85th Oscar Foreign Language Updates (1/9/2013)

The Academy did well with last year’s pick of A Separation. Let’s see how well they do this year!

1. Amour (Austria) (Predicted Winner)
2. The Intouchables (France)
3. A Royal Affair (Denmark)
4. No (Chile)
5. War Witch (Canada)

Alternates:
6. Kon-Tiki (Norway)
7. Sister (Switzerland)
8. The Deep (Iceland)
9. Beyond The Hills (Romania)


As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!    
See Foreign Language predictions for other years HERE.
See predictions for other categories at the 85th Oscars HERE.
Switch to another year: 85th,  86th,  87th,  88th,  89th  
.

85th Oscar Foreign Language Predictions (2012-2013 Awards Season) (3/13/12)

The director and cast of Just The Wind (Csak A Szel)

Making predictions for the Foreign Language race before the Cannes lineup has been announced may seem a little strange, but I enjoy learning about new films, and sharing some of the titles that have come to my attention. In truth, we’re almost half way through the eligibility period for foreign language films (which runs from October through September), so it is likely that a few films that will be entering the race have already been seen somewhere.

The casual observer will note that I didn’t include either the winner of the Berlin or Sundance Film Festivals in my to 5 (although both do appear in my top 15). Caesar Must Die won the Golden Bear at Berlin, just as A Separation did last year, and might be seen as a logical front-runner. I’m concerned, however, that the documentary nature of the film may mean that Italy will choose a different entry, one that might represent a larger portion of their national film industry. Meanwhile, Valley Of Saints, which took home the audience prize at Sundance, is a co-production of India and the United States, which could potentially lead it to be disqualified by the rules (simply a speculation, I have no proof), or overlooked by the Indian decision makers in favor of a film that is produced entirely within India. In both cases, I can anticipate moving them higher up my list if they are actually chosen by their selection committees.

I went with a list of 100 films this time instead of 50, because once I had spent some time learning about them I thought I might as well share them. While I have tried to create some balance between different countries and regions, I did not strictly apply the Academy’s one-film-per-nation rule to this round of predictions.

I also know that I have many international readers, so I encourage everyone to add suggestions in the comments section regarding films that are being released in your area, and to let me know if you have seen a film and think it should be moved up or down in the rankings. Enjoy!



1. Benedek Fliegauf for Just The Wind (Csak A Szel)
2. Marialy Rivas for Young & Wild (Joven Y Alocada)
3. Ji Huang for Egg And Stone (Jidan He Shitou)
4. Eytan Fox for Yossi (Ha-Sippur Shel Yossi)
5. Miguel Gomes for Tabu



Alternates:
6. Christian Petzold for Barbara
7. Aleksander Sokurov for Faust
8. Pablo Giorgelli for Las Acacias (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 7)
9. Nikolaj Arcel for A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affaere)
10. Rasit Celikezer for Can
11. Alberto Morais for The Waves (Las Olas)
12. Edwin for Postcards From The Zoo (Kebun Binatang)
13. Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani for Caesar Must Die (Cesare Deve Morire)
14. Musa Syee for Valley Of Saints
15. Maja Milos for Clip (Klip)
16. Quan’an Wang for White Deer Plain (Bai Lu Yuan)
17. Ursula Meier for Sister (L’enfant D’en Haut)
18. Kim Nguyen for War Witch (Rebelle)
19. Michael Haneke for Love (Amour)
20. Kar Wai Wong for The Grandmasters (Yut Doi Jungg Si)


21. Emin Alper for Beyond The Hill (Tepenin Ardi)
22. Catalin Mitulescu for Loverboy (O Agapitikos)
23. Julia Murat for Found Memories (Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas)
24. Levan Akin for Certain People (Katinkas Kalas)
25. Deepa Nehta for Midnight’s Children (Winds Of Change)
26. Ra’anan Alexandrowicz for The Law In These Parts (Shilton Ha Chok)
27. Clement Oubrerie and Marguerite Abouet for Aya Of Yop City (Aya De Yopougon)
28. Pen-Ed Ratanaruang for Headshot (Fon Tok Kuen Fah)
29. Konstantin Bojanov for Ave
30. Nawaf Al-Janahi for Sea Shadow
31. Alain Gomis for Today (Aujourd’hui) (Tey)
32. Patricia Benoit for Stones In The Sun (Woch Nan Soley)
33. Yi Seung-jun for Planet Of Snail
34. Julio Hernandez Cordon for Dust (Polvo)
35. Johnnie To for Life Without Principle (Dyut Meng Gam)


36. Alvaro Longoria for Sons Of The Clouds (Oulad Lemzun)
37. Hiroyuki Okiura for A Letter To Momo (Momo E No Tegami)
38. Pablo Trapero for White Elephant (Elefante Blanco)
39. Mads Matthieson for Teddy Bear (10 Timer Til Paradis)
40. Manoel De Oliveira for Gebo And The Shadow (Gebo Et L’ombre)
41. Brillante Mendoza for Captive
42. Giorgos Lanthimos for Alp (Alpeis)
43. Cedric Kahn for A Better Life (Une Vie Meilleure)
44. Markus Schleiner for Michael (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 20)
45. Vibeke Lokkeberg for Tears Of Gaza (Gazas Tarer)
46. Jairo Eduardo Carrillo and Oscar Andrade for Little Voices (Pequenas Voces)
47. Ki-Duk Kim for Arirang
48. Mads Brugger for The Ambassador (Ambassadoren)
49. Antonio Chavarrias for Childish Games (Dictado)
50. Kleber Mendonca Filho for Neighboring Sounds (O Som Ao Redor)


