Thoughts on the Oscar’s ‘Foriegn Language’ Long List
I caught the announcement for the Oscar’s Foreign Language Film ’shorter long list’ last night via Indiewire. The list is now down from 65 titles qualifying for consideration to 9, and includes films such as The Class, Waltz With Bashir and The Baader Meinhof Complex.
There was one shock which was the noticeable absence of Gomorrah. Considering the UK critical reaction and it making both the Golden Globes & BAFTA shortlists I had expected the title to at least make it this far and of course I’m not the only one surprised by this (see Spout and The Guardian comments) . Not quite sure where I’m hedging my bets at the moment, but I’m definitely leaning towards Waltz With Bashir (which also seems to be the new Soda office consensus with Gomorrah out of the running).
The full list is below, and the final short list will be announced January 22nd.
3 Monkeys dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
The Baader Meinhof Complex dir. Uli Edel, Germany
The Class dir. Laurent Cantet, France
Departures dir. Yojiro Takita, Japan
Everlasting Moments dir. Jan Troell, Sweden
The Necessities of Life dir. Benoit Pilon, Canada
Revanche dir. Gotz Spielmann, Austria
Tear This Heart Out dir. Roberto Sneider, Mexico
Waltz with Bashir dir. Ari Folman, Israel