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While I do not think that something as edgy or unusual as Giorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth (pictured above) will make the 'final five' short list, but kudos to Greece for throwing it out there.  Perhaps something like Tetsuya Nakashima's Confessions will make the cut despite its similarly unsettling subject matter.  Either way, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did put out a big release yesterday with all of their Foreign Language film submissions, 65 of them in total even Greenland, from various countries.  Many of these films have reviews in our archives.

Albania, East West East, Gjergj Xhuvani

Algeria, Hors la Loi ("Outside the Law"), Rachid Bouchareb

Argentina, Carancho, Pablo Trapero

Austria, La Pivellina, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel

Azerbaijan, The Precinct, Ilgar Safat

Bangladesh, Third Person Singular Number, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Belgium, Illegal, Olivier Masset-Depasse

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Circus Columbia, Danis Tanovic

Brazil, Lula the Son of Brazil,...

65 Countries Enter Race for 2010 Foreign Language Film Oscar®

Beverly Hills, CA: Sixty-five countries, including first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 83rd Academy Awards®.

The 2010 submissions are:

.Albania, .East, West, East,. Gjergj Xhuvani, director;

.Algeria, .Hors la Loi. (.Outside the Law.), Rachid Bouchareb, director;

.Argentina, .Carancho,. Pablo Trapero, director;

.Austria, .La Pivellina,. Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, directors;

.Azerbaijan, .The Precinct,. Ilgar Safat, director;

.Bangladesh, .Third Person Singular Number,. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;

.Belgium, .Illegal,. Olivier Masset-Depasse, director;

.Bosnia and Herzegovina, .Circus Columbia,. Danis Tanovic, director;

.Brazil, .Lula, the Son of Brazil,. Fabio Barreto, director;

.Bulgaria, .Eastern Plays,. Kamen Kalev, director;

.Canada, .Incendies,. Denis Villeneuve, director;

.Chile, .The Life of Fish,. Matias Bize, director;

.China, .Aftershock,. Feng Xiaogang, director;

.Colombia, .Crab Trap,. Oscar Ruiz Navia, director;

.Costa Rica, .Of Love and Other Demons,. Hilda Hidalgo, director;

.Croatia, .The Blacks,...

I have been keeping track of all of the Foreign Language Oscar submissions in my "The Contenders" section of the site and today the official list of sixty-five films from sixty-five countries was unveiled by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the 83rd Academy Awards. On January 20, 2011 a shortlist of nine contenders will be announced prior to the naming of the nominees on January 25, 2011.

I have included the complete list directly below, which includes first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland. The only film that was originally thought to be under consideration, but didn't show up on the Academy's final list was Afghanistan's entry, Black Tulip, directed by Sonia Nassery Cole. IMDb doesn't list a release date for the film, which means it may not have met the release requirements in time.

I have linked each film to their corresponding IMDb page for those films not included...

The Filipino International Film Festival Los Angeles will run Sept. 24-26th this year. For more info got to: http://www.fiffla.org Here is a preliminary schedule for the festival: Friday – September 24th 8:00Pm – 10:00Pm – Opening Night Feature *Noy – Philippines – Directed by DonDon Santos Courtesy of Cinemedia and Star Cinema Click on the Poster for Tickets – Limited Seating Saturday – September 25th 9:30Am – 12:00Pm – High School Youth Program in Film making 12:30Pm – 1:45Pm – 1st Block of Shorts *Technophilia –...

The biggest and most fatal problem of Dondon Santos' Noy is that it was never allowed to grow its own set of balls. The film is basically a product of favors: from then-presidential candidate and now-president apparent Noynoy Aquino, his family, and his campaign team, who allowed Santos and his crew the opportunity to shoot the presidential campaign from the inside. As such, it never fully acquires a voice. It relays its message, or whatever sort of motherhood generality it tries to impart, through minuscule peeps and squeaks. It is what it is, and no matter how it musters every conceit in cinema like mixing documentary footage with overt melodrama, it remains to be at most, a limp and flaccid political statement if not an absolutely impotent failure.

 

Noy (Coco Martin) is an ambitious yet unqualified young man who by submitting a fake diploma and a demo reel he...