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
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