Short List for Best Foreign Language Film

The short list for the Best Motion Picture in the Foreign Language Category was released this morning by the Academy, the final short list in this category. These are the nine films from which the final five nominated films will be chosen in the next round of voting for the 84th Academy Awards. I note that the Golden Globe winning Iranian motion picture, A Separation, made the cut. There were 63 motion pictures in the original qualifying list. For that original list, see link on right sidebar of this blog.

Here is the short list from which the nominated films will come, listed in alphabetical order by country with director:

Belgium -- Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam;
Canada -- Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau;
Denmark -- Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen;
Germany -- Pina, Wim Wenders;
Iran -- A Separation, Asghar Farhadi;
Israel -- Footnote, Joseph Cedar;
Morocco -- Omar Killed Me, Roschdy Zem;
Poland -- In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland;
Taiwan -- Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Wei Te-sheng.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2011 are again being determined in two phases:

A. Phase I. A committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 63 eligible films between mid-October and January 13. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

B. Phase 2. 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 20, through Sunday, January 22, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, with actress Jennifer Lawrence assisting Academy President Tom Sherak.

Academy Awards for outstanding motion picture achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and broadcast world-wide to 225 countries, on ABC in the U.S.

Visit the fantastic new Oscars Website by clicking the title of this post. Watch for the new 84th Academy Awards trailer at your local theater.

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All information in this post is copy written, and is posted on this copy written bog with permission from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.