Oscar Foreign Film nominees: L.A.-based members make incoherent selections!?

I’ve only seen about a dozen of the 64 films that the voters had to see – but I think it is safe to say: with Cannes Palme d’Or or Cannes Jury Prize winners out of contention, this 9-list (which will become a 5 finalists list) is not representative of the best in foreign language films for the year of 2007. The worrisome exclusion of 4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Persepolis means that the voting process needs to either be revised or membership needs to be questioned. The nine group (of which I’ve seen only two) are:

“The Counterfeiters” (Austria); “The Year My
Parents Went on Vacation” (Brazil); “Days of Darkness” (Canada); “Beaufort”
(Israel); “The Unknown” (Italy); “Mongol” (Kazakhstan); “Katyn” (Poland); “12”
(Russia); and “The Trap” (Serbia).

The second phase of voting will occur from Jan. 18-20 in Hollywood and Gotham, will
involve 10 randomly appointed members from the first committee plus two
handpicked groups of 10 members in both Hollywood and Gotham. Those 30 voters
will winnow the list down to the final five nominees.

Nominations for the Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday at the Samuel
Goldwyn Theater.