News

Starring Elsa Pataky and “Money Heist’s” Enrique Arce and Hovik Keuchkerian, SkyShowtime Original “Shades” (“Matices”) and Bulgarian drama “Shattered Bonds” will head Beta Film’s slate at the Berlin Festival’s European Film Market.

“Shades” is one of the two titles featured at a Berlinale Series Market Spanish Thrillers showcase on Feb. 17. Toplining “The White Lotus’” Julian Kostov, “Shattered Bonds” will center the EFM showcase “Narratives Against Rising Youth Violence” on Feb 18.

“Shades” and “Shattered Bonds” join official Berlinale TV entry “Other People’s Money,” inspired by the true story of Europe’s biggest known tax fraud, which screens as the sole TV series in the festival’s Panorama Section.

Beta Cinema represents Berlinale opening title “The Light” by Tom Tykwer and the Panorama entry “Cicadas” by Ina Weisse (“The Audition”).

Produced by Secuoya Studios and Stellarmedia for SkyShowtime, “Shades” marks SkyShowtime’s second locally commissioned original in Spain.

The...

Bulgarian films shine at the country’s biggest gathering for domestic productions, which kicks off today. With so many festivals having been cancelled in Europe since March, Bulgarian films almost haven’t been introduced to the world at all this year, which means that the 38th edition of the Golden Rose Film Festival has been eagerly awaited by the Bulgarian film industry. Organised by the Bulgarian National Film Center in the seaside city of Varna, this edition (24 September-1 October) will screen pretty much everything that Bulgarian cinema has to offer this year, including minority co-productions. The edition kicks off tonight with the screening of Iranian director Siamak Etemadi’s Pari (Greece/France/Netherlands/Bulgaria/Switzerland), which was co-produced by Bulgarian production company Chouchkov Brothers. The 19 features competing for the Golden Rose Trophy are Viktor Chouchkov's 18% Grey (Bulgaria/Germany/Serbia/North Macedonia/Belgium), Yana Titova's A Dose of Happiness...

From Albania to Vietnam, 63 countries are hoping that their film entry will get picked to fill one of the five slots for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

Five slots, 63 countries, the competition is fierce! Is your country of choice one of the 63 hopefuls?

I'm happy that my home country, the Philippines, has an entry, the dramedy "The Woman in the Septic Tank" from director Marlon N. Rivera. Released in the Philippines on August 3rd, the film became the highest grossing independent movie in my country's cinema history. So keeping my fingers crossed for this movie!

The shortlist will be released in January and then it will be whittled down to five contenders when the nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The winner will be announced on Oscar night on Sunday, February 26, 2012.

Take a look at the complete list of Best Foreign Language hopefuls:

Albania, "Amnesty,...

Yesterday the Academy finally released the full list of 2012 Foreign Language Oscar contenders adding four films I did not have on my previous list from the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, United Kingdom and a mysterious title I can't find anything about from Kazakhstan and now that the short list has been announced and everyone has posted the Academy's press release it's like searching for a needle in a haystack if you go looking for more information on it. That said, if anyone has a link to any information on Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky's Returning to the 'A' I would love to share it as I have links and information for all other 62 films submitted for consideration. As I said in my last post addressing the category, I haven't seen any of these films, a rarity for me, but based on buzz the top contenders would seem to include Zhang Yimou's The War of Flowers,...

It's no secret that Philippe Falardeau's film about an Algerian immigrant who is hired to replace an elementary school teacher is Canada's submission for the category of Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars. I only tout it out of a sense of national pride. Peruse the full list of all 63 submissions hoping to make the short list and you will find titles and filmmakers that have graced the pages of Twitch over the years. What have you seen that you think should make the short list?The 2011 submissions are: Albania, "Amnesty," Bujar Alimani, director;Argentina, "Aballay," Fernando Spiner, director;Austria, "Breathing," Karl Markovics, director;Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director;Bosnia and Herzegovina,"Belvedere," Ahmed Imamovic, director;Brazil, "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within," José Padilha, director;Bulgaria, "Tilt," Viktor Chouchkov, Jr.,...

