The Academy has announced what I would determine to be a rather solid shortlist of Foreign Language contenders for the 2012 Oscars based on what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen so far. Of course, there are films that didn’t make the cut that will likely have people up in arms.
One such film is one we Elite Squad: The Enemy Within were also among films many thought may stand a chance or were at least critical favorites.
However, strong favorite A Separation made the list as did Win Wenders’ 3D dance documentary Pina along with a personal favorite of mine in Bullhead, which is essentially this year’s Dogtooth if you ask me, which was one of last year’s surprise shortlist inclusions that went on to earn a nomination.
Of the others, I have seen In Darkness and it is a tough watch and I still need to watch Footnote, which I’ve heard mixed reactions on ever since it debuted in Cannes last year. Monsieur Lazhar, Superclasico, Omar Killed Me and Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale are virtually unknown to me, but I have included a few trailers to the bottom of this post that I just added to the site from the selected titles below.
And I personally suggest keeping an eye out for Bullhead, which will be hitting theaters later this year from Drafthouse Films.
- Belgium, Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam, director
- Canada, Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, director
- Denmark, Superclasico, Ole Christian Madsen, director
- Germany, Pina, Wim Wenders, director
- Iran, A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, director
- Israel, Footnote, Joseph Cedar, director
- Morocco, Omar Killed Me, Roschdy Zem, director
- Poland, In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland, director
- Taiwan, Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Wei Te-sheng, director
The nine films above were selected from 63 films submitted and they will be winnowed down to the five nominees which will be announced next Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
I have gone ahead and added these nine films to my Oscar predictions with A Separation leading the pack, though as we all know, this is one category that has a tendency to not go as expected.
As for my predictions, my top five look like this:
- A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
- In Darkness (dir. Agnieszka Holland)
- Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
- Bullhead (dir. Michael R. Roskam)
- Monsieur Lazhar (dir. Philippe Falardeau)
You can browse my complete rankings for the Foreign Language category right here.
Now check out a few new trailers from the selected films above.
