Academy Award Update

Submissions for Best Foreign Film are due to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienes by Oct. 1.

So far 21 submissions have been announced and the submissions from three of our seven Sister City countries are in.

Germany has submitted “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) directed by Uli Edel. The film stars

Hungary has submitted “Iska’s Journey” (Iszka utazása) directed by Csaba Bollók.

Japan has submitted “Departures” (Okuribito)directed by Yojiro Takita. 

Mexico is considering 11 films to represent the country: Arrancame La Vida, Cochochi, Cumbia Callera, Déficit, Dos Abrazos, El Viaje de la Nonna, Familia Tortuga, La Zona, Lake Tahoe (film), Partes Usadas and Quemar Las Naves.

AMPAS awards the Best Foreign Language Film to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The diaglog, however, does not have to be the native language of that country. An AMPAS committee reviews submissions and generally narrows the list of submissions by late fall. Then nominees will be announced Jan. 22, 2009, with the winner announced at the Feb. 22 awards ceremony in Hollywood.

 

Edge of Heaven in Center of Dallas

Fatih Akin's Lola Award-winning film has rolled into Dallas at the Angelika. The film was Germany's nominee for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, edging out one of my favorites of 2008 -- "Four Minutes." 

I haven't seen "Edge" but Star-Telegram film critic Christopher Kelley told me at the time that this was a film worthy of accolades. 

Akin is no stranger to the award circuit. "Edge of Heaven" received the best screenplay award at Cannes 2007 and he previously was recognized at Cannes for his film "Head-On."

So head on over to the Angelika this weekend and check out Akin's latest.

Trailer

Edge of Heaven 

Directed by : Fatih Akin

From the director of Head-On andCrossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul.

Nejat initially disapproves of his widower father Ali`s choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But the young professor warms to her when he learns that most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies. After Yeter`s accidental death, Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter`s daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, much to the displeasure of her conservative mother, Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Passionate Lotte abandons everything to help Ayten. A tragic event brings Susanne to Istanbul to help fulfill her daughter`s mission.

Winner – Best Screenplay Award, Cannes Film Festival 2007.
Winner – Best Screenplay Award, European Film Awards 2007.
Winner – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing 2008 German Film Awards (LOLA)

Hungary Wins Tax Breaks

Last year I wrote a lot about Hungary's efforts to pass tax breaks for film production and the impact it would have on the booming studio business, particularly in Budapest.

Well those breaks passed the final hurdle recently with EU approval.

John Nadler's article in Variety gives the full story.

Tax breaks set stage for Hungary
Local industry to benefit from ECC approval
by John Nadler

BUDAPEST -- After months of uncertainty the Hungarian film industry
breathed a sigh of relief following a recent European Commission (EC)
decision to approve its tax-incentive program.
Industry insiders admit there was concern the EC might not ratify an
amended Hungarian Film Law passed in June because of its tax scheme.


But Brussels surprised Hungarian producers by ratifying the 20% rebate
contained in the original law, and ordering Budapest to extend tax
incentives to include costs incurred by productions while shooting outside
Hungary.


"Frankly, I think the new scheme is an improvement," says Andras Simonyi,
chairman of Korda Filmstudio, Hungary's largest studio complex, located
just west of Budapest. "In this competitive world, the expanded incentives
(of national and foreign tax deductions) are a good combination."

El Orfanato

It's been months since I last posted -- I feel like this is a confessional.

While on a vacation to Miami recently, I pursuaded my wife to watch 'El Orfanato' the Spanish film with a connection to Del Torro that I haven't quite figured out.

Anyway, my wife can't stop talking about it and recommending it.

It's a great film, out on DVD now.

It's in the vein of old thriller movies. Not bloody and not hokey. A great, enjoyable film.

So check it out.

Academy Award nominees announced: Where are my selections?

Academy Award nominations were delivered today with an odd result for foreign films. The awards will be Feb. 24 and Sister Cities will host a watching party at the Shamrock on West Seventh Street in Fort Worth, located between the Cultural District and Downtown.

After pouring over films the last year in preparation for the Fort Worth Sister Cities Film Series, I thought I was becoming an expert. So what do I know?

The films I thought were shoe-ins for nominations based on buzz and previous awards were bypassed in the category – although some did receive nominations in other fields.

None of our Sister City countries faired well in the nominations – and I still think Germany would have been better served to have entered “Four Minutes” into the competition rather than “Auf der andere Seite” (The Edge of Heaven).

Best Foreign Language Film nominees are: “Beaufort” from Israel, “Die Fälscher” (The Counterfeiters) from Austria, “Mongol” from Kazakhstan, “12” from Russia and “Katyn” from Poland.
I had assumed that Romania's Palme d'Or winner “4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile” (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and France's animated hit film “Persepolis” would have made the final cut.

