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“Free Solo” won the Grand Prize at the Kendal Mountain Festival on Saturday night. A contender in Kendal’s main International Film Competition, the documentary from E. Chai Vasarhelyi, who helmed Sundance hit “Meru,” and Jimmy Chin, a climber in that film, was the overall winner in a lineup of 90 mountain and adventure films.

The audience – despite being predominantly mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts themselves – still shuddered, flinched and sweated as the story of this unroped climb of the El Capitan rockface by the climber Alex Honnold unfolded. Not only does this film record the extraordinary achievement of a near impossible climb, but it also is not afraid to confront the climber and colleagues with the real possibility of failure and death.

“Wonderful Loser,” from Lithuania’s Arunas Matelis, took the Special Judges Prize. along with Krystle Wright and Toby Pike’s short “Chasing Monsters,” from Australia. Already with a clutch of awards to its credit,...

The early money might be on Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” (Mexico) and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” (Poland), but Asia appears to have a real shot at the Oscar foreign-language category, with a mixture of heavy-hitters and dark horses from an eclectic line-up.

The continent’s frontrunner is easily Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.” The film follows a family of petty thieves and the repercussions that ensue after they take in a waif. Moving, eloquent, and with an emphasis on the family unit, this is a film that could sway even the most cynical. The film will also benefit from its Magnolia Pictures’ release in the U.S.

From South Korea, Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning,” winner of the Fipresci Prize at Cannes, is mesmerising. Beginning as a frustrated youth drama, it gradually moves into missing-person thriller territory, culminating in a cathartic finale. The film is...

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed - a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi - which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise - and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

‘Jirga’

Benjamin Gilmour’s Afghanistan-set drama Jirga will carry Australia’s hopes of being nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

The international recognition as Australia’s official submission follows the film’s international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and winning the $100,000 best film prize, Australia’s richest, at CinfestOZ.

Produced and distributed by John Maynard, the film stars Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier who returns to Afghanistan seeking forgiveness and puts his life in the hands of the village justice system – the Jirga.

There are 87 countries vying for the prize, including first-time entrants Malawi and Niger and high-profile contenders such as Mexico’s Roma and Poland’s Cold War, both of which are hoping to break out of the foreign race and earn nominations for best picture, best director and more.

Gilmour said: “We are thrilled about the honour of representing Australia.

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed, a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi, which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise, and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed, a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi, which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise, and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for consideration in the foreign language category for the 91st Academy Awards.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22 and the ceremony will be held on Feb. 24 at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. Malawi and Niger are first-time entrants. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the announcement on Monday.

High-profile titles include Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” the Mexican entry; Denmark’s “The Guilty”; Germany’s “Never Look Away,” from previous Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Shoplifters,” the Japanese entry that won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum,” the Cannes jury prize winner from Lebanon; and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” the Cannes best director prize winner from Poland.

The 2018 submissions are:

Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;

Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director;

Argentina, “El Ángel,...

A whopping 87 countries submitted entries in the Foreign-Language Film race at the 2019 Oscars. That is down by five from last year’s record 92 submissions but up by two from 2017, which had broken the benchmark of 83 set in 2015. The nations represented ranged from A (Afghanistan) to Y (Yemen). Among the contenders is the Mexican entry “Roma” by Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”). This Venice Film Festival winner is a strong contender in both this and the Best Picture race at the Oscars.

Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film is made difficult by the two-step process.

First, the several hundred academy members of the Foreign-Language Film screening committee are required to watch a number of the submissions (upwards of a dozen) over a two-month period that ends in mid December. They will rate them from 6 to 10 and their top six vote-getters make it to the next round, as...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the official list of submissions for the 2019 Oscar for best foreign language film. There are 87 countries vying for the prize this awards season, including first-time entrants Malawi and Niger. Included among the titles are high-profile contenders such as Mexico’s “Roma” and Poland’s “Cold War,” both of which are vying to break out of the foreign race and earn nominations for best picture, best director, and more.

