Thursday, October 1, 2009

Foreign Oscar Submissions, Final Day, UPDATED

Today is the official cut-off period for countries to submit films to be considered for the 2010 Academy Awards in the Foreign Language category. A number of countries (Columbia, Egypt, Iraq, Cuba, Lebanon, Singapore, Puerto Rico) have yet to announce their submissions, though it just may not have been officially mentioned yet. As for the new editions, Greece made a (maybe?) surprising decision to submit Yorgos Lanthimos' controversial Dogtooth, which Kino picked up recently and which has been delighting critics, but it's likely not to connect with the usually tame Academy (the same deal happened when Chile submitted Tony Manero last year... though Götz Spielmann's challenging, but ultimately redemptive, Revanche did make the final five). Israel chose Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti's Ajami over Golden Lion winner Lebanon; China finally settled on Chen Kaige's Forever Enthralled, with Zhang Ziyi; Serbia officially withdrew Here and There, which had over fifty percent of its dialogue in English, and chose Srđan Dragojević's St. George Shoots the Dragon instead; Spain picked former winner Fernando Trueba's El baile de la victoria [The Dancer and the Thief]; and Australia will be making a rare appearance in the running this year with Warwick Thornton's Warlpiri-language Samson and Delilah, winner of the Caméra d'Or at Cannes this year. The newly announced titles are all below. You can find the other updates here, here and here.

Update: Whether it wasn't listed on the site I was looking at or (more likely) I just overlooked it, Peru was left off the list. Their selection will be Claudia Llosa's The Milk of Sorrow [La teta asustada], which took home the Golden Bear at Berlin earlier this year. Just to make things easier, I've included all of the previously announced films with the new ones for a more complete list. Hope this helps.

Albania: Gjallë [Alive!], d. Artan Minarolli
Argentina: El secreto de sus ojos [The Secret in Their Eyes], d. Juan José Campanella (previously nominated for El hijo de la novia)
Armenia: Autumn of the Magician, d. Ruben Gevorkyants, Vahe Gevorkyants
Australia: Samson and Delilah, d. Warwick Thornton
Austria: Ein Augenblick Freiheit [For a Moment, Freedom], d. Arash T. Riahi
Bangladesh: Britter Bairey [Beyond the Circle], d. Golam Rabbany Biplob
Belgium: De helaasheid der dingen [The Misfortunates], d. Felix van Groeningen
Bolivia: Zona Sur [Southern Zone], d. Juan Carlos Valdivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Guardians of the Night [Čuvari noći], d. Namik Kabil
Brazil: Salve Geral [Save General], d. Sérgio Rezende
Bulgaria: The World is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, d. Stephan Komandarev
Canada: J'ai tué ma mère [I Killed My Mother], d. Xavier Dolan, Here! Films
Chile: Dawson Isla 10 [Dawson Island 10], d. Miguel Littin
China: Forever Enthralled, d. Chen Kaige, Miramax (maybe) (previously nominated for Farewell My Concubine)
Croatia: Kenjac [Donkey], d. Antonio Nuić
Czech Republic: Protektor [Protector], d. Marek Najbrt
Denmark: Terribly Happy [Frygtelig lykkelig], d. Henrik Ruben Genz, Oscilloscope Pictures
Estonia: Detsembrikuumus [December Heat], d. Asko Kase
Finland: Postia pappi Jaakobille [Letters to Father Jacob], d. Klaus Härö
France: Un prophète [A Prophet], d. Jacques Audiard, Sony Pictures Classics
Georgia: The Other Bank, d. George Ovashvili
Germany: Das weiße Band [The White Ribbon], d. Michael Haneke, Sony Pictures Classics
Greece: Dogtooth, d. Yorgos Lanthimos, Kino
Hong Kong: Prince of Tears, d. Yonfan
Hungary: Kaméleon [Chameleon], d. Krisztina Goda
Iceland: Reykjavik-Rotterdam, d. Óskar Jónasson
India: Harishchandrachi Factory, d. Paresh Mokashi
Indonesia: Jamila dan sang presiden [Jamila and the President], d. Ratna Sarumpaet
Iran: About Elly, d. Asghar Farhadi, Here! Films
Israel: Ajami, d. Yaron Shani, Scandar Copti, Kino
Italy: Baarìa, d. Giuseppe Tornatore (former winner for Cinema Paradiso)
Japan: Nobody to Watch Over Me, d. Ryôichi Kimizuka
Kazakhstan: Kelin, d. Ermek Tursunov
Lithuania: Duburys [Waterhole], d. Gitis Luksas
Luxembourg: Réfractaire [Draft Dodgers], d. Nicolas Steil
Macedonia: Wingless, d. Ivo Trajkov
Mexico: El traspatio [Backyard], d. Carlos Carrera (previously nominated for El crimen del Padre Amaro)
Mongolia: By the Will of Genghis Khan, d. Andrei Borissov
Morocco: Casanegra, d. Nour Eddine Lakhmari
Norway: Max Manus, d. Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg
Peru: La teta asustada [The Milk of Sorrow], d. Claudia Llosa
Philippines: Ded na si Lolo, d. Soxy Topacio
Poland: Rewers [The Reverse], d. Borys Lankosz
Portugal: Um Amor de Perdição [Doomed Love], d. Mário Barroso
Romania: Poliţist, adj. [Police, Adjective], d. Corneliu Porumboiu, IFC Films
Russia: Ward No. 6, d. Aleksandr Gornovsky, Karen Shakhnazarov
Serbia: St. George Shoots the Dragon, d. Srđan Dragojević
Slovakia: Nedodržaný sľub [Broken Promise], directed by Jiří Chlumský, Picture This! Entertainment
Slovenia: Pokrajina Št.2 [Landscape No.2], d. Vinko Moderndorfer, Vanguard [released on DVD 25 August]
South Africa: White Wedding, d. Jann Turner
South Korea: Mother, d. Bong Joon-ho, Magnolia
Spain: El baile de la victoria [The Dancer and the Thief], d. Fernando Trueba (former winner for Belle époque)
Sri Lanka: Akasa Kusum [Flowers in the Sky], d. Prasanna Vithanage
Sweden: De ofrivilliga [Involuntary], d. Ruben Östlund
Switzerland: Home, d. Ursula Meier, Lorber Films
Taiwan: No puedo vivir sin ti, d. Leon Dai
Thailand: Best in Time, d. Youngyooth Thongkonthun
Turkey: Güneşi gördüm [I Saw the Sun], d. Mahsun Kirmizigül
Uruguay: Mal día para pescar [Bad Day to Go Fishing], d. Álvaro Brechner
Venezuela: Libertador Morales, el justiciero, d. Efterpi Charalambidis
Vietnam: Don’t Burn, d. Nhat Minh Dang