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Winter Song

Director: Otar Iosseliani // Writer: Otar Iosseliani

With his 1984 classic title, Favorites of the Moon finally receiving a re-mastered blu-ray release for Us consumption earlier this year, we’re greatly anticipating Georgian director Otar Iosseliani’s latest film, his first since 2010’s Chantrapas. Titled Chant d’hiver (Winter Song), Iosseliani has been purposefully vague on the exact nature of the plot, stating only that the film is concerned with ‘the nonsense of revolutions” as well as “the dramatic chaos that every revolution brings.” Employing mostly a non-professional cast, French veterans Michel Piccoli and Pierre Etaix are apparently part of the known names involved.

Cast: Michel Piccoli, Pierre Etaix

Productions Co.: Studio 99, Pastorale Films.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.

Release Date: As far as festivals go, Berlin has been kinder to Otar Iosseliani (he won the Silver Bear for Monday Morning in 2002). His last film, 2010’s Chantrapas was selected...

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,...

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,...

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,...

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.

The Vancouver International Film Festival is my baby. In its 29th year, this is the event I look forward to every year. The lists I've kept through the year come out and I eagerly look through the list of titles in search of those little gems and every year Viff responds with a huge assortment of titles. This year's festival is no different.

Some of the titles we're most eagerly anticipating include Tsumetai Nettaigyo’s Cold Fish (trailer), Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (trailer, review), Jo Sung-Hee’s apocalyptic road movie End of Animal, Carl Bessai’s Repeaters (trailer) and Xavier Dolan's Heartbeats (trailer, review).

There's loads more so be sure to check the titles (so far) after the break. Many more to be announced in the coming days.

Canadian Images

Altitude (Kaare Andrews), B.C.

View trailer

A weekend getaway aboard a small plane turns deadly for a rookie pilot and four teenage friends.

01

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)

Film Socialisme (Jean Luc Godard, Switzerland)

02

The Strange Case of Angelica (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)

Hands Up (Romain Goupil, France)

Des hommes et des dieux (Xavier Beauvois, France)

03

Two Girls on the Street (Andre De Toth, Hungary, 1939)

Le quattro volte (Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy)

My Joy (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany/Ukraine)

Outrage (Takeshi Kitano, Japan)

Ha Ha Ha (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)

04

Poetry (Lee Chang-dong, South Korea)

On Tour (Mathieu Amalric, France)

La campagne de Cicéron (Jacques Davila, France, 1990)

Tuesday, After Christmas (Radu Muntean, Romania)

Nostalgia for the Light (Patricio Guzman, Chile)

05

Aurora (Cristi Puiu, Romania)

Au petite bonheur (Marcel L'Herbier, France, 1946)

I Wish I Knew (Jia Zhangke, China)

Todos vós sodes capitáns (Oliver Laxe, Spain)

Chantrapas (Otar Iosseliani, France/Georgia)

??

Carlos (Olivier Assayas, France/Germany)

--

The rest...

Above: Léa Tissier in Young Girls in Black.

Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois, France)

With Beauvois’ inspired, sober film, one of the growers of the festival, reaching its steady hand around the film flack since its screening and maintaining its grip, gaining respect in the Cannes-wane, it would be too easy to choose the kind-hearted presence of Michael Lonsdale, who brings a smile whenever he’s on screen. But for such a grounded film, my favorite moment was one in the sky, when the monastery in Algiers, under siege from local insurgents, gets a helicopter flyover by the national military. The monks gather in their chapel to pray for strength, and Beauvois cuts between the military’s god’s eye view of the monastery and the men under cover on the ground, holding out and together against this strange force from above.

Young Girls in Black (Jean Paul Civeyrac,...

Hollywoodnews.com: On May 12, the Cannes Film Festival will start its 63rd edition. The president of the jury is Tim Burton and the jury consists of Kate Beckinsale – Actress / United Kingdom, Giovanna Mezzogiorno – Actress / Italy, Alberto Barbera – Director of the National Museum of Cinema / Italy, Emmanuel Carrere – Author – Screenwriter – Director / France, Benicio Del Toro – Actor / Porto Rico,Victor Erice – Director/ Spain, Shekhar Kapur – Director – Actor – Producer / India and Alexandre Desplat – Composer / France.

For this year’s line-up Scroll Down.

Below letter from one of the Cannes Film Festival bosses, Thierry Frémaux:

“As happens every year, the Festival´s programme was launched in January with the announcement of who would be the President of the Jury: Tim Burton! The news, which was unanimously greeted with enthusiasm, put the world of film in a good mood. The choice of Tim Burton to head the next edition of the Festival brings with...

As I suggested in my last update, the Cannes film festival line-up we announced earlier this month has since changed slightly, with new additions coming quickly after the initial announcement, and the hoped for inclusion of Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life not making it to the party after all. Below is the new- and with only a week or so left until the Festival opens with Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood- presumably the absolute final line-up for this year’s programmes. All titles have been translated into English for ease where they re not obviously translatable.

Opening Film

Ridley Scott ‘Robin Hood’ [Out of Competition]

The Competition

Mike Leigh ‘Another Year’

Sergei Loznitsa ‘My Joy’

Apichatpong Weerasethakul ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’

Doug Liman ‘Fair Game’

Im Sang-soo ‘The Housemaid’

Takeshi Kitano ‘Outrage’

Danielle Lucheti ‘Our Life’

Nikita Mikhalkov ‘Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus’

Mathieu Amalric ‘On Tour...

Okay so Miral is out, Tree of Life is unlikely and Carlos is fighting to find a spot, and if we crunch the numbers (past decade stats provided by a Cannes film festival friend) it looks certain that there is still some filling up to do, not just the Main Comp, but potentially one or two more added titles might be added to the Un Certain Regard section and we should get at least four more titles joining the Out of Competition titles of Robin Hood, Stephen Frears, Oliver Stone and Woody Allen. While the Special Screening list of eight feels complete, the Midnight Screening section might see one more add-on. The announcements could come in batches, and I wouldn't be surprised is they are made as of this Monday...will Ken Loach, François Ozon, Peter Mullan and Kornel Mundruczó be added? Midnight Screenings: Black Heaven (L'autre Monde) Gilles MarchandL'autre...