The nine films that made the cut to the semifinals included Austria's “Die Fälscher” (The Counterfeiters); Russia's 12; Italy's “La sconosciuta” (The Unknown Woman); Poland's “Katyn”; Serbia's “Klopka” (The Trap); Romania's “4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile” (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days); France's “Persepolis”; Spain's “El orfanato” (The Orphanage); Germany's “Auf der andere Seite” (The Edge of Heaven); Brazil’s “O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias” (The Year My Parents Went on Vacation); Kazakhstan’s “Mongol” ; Israel's “Beaufort “and Canada's “L'age des ténèbres” (Days of Darkness).

In other categories French Edith Piaf biopic “La môme” (La Vie en Rose) had three nominations: for Best Actress (Marion Cotillard), Best Makeup and Best Costume Design. The France-USA “Le scaphandre et le papillon” (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) had four nominations, including a Best Director for Julian Schnabel, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. “Persepolis”, another France-USA film was nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Opera Jawa Bows in NYC

If you’re in the NYC area you might want to check out Opera Jawa the Indonesian fantasy movie that retells the Hindu epic “The Ramayana.” The 2006 film was reviewed this week by the NYTimes.

We had hoped to make the film part of the FWSCI Film Series last November, but couldn’t come to terms with the distributor. It probably won’t be playing anywhere in North Texas, so you’ll have to wait for it to arrive on DVD.

The film has been a hit at festivals around the world and features Javanese dancer Eko Supriyanto.

This Just In: New Releases

The Tiger and the Snow (La Tigre e la neve), 2005, directed by Roberto Benigni, Italy
Borrowing a bit from the plot of his Oscar-winning film Life Is Beautiful, Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni plays a romantic poet who vows to follow his love (Benigni's real-life wife, Nicoletta Braschi) to the ends of the earth -- even if that means going to Iraq at the dawn of the American invasion. Skirting political bias, Benigni's whimsical comedy presents a world in which all camps are absurd. French actor Jean Reno co-stars.

Holy Mountain (La Montaña Sagrada), 1973, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico
Avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky weaves a grotesque tale rich in allegory and sacrilegious imagery as a thief (Horácio Salinas) is first crucified, then enlisted by an alchemist (Jodorowsky) to join a group of elites who seek divinity and immortality. Juan Ferrara, Adriana Page, Richard Rutowski, Valerie Jodorowsky, Zamira Saunders and Ana De Sade also star in this surreal mind trip.

Sansho the Bailiff (Sanshô dayû), 1954, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan
After deliberately disobeying a cruel feudal lord, a governor and his family are exiled and forced to fight for their survival, standing up to a pack of slave drivers determined to capture them and tear them apart. Extras include interviews with Japanese film critics Tadao Sato, Tokuzo Tanaka and Kyoko Kagawa, who discuss the influential work of director Kenji Mizoguchi and the film's status as a cinematic masterpiece.

El Topo, 1970, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico
In this surreal Western, avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky uses allegory and religious iconography to tell the story of a gunfighter, El Topo (Jodorowsky), who wanders the desert on an odyssey seeking enlightenment. But first, he must defeat four master gunfighters and dig a tunnel to free a colony of deformed underground dwellers from their dark confines. This experimental film reached cult status as the first of the "midnight movies."

The Burmese Harp, 1956, directed by Kon Ichikawa, Japan
Set during World War II's last days, this indelible antiwar drama chronicles a Japanese soldier's transformation after coming face to face with the human cost of war. Sent to inform another platoon the war is over, Cpl. Mizushima (Shôji Yasui) can't persuade the men to surrender and becomes the lone survivor when the British attack. But the casualties he sees on the way to rejoin his unit overwhelm Mizushima, and he soon finds a higher calling.

Woman in the Dunes (Suna No Onna), 1964, directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japan
Hiroshi Teshigahara's award-winning drama centers on a bug expert (Eiji Okada) conducting research who's captured by locals. Held captive in a sandpit with a young widow, he struggles with his imprisonment -- and his growing attraction to the woman (Kyôko Kishida). Based on Kobo Abe's novel, the provocatively erotic allegorical film earned the Cannes Special Jury Prize and two Oscar nominations.

Casshern (Kasshân), 2004, Japan
After decades of warfare, Earth has become a toxic wasteland, and the survivors are slowly dying from a terrible disease. Dr. Azuma (Yusuke Iseya) has developed a genetic treatment that might help regenerate the population, but his experiment goes horribly wrong. Inadvertently creating a race of mutants that threaten the future of mankind, Dr. Azuma must seek an unlikely ally to help defeat the monsters he's created in this sci-fi adventure.

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Onna Ga Kaidan Wo Agaru Toki), 1960, directed by Mikio Naruse, Japan
From acclaimed Japanese director Mikio Naruse comes this somber and moving tale of Keiko (Hideko Takamine), a middle-aged bar hostess who entertains businessmen after work in the postwar Ginza district of Tokyo. Soon, she finds herself at an unwelcome crossroads -- marry a rich client or buy a bar of her own. Naruse, in one of his most socially conscious films, examines the system that traps Keiko in this dehumanizing and merciless lifestyle.