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Oscar 2012: New Zealand/First Samoan Feature Among Best Foreign Language Film Contenders Albania, Amnesty, Bujar Alimani, director; Argentina, Aballay, Fernando Spiner, director; Austria, Breathing, Karl Markovics, director; Belgium, Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belvedere, Ahmed Imamovic, director; Brazil, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, José Padilha, director; Bulgaria, Tilt, Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director; Canada, Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, director; Chile, Violeta Went to Heaven, Andrés Wood, director; China, The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou, director; Colombia, The Colors of the Mountain, Carlos César Arbeláez, director; Croatia, 72 Days, Danilo Serbedzija, director; Cuba, Havanastation, Ian Padrón, director; Czech Republic, Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák, director; Denmark, Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen, director; Dominican Republic, Love Child, Leticia Tonos, director; Egypt, Lust, Khaled el Hagar, director; Estonia, Letters to Angel, Sulev Keedus, director; Finland, Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, director; France, Declaration of War,...

As you may or may not know, every country is only allowed to submit one movie for consideration.  It's a little weak that a country can have multiple Oscar-worthy films but can only submit one and I think it would be better if each country could submit three to five films (unlimited submissions would be unfeasible).  The full list of eligible contenders for this year's Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar has been announced and it features some notable submissions that have already picked up some buzz.  Brazil submitted its highest-grossing film of all-time, The Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, directed by RoboCop reboot helmer Jose Padilha.  Mexico has chosen the acclaimed crime thriller Miss Bala as its submission, Germany put forward Wim Wenders' snooze-fest Pina, and China has selected Zhang Yimou's historical drama The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale Hit the jump for the full list.  Only five of...

We gave you an update a few weeks ago, but The Academy now has its final list of the 63 films competing for Best Foreign Film Oscar. This list will get cut down as films screen and the committee decides on a final five when the nominations get announced late January. The notable films include Iran’s A Separation, which we adored and China’s massive budget The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale (which isn’t even complete to my knowledge).

Mexico’s Miss Bala (read our Cannes and Vancouver reviews) and Finland’s Le Havre (our Cannes and Toronto reviews) are also contenders. Lebanon’s Where Do We Go Now? is also in the mix, a drama that won the top prize at Toronto. There are many others we’ve seen at festivals, so follow that coverage here as we head into Oscar season. Check out the press release below.

Press Release:

Beverly Hills, CA - Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.

The 2011 submissions are:

Albania, “Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani, director;

Argentina, “Aballay,” Fernando Spiner, director;

Austria, “Breathing,” Karl Markovics, director;

Belgium, “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Belvedere,” Ahmed Imamovic, director;

Brazil, “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” José Padilha, director;

Bulgaria, “Tilt,” Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director;

Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau, director;

Chile, “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Andrés Wood, director;

China, “The Flowers of War,” Zhang Yimou, director;

Colombia, “The Colors of the Mountain,” Carlos César Arbeláez, director;

Croatia, “72 Days,” Danilo Serbedzija, director;

Cuba, “Havanastation,” Ian Padrón, director;

Czech Republic,”Alois Nebel,” Tomás Lunák, director;

Denmark, “Superclásico,” Ole Christian Madsen, director;

Dominican Republic,”Love Child,” Leticia Tonos, director;

Egypt, “Lust,” Khaled el Hagar, director;

Estonia, “Letters to Angel,” Sulev Keedus, director;

Finland,...

★★★★☆ Winner of the Best Debut Feature award at this year's Raindance Film Festival, Viktor Chouchkov's Tilt (2011) may well be flawed and occasionally cringe-worthy, but it's also fantastically fun and formally assured. Set in the late 1980s as Bulgaria's political landscape was in a state of flux, the film details the tumultuous relationship between young lovers Stash (Yavor Baharov) and Becky (Radina Kardjilova) as they experience the hardships existing on both sides of the 1990 free election that dissects the film.

Threatened by Becky's crooked cop father, Stash and his pornography-pedalling friends emigrate to Germany, the fall of the Berlin wall promising a better life for the teenagers. Finding themselves digging graves and robbing pawn shops to keep afloat, the boys decide to venture back to their hometown to reunite the young couple.

From the first scene - set in the boys' wonderfully designed porn cellar - Tilt establishes a momentum that never subsides,...

Update: The total is now 60 films as Steve Pond at The Wrap informs us the Domenican Republic's submission La hija natural has been accepted. He also says we should expect four or five more films to be added to the list by the time things are said and done. My original post follows...

The deadline for countries to submit films for consideration at this year's Oscars was Monday, October 3 and this year's list is a little lighter than last (so far) as 60 countries have offered up submissions compared to 66 last year and 67 the year before that. Looking over the complete list, which I have included directly below and can always be viewed in my "The Contenders" section right here, there are a few that stand out based on what I've heard, but then again, this is the first year I can ever remember where I haven't seen a single one of the entries.

