actual mentally disabled actors to play the mentally disabled roles which was a wise decision, otherwise, I don't think the comedy would've worked as well. That said, this film has a lot of good laughs in it and manages to be largely tasteful and even manages to be moving in the end. That said, it's still a formulaic sports movie. But at least it's a well-crafted one.

Will it get in? It will have its fans. But it's fluff, the politically correct casting notwithstanding. I think the Academy actively looks for more artistically ambitious and "Important" with a capital I movies in this day and age. I'm leaning towards no but not out of the question.
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Re: List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

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Two more countries have announced their submissions:

Romania - I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians
Switzerland - Eldorado
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Post by Precious Doll »

The Wikipedia link is now up and with the first submission Crystal Swan from Belarus:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... guage_Film
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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