Fires on the Plain (Nobi), 1959, directed by Kon Ichikawa, Japan
In director Kon Ichikawa's harrowing film set in the Philippines during World War II, a Japanese soldier, his emotional and physical resources nearly depleted, endures the vicissitudes of war. Ichikawa, whom some cineastes say was as talented as his better-known contemporaries, including Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi, had a way with infusing light in the darkest places.

Train Man: Densha Otoko (Densha Otoko), 2005, directed by Masanori Murakami, Japan
While riding the train, a desperate geek meets the girl of his dreams, prompting the socially deprived but brave young nerd to start a chat room thread asking his faceless Internet compatriots, "How do you talk to girls?" The courtship advice he receives from his online pals -- and what he does with their expert counsel -- form the basis for this charming romantic comedy, a love story for the 21st century.

Requiem, 2006, directed by Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany
Set in 1970s Germany, this taut drama from director Hans-Christian Schmid follows troubled 21-year-old Michaela Klingler (Sandra Huller), a devout Catholic whose epilepsy results in a tragic exorcism. Michaela is determined to get a college education regardless of her condition, but the pressures of school and sexual awakenings give rise to seizures that she ascribes to demonic possession. Based on a true story, the film also stars Imogen Kogge.

Verdict on Auschwitz (The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial 1963-1965), 1993, directed by Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner, Germany
Twenty-two former members of Hitler's SS, many of whom had carved out comfortable lives for themselves in postwar West Germany, stood trial in 1963 before 360 witnesses who accused them of murdering millions. This riveting, heartbreaking documentary re-creates the momentous Frankfurt trial. Filmmakers Rolf Bickel and Dietrich Wagner build the film around taped testimony from more than 200 Auschwitz survivors.

Antibodies (Antikörper), 2005, directed by Christian Alvart, Germany
After confessed killer Gabriel Engel (André Hennicke) is captured, small-town cop Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Möhring) interrogates him, hoping a journey into the madman's twisted mind will give clues to an unsolved murder committed in the same heinous manner as Gabriel's crimes. Gabriel claims to know the killer's identity but turns the investigation into a psychological game, leaving Michael questioning his own sanity in this German thriller.

Equinox Flower (Higanbana), 1958, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, Japan
In his first color film, acclaimed director Yasujiro Ozu explores the tension between modern romance and family tradition in postwar Japanese society. A prosperous businessman (Shin Saburi) with a reputation for doling out sound, objective relationship advice to his friends finds it difficult to practice what he preaches when his oldest daughter (Ineko Arima) announces her engagement to a man he doesn't like.

Late Autumn (Akibiyori), 1963, directed by Yasujiro Ozu, Japan
Acclaimed director Yasujiro Ozu explores the flipside of the traditional mother-daughter bond in this touching family comedy set in postwar Japan. Reluctant to marry and leave her widowed mother (Setsuko Hara) all alone, a dutiful daughter (Yôko Tsukasa) resists selecting a suitor. But her late father's friends, who are eager to see both women happy, insist on stepping in to play matchmaker.

Reincarnation, 2006, directed by Takashi Shimizu, Japan
A Japanese actress (Yûka) comes face to face with a slew of restless spirits when she signs on to star in a horror film -- the true story of a crazed professor's murderous rampage that left 11 victims, including his young daughter, in its wake -- being shot at the very site where the grisly killings took place. J-horror master Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge) directs this darkly mesmerizing tale of crime, punishment and redemption.

Suo Wins Kinma Junpo; 'Tokyo Tower' Leads Nippon Awards Nominations

Courtroom drama I Just Didn't Do it, poised for more wins.

The Japanese magazine Kinema Junpo has named its 2007 best picture. I Just Didn’t Do It (Soredemo boku wa yattenai) is a courtroom drama by Masayuki Suo, known for the light-hearted Shall We Dance. The award was presented in a ceremony this week.

The drama is about a young man falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.

Suo also won the Kinema Junpo top director prize, and I Just Didn’t Do It was Japan’s submission for Best Foreign Film in this year’s Academy Award Competition.

Kinema Junpo is the oldest film magazine in Japan and it’s award is considered one of the most prestigious, according to Variety.

Nominees for the Nippon Academy Association’s Best Film Awards were announced last
onth and will be presented Feb. 15. The Nippon is Japan’s version of Hollywood’s Academy Award’s.

Best picture nominees are: I Just Didn’t Do It (11 nominations); Tokyo Tower, Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (13 nominations); Always 2 (12 nominations) and Kisaragi; and Bizan. (I’m having trouble finding out much about Kisaragi and Bizan. When I find out more, I’ll report back.)

Edge of Akin

Fatih Akin’s Edge of Heaven gets the star treatment in the New York Times. Check out the article. Edge of Heaven was Germany’s entrant for Best Foreign Film in this year’s Academy Award competition.

There’s also a good feature about Akin on German Films web site.