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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Foreign Language Features and Documentary Shorts Qualified for Oscar Nominations

The New Kindle Fire is here. Scroll to end of post and click Amazon graphic.


Spain submits Agusti Villaronga's Black Bread
Agusti Villaronga is the same person as Agustin Villaronga

1. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 84th Academy Awards has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar nominations.

Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 35 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation. The eight films are listed below in alphabetical order by title:

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement;
God Is the Bigger Elvis;
In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution;
Incident in New Baghdad;
Pipe Dreams;
Saving Face;
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
;
Witness.


2. Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted feature films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards. More will be written about some of the submissions, but here's the list in alphabetical order by country with director:


Albania, Amnesty, Bujar Alimani;
Argentina, Aballay, Fernando Spiner;
Austria, Breathing, Karl Markovics;
Belgium, Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belvedere, Ahmed Imamovic;
Brazil, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, José Padilha;
Bulgaria, Tilt, Viktor Chouchkov, Jr;
Canada, Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau;
Chile, Violeta Went to Heaven, Andrés Wood;
China, The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou*;
Colombia, The Colors of the Mountain, Carlos César Arbeláez;
Croatia, 72 Days, Danilo Serbedzija;
Cuba, Havanastation, Ian Padrón;
Czech Republic, Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák;
Denmark, Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen;
Dominican Republic, Love Child, Leticia Tonos;
Egypt, Lust, Khaled el Hagar;
Estonia, Letters to Angel, Sulev Keedus;
Finland, Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki*;
France, Declaration of War, Valérie Donzelli;
Georgia, Chantrapas, Otar Iosseliani;
Germany, Pina, Wim Wenders*;
Greece, Attenberg, Athina Rachel Tsangari;
Hong Kong, A Simple Life, Ann Hui;
Hungary, The Turin Horse, Béela Tarr;
Iceland, Volcano, Rúnar Rúnarsson;
India, Abu, Son of Adam, Salim Ahamed;
Indonesia, Under the Protection of Ka'Bah, Hanny R. Saputra;
Iran, A Separation, Asghar Farhadi;
Ireland, As If I Am Not There, Juanita Wilson;
Israel, Footnote, Joseph Cedar*;
Italy, Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese;
Japan, Postcard, Kaneto Shindo;
Kazakhstan, Returning to the ‘A,’ Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky;
Lebanon, Where Do We Go Now? Nadine Labaki*;
Lithuania, Back to Your Arms, Kristijonas Vildziunas;
Macedonia, Punk Is Not Dead, Vladimir Blazevski;
Mexico, Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo;
Morocco, Omar Killed Me, Roschdy Zem;
Netherlands, Sonny Boy, Maria Peters;
New Zealand,The Orator, Tusi Tamasese;
Norway, Happy, Happy, Anne Sewitsky;
Peru, October, Diego Vega and Daniel Vega;
Philippines, The Woman in the Septic Tank, Marlon N. Rivera;
Poland, In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland;
Portugal, José and Pilar, Miguel Gonçalves Mendes;
Romania, Morgen, Marian Crisan;
Russia, Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel, Nikita Mikhalkov***;
Serbia, Montevideo: Taste of a Dream, Dragan Bjelogrlić;
Singapore, Tatsumi, Eric Khoo;
Slovak Republic, Gypsy, Martin Sulík;
South Africa, Beauty, Oliver Hermanus;
South Korea, The Front Line, Jang Hun;
Spain, Black Bread, Agusti Villaronga*;
Sweden, Beyond, Pernilla August;
Switzerland, Summer Games, Rolando Colla;
Taiwan, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Wei Te-sheng;
Thailand, Kon Khon, Sarunyu Wongkrachang;
Turkey, Once upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan*;
United Kingdom, Patagonia, Marc Evans;
Uruguay, The Silent House, Gustavo Hernández;
Venezuela, Rumble of the Stones, Alejandro Bellame Palacios;
Vietnam, The Prince and the Pagoda Boy, Luu Trong Ninh.


