Oscar Update: 63 Foreign Language Submissions

Some readers may have noticed that I'm not really writing much of anything about this year's Oscar race yet. The reason is simple - I have gotten tired of getting caught up in the prognosticating well before we've actually seen many of the movies coming out. So I have taken a step back this year - and you know? I like it. I will do my annual predictions, but not until closer to Oscar time.

But I am always interested in seeing what countries submit for the Foreign Language Film Oscar. I am on record as not being a fan of the current process - thinking you should actually have to release your film in North America to be considered, and that as long as it is released, then it should be eligible, instead of having some political panel select their countries "best" film. But no matter. The Academy won't change it, and I'm tired of tilting at windmills.

What strikes me about the 63 films that were selected this year is how few of them I have heard of. Hell, I hadn't even heard of my own country's selection - Monsieur Lazhar by Phillip Falardeau (a brief read of the synopsis has me thinking Canada will not be getting nominated two years in a row). Below, I have highlighted some of the title that did stand out for me though. I'm not going to bother making predictions now - until the shortlist of 9 titles is announced, it's a fool's errand.

The Flowers of War (Zhang Yimou, China) - The people you picked Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou (1990) for China selection were fired for picking a supposedly anti-Chinese film. Now, 21 years later, Yimou seems to be one of their go to guys. I don't know what to make of that. Christian Bale stars in this one, and it is about Chinese sex workers who volunteer to take over as escorts for occuoying Japanese soliders in 1937. No clue what it's like.

Le Havre (Aki Kariusmaki, Finland) - Famed Finnish director Kariusmaki's latest has been on the Festival circuit since Cannes in May - and has generated some mixed reviews - some saying it's a return to form for Aki, some insisting it's more of the same. This is about a shoe shiner, who tries to save a refugee. I seem to remember Aki pulling his last films, Lights in the Dusk, from consideration after Finald selected it - so we'll see what happens.

Pina (Wim Wenders, Germany) - Wenders is one of the important filmmakers of the German New Wave movement of the 1970s. But for many, his last great film was 1987's Wings of Desire, and he's been coasting ever since. I'm not necessarily one of them, but it's true it's been a while since Wenders was truly great. This is apparently a 3-D dance documentary. Who knew that Wenders would direct that, or it would be the best a major film producing country like Germany produced in a year? The reviews have been good so far.

The Turin Horse (Bela Tarr, Hungary) - I can all but guarntee you two things - the Academy is never going to nominate a Bela Tarr film for anything, and cinephiles will decry them for it. I'm ashamed to admit that he is a filmmaker I have avoided so far - apparently his film are long and slow, but brilliant.

Footnote (Joseph Cedar, Israel) - He got nominated for Beaufort a few years ago, and he is probably a good bet again. I missed Beaufort, and what I heard about Footnote from Cannes did not fill me with desire to see it.

In Darkness (Agnieszka Holland, Poland) - Another WWII film from director Holland, most likely means another nomination.

Burnt By the Sun 2 (Nikia Mikhalov, Russia) - The original won this award way back in 1994, so although I haven't heard great things about this one, don't count it out.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Blige Ceylon, Turkey) - Turkey's premiere filmmaker has been put up for this award before by his home country, but never been nominated. The review for this have been strong, so maybe it's his year.

Below is the complete list of films, countries and their directors:

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
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	Béla 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 Bjelogrlic
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