What do Blue Is the Warmest Color and The Past have in common? Two things, actually: they’re both widely considered among the best foreign-language films shown in the US this year–and neither will be nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar. Blue was the victim of arcane Academy rules regarding its theatrical release date in France, while Asghar Farhadi’s The Past wasn’t chosen by either the several hundred Academy members who vote on the nominees, or by the category’s Executive Committee, which each year adds 3 additional titles to the 6 selected by the voters.
So the ultimate 5 nominees this year will be picked from this group of 9 by a 30-member committee (not to be confused with the Executive Committee):
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN (Belgium)
AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN IRON PICKER (Bosnia/Herzegovina)
THE MISSING PICTURE (Cambodia)
THE HUNT (Denmark)
TWO LIVES (Germany)
THE GRANDMASTER (Hong Kong)
THE NOTEBOOK (Hungary)
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy)
OMAR (Palestine)
It appears that only Broken Circle Breakdown, The Hunt, The Grandmaster and The Great Beauty have had US runs , although Missing Picture and Two Lives are scheduled for 2014. The Foreign-Language category is notoriously difficult to predict, but the initial frontrunners would appear to be Grandmaster, which was directed by the great Wong Kar Wai (although it’s not one of his best), and Paolo Sorrentino’s gorgeously Fellini-esque Great Beauty, which has played to mostly rave reviews, recently winning Best Film at the European Film Awards.
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About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
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