51. Ruben Ostlund for Play
52. Babis Makridis for L
53. Kamen Kalev for The Island (Ostrovat)
54. Bety Reis, Irim Tolentino and Luigi Acquisto for Beatriz’ War (A Guerra Da Beatriz)
55. Lasse Hallstrom for The Hypnotist (Hypnotisoren)
56. Susan Youssef for Habibi: My Beloved (Habibi Rasak Kharban)
57. Kelichi Kobayashi for About The Pink Sky (Momoiro Sora O)
58. Mohammed Rasoulof for Goodbye (Be Omid E Didar)
59. Maiwenn Le Besco for Polisse
60. Bouli Lanners for The Giants (Les Geants)
61. Alfredo Leon Long for A Monkey Among The Hens (Mono Con Gallinas)
62. Jahmil X.T. Qubeka for A Small Town Called Descent
63. Lucy Mulloy for One Night (Una Noche)
64. Benoit Jacquot for Farewell My Queen (Les Adieux A La Reine) (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 29)
65. Teona Strugar Mitevska for Man On Asphalt (The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears)


66. Jacques Audiard for Rust And Bone (De Rouille Et D’os)
67. Takashi Miike for Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai)
68. Aktan Aryn Kuba for Mother’s Paradise (Raj Dija Mamy)
69. Anca Damian for Crulic: The Path To Beyond (Crulic: Drumul Spre Dincolo)
70. Spiros Stathoulopoulos for Meteor (Meteora)
71. Boudewijn Koole for Kauwboy
72. Michel Lipkes for Malaventura
73. Fonseca Soares and Alexis Tsafas for The Girl With Big Eyes (A Menina Dos Olhos Grandes)
74. Sky Crompton for Citizen Jia Li
75. Petri Kotwica for Rat King
76. Daniel Dorobatu for Tau
77. Midi Z. for Return To Burma (Gui Lai De Ren)
78. Ngoc Dang Vu for Lost In Paradise (Hot Boy Hoi Loan - Cua Chuyen Ve Thang Cuol, Co Gai Diem Va Con Vit)
79. Davy Chou for Golden Slumbers (Le Sommeil D’Or)
80. Matthias Glasner for Mercy (Gnade)

81. Magnus Martens for Jackpot (Arme Riddere)
82. Gerardo Chijona for Ticket To Paradise (Boleto Al Paraiso)
83. Sharon Bar-Ziv for Room 514
84. Djamel Azizi for The Last Safari (La Dernier Safar)
85. Sameh Zoabi for Man Without A Cell Phone (Ish Lelo Selolari)
86. Bohdan Slama for Four Suns (Ctyri Slunce)
87. Joel Novoa for God’s Slave (Esclavo De Dios)
88. Ermanno Olmi for The Cardboard Village (Il Villaggio Di Cartone)
89. Shion Sono for Himizu
90. Gianluca De Serio and Massimillano De Serio for The Seven Acts Of Mercy (Sette Opere Di Misericordia)
91. Ognen Dimitrovska et. al. for Skopje Remixed
92. Phillippe do Pierpong for She Is Not Crying, She Is Singing (Elle Ne Pleure Pas, Elle Chante)
93. Everardo Valerio Gout for Days Of Grace (Dias De Gracia)
94. Alexander Hahn for Monsieur Taurins
95. Michale Boganim for Land Of Oblivion (La Terre Outragee)
96. Nathan Collett for Togetherness Supreme
97. Baltasar Kormakur for The Deep (Djupia)
98. Akhat Ibrayev for Fairytale Forest
99. Anka Sasnal and Wilhem Sasnal for It Looks Pretty From A Distance (Z Daleka Widok Jest Piekny)
100. Carlos Hernandez for Anything Else Than Air (De Puro Aire)



As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!   
See Foreign Language predictions for other years HERE.
See predictions for other categories at the 85th Oscars HERE.
Switch to another year: 84th,  85th,  86th,  87th,  88th,  89th  
.

What I Saw: A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin)

What I Saw:   A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin)

The sad truth about human beings is that we don’t really understand each other. We think we do, and we imagine that other people’s motivations are similar to our own, but usually we’re just fooling ourselves.

Typically, these misunderstandings are met with a polite smile or a roll of the eyes once the other person’s back is turned. Occasionally, however, the stakes rise and we are forced out of our avoidance and into confrontation.




Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation begins with a high stakes divorce between Nader and Simin, and then raises those stakes again and again as characters with competing motivation systems are added to the plot. Culture, religion, gender, and personality traits are brought to the surface, as each character tries desperately to do what they believe is the right thing. When they turn to the legal system to help them solve their disputes, they don’t find a resolution that makes anyone happy, but rather discover yet another competing value system with which to contend.

I am not qualified to speak to the details of life within Iran, but I did find the message to be universal, and wondered why more films don’t really explore how these themes play out in our multicultural society. Too often, mainstream films reduce our differences to caricatures, cover over them with platitudes and easy answers, or take sides according to the filmmaker’s own leanings. Farhadi’s refusal to do so allows us to sympathize with each character, and the ending finds us wondering less about the choice that a central character must make, and more about the choices that we have already made to become the people that we are, and the separations that divide us.



Oscar Chances:

A Separation won the Academy Award for best foreign language film (one of the awards that I predicted correctly), and was also nominated in the original screenplay category.

Interestingly, the film’s reception and Oscar win has mirrored its central premise, with different political and cultural groups inside and outside Iran interpreting its success in ways that support their own perspectives.

As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!

My Lamb Score: 4 ½ out of 5 Lambs
What is a lamb score? Click HERE to learn more.
Read recent reviews  HERE, or search the Archives.
.