Foreign Oscar Hopefuls

As committees from each individual country select their respective submissions for the Best Foreign Picture Academy Award derby, folks like myself have the arduous task of trying to keep score. Without a doubt the early favorite is Germany’s selection which has already picked up seven German Film Awards this year. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s directorial debut takes place in East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. Sony Pictures Classics will release The Lives of Others early next year, though it could be challenged for the Foreign Oscar category by another SPC pic – Pedro’s Volver. Also let us not forget the Berlin Film Festival winning picture Grbavica.

Here is ioncinema.com’s top 5 predictions for final nominee status with Las Vegas-style odds of winning.

The Lives of Others: 3 to 1

Volver: 5 to 2

Pan’s Labyrinth: 8 to 2

Black Book: 9 to 1

Alice: 15 to 1

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the five international nominees for the best foreign Oscar on Jan. 23. The Oscar ceremony is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Feb. 25. We at IONCINEMA.com will keep on updating this section, so far the 2006 submissions are:

   

   

   

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Argentina, “Family Law,” Daniel Burman
Australia, “Ten Canoes,” Rolf de Heer
Austria, “You Bet Your Life,” Antonin Svoboda
Bangladesh, “Forever Flows,” Abu Sayeed
Belgium, “Someone Else’s Happiness,” Fien Troch
Bolivia, “American Visa,” Juan Carlos Valdivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Grbavica,” Jasmila Zbanic
Brazil, “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures,” Marcelo Gomes
Bulgaria, “Monkeys in Winter,” Milena Andonova
Canada, “Water ,” Deepa Mehta
Chile, “En la Cama,” Matiaz Bize
China, “The Curse of the Golden Flower,” Zhang Yimou
Colombia, “A Ton of Luck,” Rodrigo Triana
Croatia, “Libertas,” Veljko Bulajic
Cuba, “El Benny,” Jorge Luis Sanchez
Czech Republic, “ Lunacy ,” Jan Svankmajer
Denmark, “ After The Wedding ,” Susanne Bier
Egypt, “The Yacoubian Building,” Marwan Hamed
France, “Avenue Montaigne ,” Daniele Thompson
Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Greece, “Chariton’s Choir,” Grigoris Karantinakis
Hong Kong, “The Banquet ,” Feng Xiaogang
Hungary, “White Palms ,” Szabolcs Hajdu
Iceland, “Children,” Ragnar Bragason
India, “Rang De Basanti,” Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Indonesia, “Love for Share,” Nia Dinata
Iran, “Transit Cafe,” Kambozia Partovi
Iraq, “Dreams,” Mohamed Al-Daradji
Israel, “Sweet Mud,” Dror Shaul
Italy, “The Golden Door ,” Emanuele Crialese
Japan, “Hula Girls,” Sang-il Lee
Kazakhstan, “Nomad,” Sergei Bodrov, Talgat Temenov, Ivan Passer
Korea, “King and the Clown,” Lee Jun-ik
Kyrgyzstan, “The Wedding Chest,” Nurbek Egen
Lebanon, “Bosta,” Philippe Aractingi
Lithuania, “Before Flying Back to Earth,” Arunas Matelis
Macedonia, “Kontakt,” Sergei Stanojkovski
Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth ,” Guillermo del Toro
Morocco, “The Moroccan Symphony,” Kamal Kamal
Nepal, “Basain,” Subash Prasad Gajurel
The Netherlands, “Black Book ,” Paul Verhoeven
Norway, “Reprise ,” Joachim Trier
Peru, “Madeinusa,” Claudia Llosa
Philippines, “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros,” Auraeus Solito
Poland, “Retrieval,” Slawomir Fabicki
Portugal, “Alice ,” Marco Martins
Puerto Rico, “Thieves and Liars,” Ricardo Mendez Matta
Romania, “The Way I Spent the End of the World,” Catalin Mitulescu
Russia, “9th Company,” Fyodor Bondarchuk
Serbia, “Tomorrow Morning,” Oleg Novkovic
Slovenia, “Gravehopping,” Jan Cvitkovic
Spain, “Volver ,” Pedro Almodovar
Sweden, “Falkenberg Farewell,” Jesper Ganslandt
Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer
Taiwan, “Blue Cha Cha,” Cheng Wen-tang
Thailand, “Ahimsa Stop to Run,” Leo Kittikorn
Turkey, “Ice Cream, I Scream,” Yuksel Aksu
Ukraine, “Aurora,” Oxana Bayrak
Venezuela, “Maroa,” Solveig Hoogesteijn
Vietnam, “Story of Pao,” Ngo Quang Hai