* Directors Mimi follows.


*** According to the IMDb there is a controversy in Russia about the selection of this movie: "A move is underway in Russia to overhaul the committee that nominates the film to represent the country in the best foreign language competition at the annual Oscar race. It follows widespread controversy over the selection of Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun: The Citadel, as this years entry despite the fact that the film received a drubbing from critics and flopped at the box office.

Daily Variety reported today this week that a new union of filmmakers, Kino Soyuz, is lobbying for a transparent nomination process from a committee drawn from the ranks of previous Oscar nominees or winners. Several Russian critics have noted that Mikhalkov has close ties to the country’s power elite and is a close friend of Vladimir Putin. Russia’s Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper described the selection of Citadel for the Oscar competition as a triumph of 'cronyism' over,'common sense'. Source



BOOK NOOK

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Academy Screenwriting Winners, Oscar Timeline, Seligman Returns, Book Nook


Painting based on drawing by Sergei Eisenstein

Here are some of this month's preparations for the 84h Academy Awards and miscellaneous activities happening at the Academy:

1. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the Winners of the 2011 Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, and all but one of the winners are from California. Also, all but one of the winners appear to be male - not certain about Dion Cook:

\
          Chris Bessounian and Tianna Langham, Los Angeles, Guns and Saris;
          Dion Cook, Altus, Oklahoma, Cutter;
          John MacInnes, Los Angeles, Outside the Wire;
          Matthew Murphy, Culver City, Unicorn; and
          Abel Vang and Burlee Vang, Fresno, The Tiger’s Child.

2. Brett Ratner and Don Mischer are the returning producers for the
84th Academy Awards telecast  Michael B. Seligman is the telecast's supervising producer, marking his 35th year of association with the show.
 
3. 84th Academy Awards Timeline:

Thursday, December 1, 2011
Official Screen Credits forms due

Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Nominations ballots mailed

Friday, January 13, 2012
Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Nominations announced live, 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Beverly Hills

Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Final ballots mailed

Monday, February 6, 2012
Nominees Luncheon

Saturday, February 11, 2012
Scientific and Technical Awards presentation

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Final polls close 5 p.m. PT

Sunday, February 26, 2012
84th Academy Awards presentation

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

BOOK NOOK
The new Kindle Fire is here! Full color, Wi-Fi, mullti-touch.



Saturday, October 15, 2011

AFI Honors Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine
Actress Shirley Maclaine has been named next June's recipient of the 40th American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. Morgan Freeman was this year's AFI recipient.

MacLaine made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 movie, The Trouble With Harry. She was an Oscar winner in 1984 as best actress for her performance as Debra Winger's mother in Terms of Endearment.

Besides winning the coveted Oscar, she has received seven Golden Globe Awards. In addition, she has earned six nominations each for an Academy and Emmy award.

Most recently, she appeared in the ensemble comedy Valentine’s Day as well as the Lifetime TV movie Coco Chanel, for which she was nominated for both a Globe and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award.

MacLaine’s brother Warren Beatty received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2008. They become the second family in the history of the award to boast multiple honorees, following Kirk Douglas and his son Michael, who were honored in 1991 and 2009 respectively.

For more about Shirley MacLaine, click the title of this post. The awards ceremony will be streamed live on TV Land in June 2012 on a date yet to be announced. TV Land also broadcasts the TV show starring Betty White, Hot in Cleveland.

BOOK NOOK
Professor Román Gubern, PhD, cinema historian and critic has finally agreed to have one of his books translated into English, and it will be available this January: Luis Buñuel: The Red Years, 1929-1939 (Wisconsin Film Studies) [Paperback] Roman Gubern (Author) with Paul Hammond, $28.49. ENGLISH. Pre-order now. Lowest price guaranteed when shipped! Also below, order the original Spanish version:



The Spanish version of Professor Román Gubern's book about the legendary Spanish movie director, Luis Buñuel, Los años rojos  de Luis Buñuel (The Red Years of Luis Buñuel), is available on Amazon.