I am going to be updating my predictions for Best Foreign Language Feature and Best Documentary this afternoon, but this morning the Academy revealed the shortlist of the nine films that have moved forward our of the full list of 71 to compete in the Best Foreign Language category.
Among them would be the presumed front-runner in Michael Haneke‘s Amour, which I believe only hurts its chances at a Best Picture nomination if there was a chance. Nikolaj Arcel‘s A Royal Affair has had plenty of solid buzz and the Weinstein Co. will have two horses in this race between The Intouchables and Kon-Tiki.
I saw Pablo Larrain‘s No just yesterday and not only is it good, it has had plenty of buzz since its premiere at Cannes that could help it become a finalist. I’ve heard good things about Baltasar Kormakur‘s The Deep and while Cristian Mungiu‘s Beyond the Hills received mixed reviews out of Cannes, it did manage to win Best Actress and Best Screenplay.
Finally, Ursula Meier‘s Sister won the Silver Berlin Beat at the Berlin International Film Festival this year and was also nominated for Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards while Kim Nguyen‘s War Witch was named as one of the Best Foreign Films of the year by the National Board of Review, was also nominated for a Spirit Award and won Best Actress and Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.
I have seen only three of the nine listed below and will be sure to watch A Royal Affair very soon. Of the others I don’t think I’ll get a chance unless a screener heads my way, but this afternoon I’ll do my best to sort these out and predict which five I believe will be nominated.
- Austria, Amour, Michael Haneke, director
- Canada, War Witch, Kim Nguyen, director
- Chile, No, Pablo LarraÃn, director
- Denmark, A Royal Affair, Nikolaj Arcel, director
- France, The Intouchables, Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors
- Iceland, The Deep, Baltasar Kormákur, director
- Norway, Kon-Tiki, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors
- Romania, Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu, director
- Switzerland, Sister, Ursula Meier, director
You can browse the full list of the 71 films submitted for consideration here.