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019. Click here to view predictions for the foreign language Oscar race from IndieWire’s awards editor Anne Thompson.

2018 Foreign Oscar Submissions

Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director

Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director

Argentina, “El Ángel,” Luis Ortega, director

Armenia, “Spitak,” Alexander Kott, director

Australia, “Jirga,...

Lithuania has selected Wonderful Losers. A Different World, directed by Arunas Matelis, for best foreign-language film Oscar consideration.

The documentary focuses on the less public side of Giro d'Italia, one of the harshest and best-known cycling races in the world.

Matelis was the first film director in 40 years to obtain permission to film the race from inside.

Wonderful Losers. A Different World was co-produced by Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Belgium. It was released in Lithuania in February and went on to win the Alpe Adria Cinema Award for best documentary at the Trieste Film Festival; the best documentary award at ...

Lithuania has selected Wonderful Losers. A Different World, directed by Arunas Matelis, for best foreign-language film Oscar consideration.

The documentary focuses on the less public side of Giro d'Italia, one of the harshest and best-known cycling races in the world.

Matelis was the first film director in 40 years to obtain permission to film the race from inside.

Wonderful Losers. A Different World was co-produced by Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Belgium. It was released in Lithuania in February and went on to win the Alpe Adria Cinema Award for best documentary at the Trieste Film Festival; the best documentary award at ...

Ida producer Opus Film and distributors Against Gravity and Next Film were among the winners at the 8th Polish Film Institute Awards.

The awards were presented at a gala ceremony last night during the Gdynia Film Festival (Sept 14-29).

Lodz-based Opus Film and the Acme PR agency won the prize for ¨International Promotion of Polish Cinema¨ for its Oscar campaign for Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida, which won Best Foreign-Language Film at the Academy Awards.

Next Film was recognised for its distribution of Jan Komasa’s Warsaw Uprising and Lukasz Palkowski’s Gods, the big winner at last year’s Gdynia Film Festival with admissions topping 2.2 million in Polish cinemas.

Against Gravity received the award for ¨Distribution of a Non-Commercial Foreign Film in Poland¨ for its release of Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated Leviathan.

In addition, the 41st Film Summer in Insk beat off competition from the 5th American Film Festival in Wroclaw and the 21st Nationwide...

Projects range from a film about centenarians to documentaries about renowned hunger striker Bobby Sands, Winnie Mandela, Ratko Mladic and Madonna’s backing dancers.Scroll down for full list of projects

Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled the 50 titles that will be presented at its international co-finance and production market, the Idfa Forum (Nov 24-26).

At the market, filmmakers and producers will present their documentary projects to commissioning editors from international television stations and other financiers with the aim of completing finance for their documentary projects.

A total of 50 projects have been selected for the upcoming Idfa Forum, including new projects by Heddy Honigmann, Janus Metz and Vitaly Mansky.

The Idfa 2014 programme contains 17 documentaries that were presented as projects at previous editions of the Idfa Forum.

Projects selected for this year’s Idfa Forum will be pitched in a variety of settings: the central pitches in the main auditorium of the Compagnietheater, the round table...

Benelux is the regional focus for Trieste’s fourth edition of its When East Meets West (Wemw) co-production forum (January 20-22, 2014) being held during the Trieste Film Festival.

Eight of the 22 projects being presented in public pitches at the forum, which runs Jan 20-22, will be projects from the Benelux countries - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - looking for potential co-producers and distributors from Italy or Eastern Europe.

They include new projects from Luxembourg’s Bady Minck, 1313 Dante’s Emperor, and The Netherlands’ David Verbeek, Full Contact, as well as the Belgian documentary film-makers Daniel Lambo, Eternal Silence, and Gilles Coton, Meet Enver Hadri.

Wemw’s project manager Alessandro Gropplero told ScreenDaily that this year’s call for projects had attracted a record 200 entries - 23 from the Benelux, 32 from Italy and 145 from Eastern Europe - with 140 fiction film projects and 60 documentary projects.

