All About the Foreign Film Oscar Nominees
Posted by Team Screenline on Friday, February 19, 2010 in (0) Comments • Permalink •
Ajami – Israel
US release date: 2/3/10
US box office: $104,992
Synopsis: A cross-section of residents reacts to a young man’s gang-related murder in Jaffa’s volatile Ajami neighborhood, where Jews, Muslims, and Christians live in close proximity.
Backstory: Ajami was shot on location with amateur actors in the poverty-plagued, contentious city, giving the film a gritty, cinema-verite feel. The film made its debut at the Directors Fortnight at Cannes in May 2009. This is the ninth film from Israel to be up for the foreign film Oscar. It’s also the country’s third consecutive year competing in the race, though Ajami does not have the buzz, plaudits, or box office of last year’s Waltz with Bashir, which earned $2.3M in the US alone.
Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) – Peru
US release date: N/A
Synopsis: Deals with a timid 20-year-old girl facing big-city life in Lima while caring for her mother, from whom she appears to have inherited a fear of life.
Backstory: Milk of Sorrow made a big splash at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival, winning the Golden Bear award. Like best picture nominees The Hurt Locker and An Education, the film was directed by a woman, Claudia Llosa. It’s the first Peruvian film to receive an Oscar nomination, and the country is hoping the publicity will help promote its tourism business.
A Prophet (Un Prophete)
US release date: 2/26/10
Synopsis: A incarcerated young man gets in good with a tough prison gang, carrying out “missions” for them, and gaining power and status within the group, all while devising his own secret plan.
Backstory: Acquired for Sony Pictures Classics at Cannes, A Prophet has one of the highest profiles of the nominees, second only to The White Ribbon. The movie has won the Grand Prix, best foreign film from the National Board of Review, best picture from the London Film Critics Circle, and Golden Globe and Spirit nominations. Should A Prophet take home the Oscar, it will be the tenth victory for France in this category. Director Jacques Audiard’s last film, Beat that my Heart Skipped, was released in the US July 1, 2005 and earned just over $1M.
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) – Argentina
US release date: N/A
Synopsis: A retired criminal-court official decides to write a novel about a rape and murder case that occurred in 1974 Argentina.
Backstory: The Secret in Their Eyes was released in Argentina in August and later debuted in North America at the Toronto Film Festival. It won two Goya awards, Spain’s Oscar equivalent, including best foreign film. Secret is the sixth Argentine film nominated in this category, and the first since Son of the Bride in 2001. Both pictures were directed by Juan Jose Campanella, who’s directed for American TV shows 30 Rock and House among others. Currently, a US remake of Son of the Bride is in development with Adam Sandler attached to produce and star.
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) – Germany
US release date: 12/30/09
US box office cume: $1.04M
Synopsis: In a village in Protestant northern Germany on the eve of World War I children in a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families, experience strange accidents that gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual.
Backstory: The White Ribbon is the ninth foreign film nomination for the re-unified Germany. They last won in 2002 with Nowhere in Africa, which grossed a strong $6.2M in the US. The film has had the most momentum this awards season ever since it won the Palme D’or at Cannes, where SPC quickly picked it up. Since then, it’s taken home foreign film awards from the Chicago and Toronto film critics, as well as the Golden Globe. Additionally, Ribbon received a second nomination for best cinematography, the only foreign film nominee to receive multiple nods this year. Director Michael Haneke last helmed 2008’s Funny Games, a remake of his 1998 film, as well as 2005’s critically-acclaimed Cache.
--Philip Siegel