The 2013 submissions are:
Afghanistan, “Wajma – An Afghan Love Story,” Barmak Akram, director;
Albania, “Agon,” Robert Budina, director;
Argentina, “The German Doctor,” Lucía Puenzo, director;
Australia, “The Rocket,” Kim Mordaunt, director;
Austria, “The Wall,” Julian Pölsler, director;
Azerbaijan, “Steppe Man,” Shamil Aliyev, director;
Bangladesh, “Television,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;
Brazil, “Neighboring Sounds,” Kleber Mendonça Filho, director;
Bulgaria, “The Color of the Chameleon,” Emil Hristov, director;
Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;
Canada, “Gabrielle,” Louise Archambault, director;
Chad, “GriGris,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director;
Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio, director;
China, “Back to 1942,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
Colombia, “La Playa DC,” Juan Andrés Arango, director;
Croatia, “Halima’s Path,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
Czech Republic, “The Don Juans,” Jiri Menzel, director;
Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;
Dominican Republic, “Quien Manda?” Ronni Castillo, director;
Ecuador, “The Porcelain Horse,” Javier Andrade, director;
Egypt, “Winter of Discontent,” Ibrahim El Batout, director;
Estonia, “Free Range,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;
Finland, “Disciple,” Ulrika Bengts, director;
France, “Renoir,” Gilles Bourdos, director;
Georgia, “In Bloom,” Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, directors;
Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;
Greece, “Boy Eating the Bird’s Food,” Ektoras Lygizos, director;
Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;
Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;
Iceland, “Of Horses and Men,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director;
India, “The Good Road,” Gyan Correa, director;
Indonesia, “Sang Kiai,” Rako Prijanto, director;
Iran, “The Past,” Asghar Farhadi, director;
Israel, “Bethlehem,” Yuval Adler, director;
Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;
Japan, “The Great Passage,” Ishii Yuya, director;
Kazakhstan, “Shal,” Yermek Tursunov, director;
Latvia, “Mother, I Love You,” Janis Nords, director;
Lebanon, “Blind Intersections,” Lara Saba, director;
Lithuania, “Conversations on Serious Topics,” Giedre Beinoriute, director;
Luxembourg, “Blind Spot,” Christophe Wagner, director;
Mexico, “Heli,” Amat Escalante, director;
Moldova, “All God’s Children,” Adrian Popovici, director;
Montenegro, “Ace of Spades – Bad Destiny,” Drasko Djurovic, director;
Morocco, “Horses of God,” Nabil Ayouch, director;
Nepal, “Soongava: Dance of the Orchids,” Subarna Thapa, director;
Netherlands, “Borgman,” Alex van Warmerdam, director;
New Zealand, “White Lies,” Dana Rotberg, director;
Norway, “I Am Yours,” Iram Haq, director;
Pakistan, “Zinda Bhaag,” Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, directors;
Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director;
Peru, “The Cleaner,” Adrian Saba, director;
Philippines, “Transit,” Hannah Espia, director;
Poland, “Walesa. Man of Hope,” Andrzej Wajda, director;
Portugal, “Lines of Wellington,” Valeria Sarmiento, director;
Romania, “Child’s Pose,” Calin Peter Netzer, director;
Russia, “Stalingrad,” Fedor Bondarchuk, director;
Saudi Arabia, “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour, director;
Serbia, “Circles,” Srdan Golubovic, director;
Singapore, “Ilo Ilo,” Anthony Chen, director;
Slovak Republic, “My Dog Killer,” Mira Fornay, director;
Slovenia, “Class Enemy,” Rok Bicek, director;
South Africa, “Four Corners,” Ian Gabriel, director;
South Korea, “Juvenile Offender,” Kang Yi-kwan, director;
Spain, “15 Years Plus a Day,” Gracia Querejeta, director;
Sweden, “Eat Sleep Die,” Gabriela Pichler, director;
Switzerland, “More than Honey,” Markus Imhoof, director;
Taiwan, “Soul,” Chung Mong-Hong, director;
Thailand, “Countdown,” Nattawut Poonpiriya, director;
Turkey, “The Butterfly’s Dream,” Yilmaz Erdogan, director;
Ukraine, “Paradjanov,” Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, directors;
United Kingdom, “Metro Manila,” Sean Ellis, director;
Uruguay, “Anina,” Alfredo Soderguit, director;
Venezuela, “Breach in the Silence,” Luis Alejandro Rodríguez and Andrés Eduardo Rodríguez, directors.
