Thursday, October 1, 2009

2009 Foreign Language Contenders

The deadline for foreign language submissions is today, so the list is starting to firm up. We'll have a shortlist later this year before nomination time in January. Here are the 59 entrants thus far:

ALBANIA - Alive
ARGENTINA - The Secret in Their Eyes
ARMENIA - Autumn of the Magician
AUSTRALIA - Samson & Delilah
AUSTRIA - For a Moment, Freedom
BANGLADESH - Beyond the Circle
BELGIUM - The Misfortunates
BOLIVIA - Southern Zone
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Guardians of the Night
BRAZIL - Salve Geral
BULGARIA - The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner
CANADA - I Killed My Mother
CHILE - Dawson, Island 10
CHINA - Forever Enthralled
CROATIA - Donkey
CZECH REPUBLIC - Protector
DENMARK - Terribly Happy
ESTONIA - December Heat
FINLAND - Letters to Father Jacob
FRANCE - A Prophet
GERMANY - The White Ribbon
HONG KONG - Prince of Tears
HUNGARY - Chameleon
ICELAND - Reykjavik-Rotterdam
INDIA - Harishchandrachi Factory
INDONESIA - Jamila and the President
IRAN - About Elly
ISRAEL - Ajami
ITALY - Baaria
JAPAN - Nobody to Watch Over Me
KAZAKHSTAN - Kelin
KOREA - Mother
LITHUANIA - Waterhole
LUXEMBOURG - Refractaire
MACEDONIA - Wingless
MEXICO - Backyard
MONGOLIA - By the Will of Genghis Khan
MOROCCO - Casanegra
NETHERLANDS - The Silent Army
NORWAY - Max Manus
PHILIPPENES - Ded na Si Lolo
POLAND - Reverse
PORTUGAL - Doomed Love
ROMANIA - Police, Adjective
RUSSIA - Ward No. 6
SERBIA - St. George Shoots the Dragon
SLOVAKIA - Broken Promise
SLOVENIA - Landscape No. 2
SOUTH AFRICA - White Wedding
SPAIN - The Dancer and the Thief
SRI LANKA - Flowers in the Sky
SWEDEN - Involuntary
SWITZERLAND - Home
TAIWAN - No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti
THAILAND - Best in Time
TURKEY - I Saw the Sun
URUGUAY - Bad Day to Go Fishing
VENEZUELA - Libertador Morales, El Justiciero
VIETNAM - Don't Burn

There were a couple of surprises with the selections. Israel was widely expected to submit Venice winner Lebanon, and Spain passed over Almodovar's Broken Embraces. I think the major players will be Germany's The White Ribbon, which won Michael Haneke the Palme d'Or back in May, France's A Prophet, which also did well at Cannes, and Korea's Mother.

I'm dying to see The White Ribbon and Australia's Samson & Deliliah. Which foreign titles are you most looking forward to?

4 comments:

DEZMOND said...

My homeland Serbia is represented by "St. George Shoots the Dragon", the most expensive movie made in our recent history which tells the epic tale of my people's suffering and bravery in the WW1.

Rae Kasey said...

Have you seen it? What did you think?

DEZMOND said...

here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7EZ3-c21M8

It did cause a lot of discussions, some people like it, some not, some thinks it's epic, some think it promotes the horrible prejudices about Serbs being the warlike nation. I agree with the second opinion. It certainly isn't a movie for people who are not informed about the real history and culture of my country.

DEZMOND said...

but you should check out the trailer for another Serbian movie from two or three years ago CHARLESTON AND VENDETTA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuRctLXYzO8

It a visually extremely stunning movie, set in the period after the WW1, about Serbian women who are left without men after many years of war, so they go hunting for the last man in the country :))

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