Italy's Gomorra Snubbed. The Foreign Language Film Oscar Finalists

I'll be delving further into Oscar's Foreign Language Film race in a few days since I will have seen a few more of the finalists. The various foreign language committees (it's complicated) have narrowed the field of 67 films down to onto a shortlist of 9 films. I'll give you my perspective next week. But first things first. There's always a high profile snub (or three). I'm just glad it wasn't The Class, which I adore (see my Best Picture nominees) and which won the Palme D'Or in Cannes earlier this year. No, this year's most high profile snub is that other Cannes smash, Italy's Gomorra. The hyperlink mafia film didn't make their finalist pool so it's outta there. IFC was set to release Gomorra in conjunction with the Oscar run so it'll be interesting to see if they proceed or if they delay. Unfortunately many distributors get non-committal with the foreign films they've grabbed which don't receive nominations.

Snubs are never exactly "surprising" in this often head-scratching category, but if you're talking general profile as a contender, Italy certainly had it. What's more, Italy is arguably Oscar's favorite country in this category. They've won 10 Foreign Language Film Oscars. France, which has had more nominees over the years, is Italy's only real rival with 9 wins.

The Finalists

• Revanche (Austria)
• The Necessities of Life (Canada)
• The Class (France) reopening soon
  
• Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Germany)
• Waltz With Bashir (Israel) now playing
  
• Departures (Japan) *
  
• Tear This Heart Out (Mexico)
• Everlasting Moments (Sweden) *
  
• Three Monkeys (Turkey) *
  

The films with asterisks have US distribution and you might see them in theaters between now and summer but you never know. Distribution is always so problematic with foreign films and distributors are strangely slow on the draw even when Oscar buzz is in play. The Japanese film, for example, isn't slated to play in US theaters till this summer.

Five of those nine films will be named as Oscar nominees on January 22nd. Israel's Waltz With Bashir (my interview with the director), which has been having a great awards run with BFCA and Globe wins and France's The Class are both eligible in all Oscar categories since they were released within the general US eligibility period. The others are only eligible in Foreign Film.
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Ari Folman on Waltz With Bashir

Sage advice for all storytellers: Start strong. Waltz With Bashir certainly does. *woof woof*

26 raging dogs terrorize a man in Waltz With Bashir's opening dream sequence

Have you seen it yet? (In the comments: What movies grabbed you with their very first moments this past year?)

When I met Ari Folman, shortly before the holiday break I was conscious of starting strong myself. I heard him mention to his publicist that he was on his 700th interview (that's probably not an exaggeration given how long Waltz With Bashir has been working the festival and awards circuit) so when I sat down I threw out this opening volley "Which question are you most sick of answering?" I planned to scratch it comically off my note pad should I have planned to ask it. He made me guess. I failed but it was a good ice breaker as we chatted about his movie. Turns out he's been asked "Why animation?" too many times in reference to this war memories documentary. He always intended Bashir to be an animated film... even before one word was written.

I met with him for Tribeca Film and here's the piece.

Related Pages:
Animated and Foreign Language Film Oscar Races, Golden Globes, National Society of Film Critics Win
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