Turkey’s entry was brilliant. The inexplicable beauty of acting in The Butterfly’s Dream… LOVED IT!
Urgh… I’m a bit disappointed that Canada’s pick is Gabrielle, not a bad film per se, but it’s so melodramatic, cutesy and Oscar-bait-ish really… After the streak we had in the last 3 years (Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar and War Witch), I would’ve gone with “Vic + Flo ont vu un ours” instead. It’s an odd movie, but much better than the forgettable Gabrielle…
Filipinos are on a roll headlining 3 films for consideration!!!
Philippines, “Transit,” Hannah Espia, director- story of illegal Filipinos living and working in Israel on the verge of deportation
Singapore, “Ilo Ilo,” Anthony Chen, director- story of a Filipino nanny’s relationship with a Singaporean family
United Kingdom, “Metro Manila,” Sean Ellis, director- story of a Filipino family who moved to the country’s capital city in hope of greener pasture.
Correction Neighboring Sounds from Brazil is streaming on Netflix i dont know if its out on dvd yet
France: Renoir
Brazil: Neighboring Sounds
China: Back To 1942
Are out on dvd and bluray those films are in the running for best foreign language film submission list.
I have only seen The Hunt and The Grandmaster. The former should get nominated.
Expecting Gloria, The Past, Wadjda, The Great Beauty, Child’s Pose, The Wall etc as the big players.
Also happy to see Pakistan submitted a movie after so many decades. Our film industry is one of the worst.
I’m not sure I have seen a film from Pakistan? Any films you recommend??
As an Australian, we have an affinity with Pakistan on a sporting and social level, it would be good to see an artistic side.
so the Czech submission changed….
Here is the trailer for “Neighbouring Sounds” (BRAZIL): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A6eSp8kKrU
Premiering at last year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, O Som Ao Redor (Neighbouring Sounds) takes place in an upper-middle class neighbourhood in Recife, Brazil’s fifth-largest city, as well as the director’s hometown. The film follows several characters residing in a single city block, a block run primarily by Francisco Oliveira, a patriarch who owns over half the area’s real estate, and the arrival of a private security firm hired to ensure the residents’ safety. The times are clearly changing in this neighbourhood, and there’s not an ounce of doubt that such a transformation provides a ripe landscape for the film’s intentions of heavy social commentary.
Farhadi has his second Oscar in the bag.
Saudi Arabia’s entry has the biggest chance of winning. I have seen “The Hunt” and it is indeed intense and well-crafted. The final playing field will proly look like this: Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Iran, Brazil, Italy/Russia/Singapore
If LIKE FATHER LIKE SON is selected , it will win.
I don’t know about that. It is very good, but I think the are about 5 well ahead of it. The good news is that it is very mainstream and will find an audience.
The list above does show that Japan has chosen The Great Passage instead of Like Father Like Son… Yet another controversy in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film race, that is allegedly leading the Academy to rethink its rules: they have apparently no intention to get rid of national committees but in the future they might also add films that have won prizes at major festivals and/or foreign films that get a US release during the calendar year.
NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS
Brazil’s entry made a NY Times top ten list last year, good to say. Hope it gets a nomination, even though it’s not an easy sit at all.
it started so well, I was really interested and not bored at all, but by time the movie ended I was disappointed. some scenes seemed very random and the movie was very unclear about many things, it spends too much time with some characters and too little with others, and there is not much of a social diversity to be class study. it is that but only in parts. I don’t know… I just feel like it wasn’t very accomplished.
I don’t know you, but I really think you don’t gather what it takes to fully comprehend the film. Every single shot has a meaning to the story the director wanted to tell onscreen. It’s more a social manifest then a story, actually. The film connects much more to the surrounding reality then to the archs of the plot or the characters.
