The New York Times is reporting this morning that the governing boards of the two writers’ guilds (WGA, West and WGA, East) are expected to meet as early as tomorrow, and the long and bitter strike could be over by Monday morning. They released a written agreement between the WGA and AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) negotiating committees upon which the WGA membership at large will vote. Read the proposed agreement here (pdf.)
After a self-imposed news blackout, the Guild let it be known yesterday (Friday) that the east and west divisions were in talks with AMPTP and, if they agreed, Guild members might be able to vote as early as Sunday (tomorrow), or Monday, to end the strike.
Earlier his month, the Directors Guild of American (DGA) reached a hand-shake agreement with AMPTP. Their members are scheduled to vote on ratifying that agreement 20 February. The question is: Will DGA ratify that agreement, or will they now consider the terms of the WGA - AMPTP agreement and vote to reject? If they do the latter, negotiations must start over.
Next up to negotiate with AMPTP? The Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Their agreement with AMPTP expires in June. SAG has steadfastly supported the WGA, most notably declining to participate in the 80th Academy Awards® broadcast.
That brings us to the next question. If the WGA ends the strike on Monday or so, how will that affect the Oscars®? The way I understand the communications I receive from the Academy, the cut-off date to proceed with the full Oscar telecast as usual, which will include the presence of the host (Jon Stewart), presenters, recipients, etc., or the glam and bling, is this Thursday, Valentine's Day. That's the date the service people (caterers, florists, waiters, etc.), and the craft guilds (carpenters, painters, lighting technicians, camera operators, stage hands, costumers, etc.) have set as the absolute date they must be authorized to deliver what the Academy will require on the 24th. In other words, AMPAS fully commits on the 14th to pay for the ordered services, and the support services will have the needed time to deliver same.
So, the final answer is, "The 80th Academy Awards can only be 'fully greenlighted,' if the strike is officially over by this Thursday (14th)." Otherwise, there will be that "other show," on the 24th, which Gil Cates does not want to produce, and most will not want to watch.
(Hassan) In a pivotal scene Hassan, (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, now 13), is raped in an alley by a Pashtun bully. Amir witnesses the rape, but says nothing.
Director Ang Lee in Beverly Hills, 2007
THE BAND'S VISIT (Bikur Ha-Tizmoret, Eran Kolirin, director, 2007) officially submitted by Israel, was turned down because there is too much English in the picture. Again see my post of 12 October about the problem of "language" in foreign movies.
Israel substituted BEAUFORT, Joseph Cedar, 2007, the latter's story line being much less interesting than a brass band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center only to find themselves lost in a foreign city.
THE DIVING BELL and the BUTTERFLY (Le Scaphandre et le papillon, France / USA , 2007), Julian Schnabel's French movie, which won him the directing prize at Cannes and critical acclaim at other festivals, was not submitted by France. They chose to submit the animated PERSEPOLIS, also in French with French crew and actors, Catherine Deneuve among them. Under the Academy's rules a country may submit only one entry, and the country has the right to make that choice. That is, provided the movie follows the rules of submission established by the Academy.
PERSEPOLIS is based on Iranian author Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel. Satrapi also co-wrote the screenplay and co-directed the movie with Frenchman Vincent Paronnaud. It is a poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. Deneuve plays the mother, and that alone certifies it as genuinely French. Plus, doesn't every Iranian girl have a French mother as beautiful and Deneuve?
The movie sounds very much like the award-winning MAR ADENTO (The Sea Inside, Spain, 2004), directed by Alejandro Amenába (right in picture above).
He notes Afghanistan has no submission this year, implying the reason is THE KITE RUNNER did not meet the rules for a BFLF submission, but THE KITE RUNNER is based on a book written by American-educated Afghani writer Khaled Hosseini, who also cowrote the screenplay. Although the main actors and some of the crew are from Afghanistan, it was filmed in China and California, by U.S. production companies (principally MacDonald / Parkes Productions) and is distributed by U.S. distributors (DreamWorks SKG and Paramount Vintage). There is more English spoken than the other foreign languages, and it is officially a U.S. production, not Afghani, and was not eligible for a BFLF submission from Afghanistan from the beginning.