News

PR: Oscars Set Foreign Film Field

Note from author Robert Marich. With foreign films virtually unknown to Oscar voters, the academy sets up three groups of voting members to each screen one-third of the 63 entries to come up with five nominees, according to Marketing to Moviegoers: A Handbook. Assuming two hours running time per film, that’s roughly 40 hours of screening. The entire academy votes on selecting the Oscar winner from the five nominees. Ireland is a first-time entrant because its film is in the Gaelic language, not English.

63 Countries Seeking Foreign Language Film Oscar®

    Press Release - October 17, 2007 -- Beverly Hills, CA — A record 63 countries, including new entrants Azerbaijan and Ireland, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 80th Academy Awards®, Academy President Sid Ganis announced today.

The 2007 submissions are:

Argentina, “XXY,” Lucia Puenzo, director;

Australia, “The Home Song Stories,” Tony Ayres, director;

Austria, “The Counterfeiters,” Stefan Ruzowitzky, director;

Azerbaijan, “Caucasia,” Farid Gumbatov, director;

Bangladesh, “On the Wings of Dreams,” Golam Rabbany Biplob, director;

Belgium, “Ben X,” Nic Balthazar, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “It’s Hard to Be Nice,” Srdan Vuletic, director;

Brazil, “The Year My Parents Went on Vacation,” Cao Hamburger, director;

Bulgaria, “Warden of the Dead,” Ilian Simeonov, director;

Canada, “Days of Darkness,” Denys Arcand, director;

Chile, “Padre Nuestro,” Rodrigo Sepulveda, director;

China, “The Knot,” Yin Li, director;

Colombia, “Satanas,” Andi Baiz, director;

Croatia, “Armin,” Ognjen Svilicic, director;

Cuba, “The Silly Age,” Pavel Giroud, director;

Czech Republic, “I Served the King of England,” Jiri Menzel, director;

Denmark, “The Art of Crying,” Peter Schonau Fog, director;

Egypt, “In the Heliopolis Flat,” Mohamed Khan, director;

Estonia, “The Class,” Ilmar Raag, director;

Finland, “A Man’s Job,” Aleksi Salmenpera, director;

France, “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, directors;

Georgia, “The Russian Triangle,” Aleko Tsabadze, director;

Germany, “The Edge of Heaven,” Fatih Akin, director;

Greece, “Eduart,” Angeliki Antoniou, director;

Hong Kong, “Exiled,” Johnnie To, director;

Hungary, “Taxidermia,” Gyorgy Palfi, director;

Iceland, “Jar City,” Baltasar Kormakur, director;

India, “Eklavya – The Royal Guard,” Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director;

Indonesia, “Denias, Singing on the Cloud,” John De Rantau, director;

Iran, “M for Mother,” Rasoul Mollagholipour, director;

Iraq, “Jani Gal,” Jamil Rostami, director;

Ireland, “Kings,” Tom Collins, director;

Israel, “Beaufort,” Joseph Cedar, director;

Italy, “The Unknown,” Giuseppe Tornatore, director;

Japan, “I Just Didn’t Do It,” Masayuki Suo, director;

Kazakhstan, “Mongol,” Sergei Bodrov, director;

Korea, “Secret Sunshine,” Chang-dong Lee, director;

Lebanon, “Caramel,” Nadine Labaki, director;

Luxembourg, “Little Secrets,” Pol Cruchten, director;

Macedonia, “Shadows,” Milcho Manchevski, director;

Mexico, “Silent Light,” Carlos Reygadas, director;

The Netherlands, “Duska,” Jos Stelling, director;

Norway, “Gone with the Woman,” Petter Naess, director;

Peru, “Crossing a Shadow,” Augusto Tamayo, director;

Philippines, “Donsol,” Adolfo Alix, Jr., director;

Poland, “Katyn,” Andrzej Wajda, director;

Portugal, “Belle Toujours,” Manoel de Oliveira, director;

Puerto Rico, “Love Sickness,” Carlitos Ruiz, Mariem Perez, directors;

Romania, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Cristian Mungiu, director;

Russia, “12,” Nikita Mikhalkov, director;

Serbia, “The Trap,” Srdan Golubovic, director;

Singapore, “881,” Royston Tan, director;

Slovakia, “Return of the Storks,” Martin Repka, director;

Slovenia, “Short Circuits,” Janez Lapajne, director;

Spain, “The Orphanage,” J.A. Bayona, director;

Sweden, “You, the Living,” Roy Andersson, director;

Switzerland, “Late Bloomers,” Bettina Oberli, director;

Taiwan, “Island Etude,” Chen Huai-En, director;

Thailand, “King of Fire,” Chatrichalerm Yukol, director;

Turkey, “A Man’s Fear of God,” Ozer Kiziltan, director;

Uruguay, “The Pope’s Toilet,” Enrique Fernandez, Cesar Charlone, directors;

Venezuela, “Postcards from Leningrad,” Mariana Rondon, director;

Vietnam, “The White Silk Dress,” Luu Huynh, director.

Nominations for the 80th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.