So, will the Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film this year be the provocative and daring Greek entry “Dogtooth“? Somehow we doubt it, but we’re glad and somewhat surprised that the film has made it this far, landing in the nine shortlisted films of which four will be dropped off when the final five for the Oscar nominations are announced.
Among the films making the cut is the gritty Algerian thriller “Hors la Loi,” a WWII-set film about the struggle for Algerian independence. Susanne Bier‘s Golden Globe winner “In a Better World” is unsurprisingly here and at this point, pretty much a lock for an Oscar nod. Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s “Biutiful” has clearly picked up steam with the industry and with a wide release scheduled for January 28th, the filmmakers are hoping a nomination will boost its box office chances. South Africa’s “Life, above All” impressed on the fest circuit and those credentials are shown here, and Canada’s “Incendies” wowed critics in its native land and seems to be impressing voters as well.
A committee will once again screen the remaining nine films and then whittle it down to the five choices that will be read on the morning of January 25th. Check out the full list of films below. [ThompsonOnHollywood]
Algeria, “Hors la Loi” (“Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director;
Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director;
Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director;
Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director;
Japan, “Confessions,” Tetsuya Nakashima, director;
Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro González Iñárritu, director;
South Africa, “Life, above All,” Oliver Schmitz, director;
Spain, “Tambien la Lluvia” (“Even the Rain”), Iciar Bollain, director;
Sweden, “Simple Simon,” Andreas Ohman, director.