Only Three will Accept Governors Award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California, has announced that following a two-month-long cordial exchange of correspondence with Academy president Tom Sherak, French director Jean-Luc Godard has regretfully notified Sherak that he will not be able to attend the November 13th Governors Awards and receive his Honorary Oscar® in person.

The November 13th dinner ceremony, produced by Sid Ganis and Don Mischer, will pay tribute to Godard, and others, through film clips and commentary by admirers. The award will be accepted on Godard’s behalf by the Academy and following the event, the Academy will arrange for the Oscar statuette to be delivered to him in Switzerland.

Besides the Honorary Oscar to director Jean-Luc Godard, the Board of Governors of the Academy voted Honorary Awards to historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, and to director and actor Eli Wallach. They also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-director Francis Ford Coppola.

All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s 2nd Annual Governors Awards dinner at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.The event is by invitation only and will not be televised. However highlights will be shown during the Academy Awards telecast in February.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Thalberg Award, a bust of the late motion picture executive, is given to “a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”

“Each of these honorees has touched movie audiences worldwide and influenced the motion picture industry through their work,” said Sherak. “It will be an honor to celebrate their extraordinary achievements and contributions at the Governors Awards.”

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be televised and announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m., PT, from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wilshire Boulevard.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Lynch to Present at AFI Fest

Director David Lynch will serve as the inaugural Guest Artistic Director at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, November 4 - 11, 2010.

As part of his duties he has picked five feature films to screen in a sidebar, including his own ERASERHEAD, which will screen Saturday, 6 November, on a double bill with Billy Wilder's SUNSET BLVD, and Lynch will present them in person. He made ERASERHEAD as a student at the American Film Institute (AFI).

Also featured in the sidebar are Ingmar Bergman’s HOUR OF THE WOLF, Stanley Kubrick’s LOLITA, Jacques Tati’s MON ONCLE, and Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW.

The public is invited to tweet questions for Lynch. Responses will take place during the double-bill presentation. Questions should be sent to the AFI Fest Twitter account @AFIFEST).

Click title of post for more.

65 Countries Vie for Best Foreign Film Oscar®

Sixty-five countries, including first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category (BFLF) for the 83rd Academy Awards® to be presented Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. These films will now begin a process of being selected for a nomination in the category.

The 2010 submissions are:

• Albania, “East, West, East,” Gjergj Xhuvani, director;
• Algeria, “Hors la Loi” (“Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director;
• Argentina, “Carancho,” Pablo Trapero, director;
• Austria, “La Pivellina,” Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, directors;
• Azerbaijan, “The Precinct,” Ilgar Safat, director;
• Bangladesh, “Third Person Singular Number,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
• Belgium, “Illegal,” Olivier Masset-Depasse, director;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Circus Columbia,” Danis Tanovic, director;
• Brazil, “Lula, the Son of Brazil,” Fabio Barreto, director;
• Bulgaria, “Eastern Plays,” Kamen Kalev, director;
• Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director;
• Chile, “The Life of Fish,” Matias Bize, director;
• China, “Aftershock,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
• Colombia, “Crab Trap,” Oscar Ruiz Navia, director;
• Costa Rica, “Of Love and Other Demons,” Hilda Hidalgo, director;
• Croatia, “The Blacks,” Goran Devic and Zvonimir Juric, directors;
• Czech Republic, “Kawasaki’s Rose,” Jan Hrebejk, director;
• Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director;
• Egypt, “Messages from the Sea,” Daoud Abdel Sayed, director;
• Estonia, “The Temptation of St. Tony,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;
• Ethiopia, “The Athlete,” Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew, directors;
• Finland, “Steam of Life,” Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen, directors;
• France, “Of Gods and Men,” Xavier Beauvois, director;
• Georgia, “Street Days,” Levan Koguashvili, director;
• Germany, “When We Leave,” Feo Aladag, director;
• Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director;
• Greenland, “Nuummioq,” Otto Rosing and Torben Bech, directors;
• Hong Kong, “Echoes of the Rainbow,” Alex Law, director;
• Hungary, “Bibliotheque Pascal,” Szabolcs Hajdu, director;
• Iceland, “Mamma Gogo,” Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, director;
• India, “Peepli [Live],” Anusha Rizvi, director;
• Indonesia, “How Funny (Our Country Is),” Deddy Mizwar, director;
• Iran, “Farewell Baghdad,” Mehdi Naderi, director;
• Iraq, “Son of Babylon,” Mohamed Al-Daradji, director;
• Israel, “The Human Resources Manager,” Eran Riklis, director;
• Italy, “La Prima Cosa Bella” (“The First Beautiful Thing”), Paolo Virzi, director;
• Japan, “Confessions,” Tetsuya Nakashima, director;
• Kazakhstan, “Strayed,” Akan Satayev, director;
• Korea, “A Barefoot Dream,” Tae-kyun Kim, director;
• Kyrgyzstan, “The Light Thief,” Aktan Arym Kubat, director;
• Latvia, “Hong Kong Confidential,” Maris Martinsons, director;
• Macedonia, “Mothers,” Milcho Manchevski, director;
• Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director;
• Netherlands, “Tirza,” Rudolf van den Berg, director;
• Nicaragua, “La Yuma,” Florence Jaugey, director;
• Norway, “The Angel,” Margreth Olin, director;
• Peru, “Undertow” (“Contracorriente”), Javier Fuentes-Leon, director;
• Philippines, “Noy,” Dondon S. Santos and Rodel Nacianceno, directors;
• Poland, “All That I Love,” Jacek Borcuch, director;
• Portugal, “To Die Like a Man,” Joao Pedro Rodrigues, director;
• Puerto Rico, “Miente” (“Lie”), Rafael Mercado, director;
• Romania, “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle,” Florin Serban, director;
• Russia, “The Edge,” Alexey Uchitel, director;
• Serbia, “Besa,” Srdjan Karanovic, director;
• Slovakia, “Hranica” (“The Border”), Jaroslav Vojtek, director;
• Slovenia, “9:06,” Igor Sterk, 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;
• Switzerland, “La Petite Chambre,” Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond, directors;
• Taiwan, “Monga,” Chen-zer Niu, director;
• Thailand, “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director;
• Turkey, “Bal” (“Honey”), Semih Kaplanoglu, director;
• Uruguay, “La Vida Util,” Federico Veiroj, director;
• Venezuela, “Hermano,” Marcel Rasquin, director.

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.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

A New Look

It was a long hot summer, but now it is fall. I have been waiting on Blogger to add new templates, styles and gadgets and they have! My blog is back with a brand new look. It will take some time to add everything I want to add, so stay with me, please.

1. Following those movies that are really worth following.
2. Tracking possible Oscar nominees for best feature movie, best documentary and, of course, best foreign film, etc.
3. Reporting on major film festivals and spotlighting festival winners.

In addition, I hope to be adding video of trailers, and other visual enhancements. So, expect more changes, and I welcome suggestions.