An international jury then selected 10 fiction and 12 documentary projects in development to be pitched...

Charles Ferguson has won the DGA Award for Best Director of a Documentary, Inside Job, which is also up for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category. Inside Job tells the ugly story behind the economic meltdown of 2008. Unlike the DGA-Oscar match-ups in the Narrative Feature category — all but eight* DGA winners have won Best Picture Oscars the same year — nearly all DGA documentary winners have failed to take home an Academy Award statuette. In fact, many DGA winners weren't even nominated for an Academy Award, e.g., Asger Leth's Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2007), Arunas Matelis' Before Flying Back to Earth (2006), Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005), and Steve James' Hoop Dreams (1994). Last year, Louie Psihoyos' The Cove managed to win both the DGA Award and the Oscar. * See DGA Award vs. Academy Award Winners: From John Huston to Roman Polanski...

Five first-time nominees drew DGA documentary nominations Tuesday, while the Hungry Man and MJZ production companies each figured in a pair of the guild awards' noms for commercials.

Nominated for outstanding directorial achievement in documentary for 2006 were: Amy Berg, "Deliver Us From Evil" (Lionsgate Films); Michael Glawogger, "Workingman's Death" (Lotus Films, Quinte Film); James Longley, "Iraq in Fragments" (Typecast Pictures/HBO Documentary Films); Arunas Matelis, "Before Flying Back to the Earth" (Studio Nominum); and Jean-Henri Meunier, "Ici Najac, a Vous la Terre" (Little Bear).

"At its best, documentary filmmaking elevates the disparate elements of lives and events into a narrative that is both compelling and insightful," DGA president Michael Apted said. "It takes a skilled director to achieve this feat, and this year's five nominees exemplify that devotion and storytelling expertise."

Apted also praised the commercial nominees.

"It takes great skill to tell a compelling story in under 30-60 seconds," he said. "These five commercial directors have mastered the format, using their talent, craft and imagination to provide us with some of the most innovative filmmaking out there today."

The Hungry Man nominees included Bryan Buckley for "Animal", a commercial for client American Express, and "More Mayo" and "Manthem" for Burger King, along with David Gray for "Transvestite" and "Mugger" for the Tribeca Film Festival, "Jesus Throws" for Full Tilt Poker and "Born" for Ebay.

Tag/Traum and Studio Nominum

"Before Flying Back to the Earth," a documentary portrait of children receiving treatment for leukemia, defies expectation. If potential audiences can look beyond what might be off-putting subject matter, they'll find a film that's neither grim nor maudlin. Never pushing a false sense of inspiration or hope, "Before Flying" is an eloquent look at human resilience, the wisdom of children and the charged relationship between caregiver and patient. Lithuania's official submission for the foreign-language Oscar -- a rare nonfiction entry in the category -- is continuing its successful fest run with screenings at Palm Springs. The hourlong docu would be a worthy addition to small-screen schedules around the world.

The first signal that this will not be a sentimental excursion is a moment that could be fraught with dread: the close-up of a boy getting his head shaved as he begins his treatments. His thoughtful gaze suggests the self-knowledge of an old soul (his incisive philosophical comments later in the film bear out this impression), but as the clippers buzz into action, a gleeful grin brightens his face. Amid the pills and chemo drips, there's no shortage of such lighthearted moments.

Documentarian Arunas Matelis, making his first feature-length film after directing shorts, became familiar with the oncology ward at Vilnius Pediatrics Hospital when his daughter underwent treatment there. After her recovery, he returned to the site of the most meaningful months of his life to film the children and their parents. Without intrusive explanatory narration, he immerses the viewer in the heightened experience of the fight against cancer. Through his verite approach, Matelis trusts the audience to make its own emotional connections to the material. When the children or their parents do speak directly to the camera, they have something to say. Intercut with the footage are black-and-white stills chronicling difficult times as well as kid-stuff silliness, all of it evidence of the way acute illness can intensify our appreciation of life.