It depresses me that we’re getting another gritty reality type of movie as the Brazil nominee.
For every more hopeful movie like we had with “O Ano em que meus pais saíram de Férias” (the almost auto-biographycal movie from Cao Haburger), we get a dozen of heavier movies. Yes they’re all from great filmakers, but quite depressive.
As I am always glad to find out, the Sao Paulo International Film Festival, is actually one of these few great places to get really fine Brazilian made films, that goes against those kind of movies. I already watched one this year (yesterday for instance), that’s simply a gem. Will talk about it later.
Taiwanese, entry Cape No. 7 has been so praised, that I’m really curious. My sister was back from Taiwan last week, and says that this is an unmissable movie. Will comment on it as soon as I get a copy of it.
The 2008 submissions are:
Afghanistan, “Opium War,” Siddiq Barmak, director;
Albania, “The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider,” Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani, directors;
Algeria, “Masquerades,” Lyes Salem, director;
Argentina, “Lion’s Den,” Pablo Trapero, director;
Austria, “Revanche,” Gotz Spielmann, director;
Azerbaijan, “Fortress,” Shamil Nacafzada, director;
Bangladesh, “Aha!,” Enamul Karim Nirjhar, director;
Belgium, “Eldorado,” Bouli Lanners, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Snow,” Aida Begic, director;
Brazil, “Last Stop 174,” Bruno Barreto, director;
Bulgaria, “Zift,” Javor Gardev, director;
Canada, “The Necessities of Life,” Benoit Pilon, director;
Chile, “Tony Manero,” Pablo Larrain, director;
China, “Dream Weavers,” Jun Gu, director;
Colombia, “Dog Eat Dog,” Carlos Moreno, director;
Croatia, “No One’s Son,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
Czech Republic, “The Karamazovs,” Petr Zelenka, director;
Denmark, “Worlds Apart,” Niels Arden Oplev, director;
Egypt, “The Island,” Sherif Arafa, director;
Estonia, “I Was Here,” Rene Vilbre, director;
Finland, “The Home of Dark Butterflies,” Dome Karukoski, director;
France, “The Class,” Laurent Cantet, director;
Georgia, “Mediator,” Dito Tsintsadze, director;
Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director;
Greece, “Correction,” Thanos Anastopoulos, director;
Hong Kong, “Painted Skin,” Gordon Chan, director;
Hungary, “Iska’s Journey,” Csaba Bollok, director;
Iceland, “White Night Wedding,” Baltasar Kormakur, director;
India, “Taare Zameen Par,” Aamir Khan, director;
Iran, “The Song of Sparrows,” Majid Majidi, director;
Israel, “Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman, director;
Italy, “Gomorra,” Matteo Garrone, director;
Japan, “Departures,” Yojiro Takita, director;
Jordan, “Captain Abu Raed,” Amin Matalqa, director;
Kazakhstan, “Tulpan,” Sergey Dvortsevoy, director;
Korea, “Crossing,” Tae-kyun Kim, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Heavens Blue,” Marie Jaoul de Poncheville, director;
Latvia, “Defenders of Riga,” Aigars Grauba, director;
Lebanon, “Under the Bombs,” Philippe Aractingi, director;
Lithuania, “Loss,” Maris Martinsons, director;
Luxembourg, “Nuits d’Arabie,” Paul Kieffer, director;
Macedonia, “I’m from Titov Veles,” Teona Strugar Mitevska, director;
Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out,” Roberto Sneider, director;
Morocco, “Goodbye Mothers,” Mohamed Ismail, director;
The Netherlands, “Dunya & Desie,” Dana Nechushtan, director;
Norway, “O’Horten,” Bent Hamer, director;
Palestine, “Salt of This Sea” Annemarie Jacir, director;
Philippines, “Ploning,” Dante Nico Garcia, director;
Poland, “Tricks,” Andrzej Jakimowski, director;
Portugal, “Our Beloved Month of August,” Miguel Gomes, director;
Romania, “The Rest Is Silence,” Nae Caranfil, director;
Russia, “Mermaid,” Anna Melikyan, director;
Serbia, “The Tour,” Goran Markovic, director;
Singapore, “My Magic,” Eric Khoo, director;
Slovakia, “Blind Loves,” Juraj Lehotsky, director;
Slovenia, “Rooster’s Breakfast,” Marko Nabersnik, director;
South Africa, “Jerusalema,” Ralph Ziman, director;
Spain, “The Blind Sunflowers,” Jose Luis Cuerda, director;
Sweden, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director;
Switzerland, “The Friend,” Micha Lewinsky, director;
Taiwan, “Cape No. 7,” Te-Sheng Wei, director;
Thailand, “Love of Siam,” Chookiat Sakveerakul, director;
Turkey, “3 Monkeys,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “Illusion of Fear,” Aleksandr Kiriyenko, director;
United Kingdom, “Hope Eternal,” Karl Francis, director;
Uruguay, “Kill Them All,” Esteban Schroeder, director;
Venezuela, “The Color of Fame,” Alejandro Bellame Palacios, director.
Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
J's Culture Conundrums 