Earlier in the month we celebrated with Happy Happy director Anne Sewitsky when her dulcet dogme dramedy was selected as Norway’s submission for the 84th Annual Academy Awards’ foreign-language category. Since then a bevy of other countries have chosen their entries, many of which will be screened at part of the New York Film Festival in a few weeks including: Wim Wenders’s Pina, Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre, Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse, Joseph Cedar’s Footnote, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala. {Look for reviews in the coming weeks here.}

Among other notable entries is China’s submission The Flowers of War, a historical drama that reveals the invasion of the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937 Nanking. The film’s director Zhang Yimou has twice earned Oscar nods in this category (for Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou) and notably directed...

We are looking for upwards of 65 total submissions for Oscar's list of Foreign Language contenders and we are inching closer as I have just added 18 more titles to the list bringing the total up to 40. Today I added submissions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Israel, Peru, Slovakia, South Africa and Vietnam along with China's submission of Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale.

Yimou, as I'm sure most of you know, is best known for helming House of Flying Daggers and Hero and with Flowers of War he's working from an adaptation of Geling Yan's novel "13 Flowers of Nanjing," centering on the Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese troops killed thousands of Chinese citizens in what was then the nation's capital in 1937. Bale plays John Haufman, an American trapped amidst the chaos of battle and the ensuing occupation takes shelter,...

By Christy Karras

(from the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival)

As the Seattle International Film Festival drew to a close, attendance — bolstered by cool weather and a multifaceted slate — broke the $1 million box-office mark for the second year in a row.

But Siff is not about money. Nor is it about the industry or about sales or about getting the next gig. It is, in everything it does, about connecting audiences with new films.

Despite its whopping 450 films and one of the festival circuit’s largest attendance figures, Siff retains the feeling of small-town intimacy indicative of this big city. Viewers and volunteers easily mingle with directors who praise the questions from fanatical audiences, many of whom compete for the title of most films seen during the fest’s 25-day run. There is an unofficial iron-butt club for those who have seen at least 100 films.

This year’s festival started with...

By Christy Karras

(from the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival)

As the Seattle International Film Festival drew to a close, attendance — bolstered by cool weather and a multifaceted slate — broke the $1 million box-office mark for the second year in a row.

But Siff is not about money. Nor is it about the industry or about sales or about getting the next gig. It is, in everything it does, about connecting audiences with new films.

Despite its whopping 450 films and one of the festival circuit’s largest attendance figures, Siff retains the feeling of small-town intimacy indicative of this big city. Viewers and volunteers easily mingle with directors who praise the questions from fanatical audiences, many of whom compete for the title of most films seen during the fest’s 25-day run. There is an unofficial iron-butt club for those who have seen at least 100 films.

This year’s festival started with...

“To Be Heard” and “Hot Coffee” win big at Seattle International Film Festival’s awards ceremony today at Seattle’s Space Needle.

See below for the full list of winners and runners-up:

Siff 2011 Competition Awards

Siff 2011 Best New Director

Grand Jury Prize

Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)

Jury Statement: “We chose to give the prize to a movie that bowled us over with its kinetic, brash humor and style-hoping dexterity, a portrait of tortured youth that refreshingly pokes fun at adolescent self-centeredness while simultaneously exploring the anger, despondency and malaise of a generation.”

Siff 2011 Best Documentary

Grand Jury Prize

Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Jury Statement: “Going beyond a well-known headline that was the butt of many jokes, Hot Coffee makes dry legal boilerplate spring to life in portraying human dramas with tragic consequences. It makes us all question our simple assumptions – it’s a film that needs to be seen.

“To Be Heard” and “Hot Coffee” win big at Seattle International Film Festival’s awards ceremony today at Seattle’s Space Needle.

See below for the full list of winners and runners-up:

Siff 2011 Competition Awards

Siff 2011 Best New Director

Grand Jury Prize

Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)

Jury Statement: “We chose to give the prize to a movie that bowled us over with its kinetic, brash humor and style-hoping dexterity, a portrait of tortured youth that refreshingly pokes fun at adolescent self-centeredness while simultaneously exploring the anger, despondency and malaise of a generation.”

Siff 2011 Best Documentary

Grand Jury Prize

Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Jury Statement: “Going beyond a well-known headline that was the butt of many jokes, Hot Coffee makes dry legal boilerplate spring to life in portraying human dramas with tragic consequences. It makes us all question our simple assumptions – it’s a film that needs to be seen.