Brazil’s Neighbouring Sounds is fantastic. In my opinion it’s the best film the country has produced since City of God. It’s not a easy film to watch, but it reflects perfectly about the middle class in Brazil. It’s not a character study, it’s a class study.
You guys just sold me on the movie. But is it a portrait/study of the middle class or an indictment of a class system –because based on the trailer, I see a lot of people who wouldn’t qualify as “middle class” even for Brazil’s current standards. I shouldn’t conclude anything based on a trailer though and proceed to watch the film.
p.s. Looks like a vérité GOMORRAH meets THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE. Far-fetched?
Ecuador, “The Porcelain Horse,” Javier Andrade, director is like the worst movie ever made, saw it in Miami, shame that country decided to chose it, it will get nowhere.
Brazil’s neighbouring sounds is a masterpiece
Wajda? Wow he has 87 years old and he still making films
The Hunt is superb!
so Portugal will maintain it’s record with most submissions and 0 nominations…
Seen and liked: Neighbouring Sounds (brilliant), The Hunt (also brilliant), More Than Honey (brilliant as well), Child’s Pose (brilliant too), Wadjda (fine), The Great Beauty (fine)
Seen and disliked: Renoir (boring), Lines of Wellington (atrociously, awfully, extremely bad)
Seeing Borgman, The Missing Picture, Heli and The Past next week.
I have no idea what I thought about Child’s Pose…I’d actually forgotten i had seen it. I guess it’s a very straightforward film. It reminded me of A Separation in some aspects. Very well acted.
Now, that I remember it exists I may revisit it again.
I went to college with Adrian Saba. One of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. I hope he makes it to the Oscars.
Here is the trailer for Wajma from Afghanistan if anyone is interested
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIDgiZJSp6U
I am SO PROUD!!! Multiple middle eastern directors and films!
Wajma from Afghanistan is beautiful and hope it gets nominated.
I am partial though to my fellow countryman Asghar Farhadi for Le Passe! Le Passe being picked by Iran’s committee is a huge step in social progress in Iran. This movie has women without head scarfs and also deals with topics not spoken in Iran. To see it be picked despite conservatives in Iran grumbling is a momentous step in post-revolution Iranian film history and culture. So happy for Mr. Farhadi !!
Saudi Arabia too! Bringing a female director to represent their first submission!!!
Lovely news all around !
Only saddened that Tunisia couldn’t pick Blue is the Warmest Color.
The way I see it there are three virtual locks: Iran, Denmark (as usual, says a proud Dane…) and Saudi Arabia (that’s what I’m being told anyway).
Chile, Holland and (hopefully) Italy look like good bets as well. Just caught the Italian entry ‘The Great Beauty’ the other day: Fellini-esque in a charming, offbeat way. And a love letter to Rome. Maybe slightly caricatured, but the Italian greats usually are.
I would say Chile is a lock. Has to be…
Anyone know of English subtitles of the French Blu-ray of THE PAST? I need to see the film, but I don’t have subtitles !! 🙁
I’ve only seen GLORIA and I hope it makes it. Also if the year ended now, it should also get a Best Actress nomination.
I will try to see THE HUNT, OMAR, and THE GREAT BEAUTY before the year is over. The rest depending on what I hear.
THE GRANDMASTER was mildly disappointing.
Bryce, when I do a search there are quite a few sites offering srt files for the subtitles. If you can’t find one that’s suitable I’ll come over and perform it in feel-o-round for you.
Mattoc, I’ve come across those and they’re terrible, but thanks for taking the trouble. I’ll wait until someone who actually speaks French puts them together.
How does the academy chose the eligible films?
Do these films have to register or whatever you’d call it?
Each country sets up a committee of professionals/officials who are supposed to choose what they consider to be the best film of the year and submit it to the Academy by October 1st.
This would be my ideal nominations:
Netherlands, “Borgman,” Alex van Warmerdam,
Iran, “The Past,” Asghar Farhadi,
Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg,
Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio,
But I think this title will win:
Saudi Arabia, “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour,