60th anniversary of the Foreign Language Film Category

 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his year marks the 60th anniversary of the Foreign Language Film Category. The extremely competitive Foreign Language Film category was first introduced in 1956 for the 29th Academy Awards.

The winner for that year was ‘La Strada’ (The Road), a 1954 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini from his own screenplay co-written with Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Flaiano. The film portrays a brutish strongman (Anthony Quinn) and the naïve young woman (Giulietta Masina) whom he buys from her mother and takes with him on the road; encounters with his rival the Fool (Richard Basehart) end with their destruction. The production of the film proved arduous. So much so that  Fellini suffered a nervous breakdown that necessitated medical treatment in order to complete principal photography. Initial critical reaction was harsh, and the film’s screening at the Venice Film Festival was the occasion of a bitter controversy that escalated into a public brawl between Fellini’s supporters and detractors.  However, La Strada has become “one of the most influential films ever made”, according to the American Film Institute. It won the inaugural Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1957. It was placed fourth in the 1992 British Film Institute directors’ list of cinema’s top 10 films of all time.

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences eighty-five countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 89th Academy Awards^®.  Yemen is a first-time entrant.

The 2016 submissions are:

Albania, “Chromium,” Bujar Alimani, director;

Algeria, “The Well,” Lotfi Bouchouchi, director;

Argentina, “The Distinguished Citizen,” Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat, directors;

Australia, “Tanna,” Bentley Dean, Martin Butler, directors;

Austria, “Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe,” Maria Schrader, director;

Bangladesh, “The Unnamed,” Tauquir Ahmed, director;

Belgium, “The Ardennes,” Robin Pront, director;

Bolivia, “Sealed Cargo,” Julia Vargas Weise, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Death in Sarajevo,” Danis Tanovic, director;

Brazil, “Little Secret,” David Schurmann, director;

Bulgaria, “Losers,” Ivaylo Hristov, director;

Cambodia, “Before the Fall,” Ian White, director;

Canada, “It’s Only the End of the World,” Xavier Dolan, director;

Chile, “Neruda,” Pablo Larraín, director;

China, “Xuan Zang,” Huo Jianqi, director;

Colombia, “Alias Maria,” José Luis Rugeles, director;

Costa Rica, “About Us,” Hernán Jiménez, director;

Croatia, “On the Other Side,” Zrinko Ogresta, director;

Cuba, “The Companion,” Pavel Giroud, director;

Czech Republic, “Lost in Munich,” Petr Zelenka, director;

Denmark, “Land of Mine,” Martin Zandvliet, director;

Dominican Republic, “Sugar Fields,” Fernando Báez, director;

Ecuador, “Such Is Life in the Tropics,” Sebastián Cordero, director;

Egypt, “Clash,” Mohamed Diab, director;

Estonia, “Mother,” Kadri Kõusaar, director;

Finland, “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki,” Juho Kuosmanen, director;

France, “Elle,” Paul Verhoeven, director;

Georgia, “House of Others,” Rusudan Glurjidze, director;

Germany, “Toni Erdmann,” Maren Ade, director;

Greece, “Chevalier,” Athina Rachel Tsangari, director;

Hong Kong, “Port of Call,” Philip Yung, director;

Hungary, “Kills on Wheels,” Attila Till, director;

Iceland, “Sparrows,” Rúnar Rúnarsson, director;

India, “Interrogation,” Vetri Maaran, director;

Indonesia, “Letters from Prague,” Angga Dwimas Sasongko, director;

Iran, “The Salesman,” Asghar Farhadi, director;

Iraq, “El Clásico,” Halkawt Mustafa, director;

Israel, “Sand Storm,” Elite Zexer, director;

Italy, “Fire at Sea,” Gianfranco Rosi, director;

Japan, “Nagasaki: Memories of My Son,” Yoji Yamada, director;

Jordan, “3000 Nights,” Mai Masri, director;

Kazakhstan, “Amanat,” Satybaldy Narymbetov, director;

Kosovo, “Home Sweet Home,” Faton Bajraktari, director;

Kyrgyzstan, “A Father’s Will,” Bakyt Mukul, Dastan Zhapar Uulu, directors;

Latvia, “Dawn,” Laila Pakalnina, director;

Lebanon, “Very Big Shot,” Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, director;

Lithuania, “Seneca’s Day,” Kristijonas Vildziunas, director;

Luxembourg, “Voices from Chernobyl,” Pol Cruchten, director;

Macedonia, “The Liberation of Skopje,” Rade Šerbedžija, Danilo Šerbedžija, directors;

Malaysia, “Beautiful Pain,” Tunku Mona Riza, director;

Mexico, “Desierto,” Jonás Cuarón, director;

Montenegro, “The Black Pin,” Ivan Marinović, director;

Morocco, “A Mile in My Shoes,” Said Khallaf, director;

Nepal, “The Black Hen,” Min Bahadur Bham, director;

Netherlands, “Tonio,” Paula van der Oest, director;

New Zealand, “A Flickering Truth,” Pietra Brettkelly, director;

Norway, “The King’s Choice,” Erik Poppe, director;

Pakistan, “Mah-e-Mir,” Anjum Shahzad, director;

Palestine, “The Idol,” Hany Abu-Assad, director;

Panama, “Salsipuedes,” Ricardo Aguilar Navarro, Manolito Rodríguez, directors;

Peru, “Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes),” Juan Daniel F. Molero, director;

Philippines, “Ma’ Rosa,” Brillante Ma Mendoza, director;

Poland, “Afterimage,” Andrzej Wajda, director;

Portugal, “Letters from War,” Ivo M. Ferreira, director;

Romania, “Sieranevada,” Cristi Puiu, director;

Russia, “Paradise,” Andrei Konchalovsky, director;

Saudi Arabia, “Barakah Meets Barakah,” Mahmoud Sabbagh, director;

Serbia, “Train Driver’s Diary,” Milos Radovic, director;

Singapore, “Apprentice,” Boo Junfeng, director;

Slovakia, “Eva Nová,” Marko Skop, director;

Slovenia, “Houston, We Have a Problem!” Žiga Virc, director;

South Africa, “Call Me Thief,” Daryne Joshua, director;

South Korea, “The Age of Shadows,” Kim Jee-woon, director;

Spain, “Julieta,” Pedro Almodóvar, director;

Sweden, “A Man Called Ove,” Hannes Holm, director;

Switzerland, “My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras, director;

Taiwan, “Hang in There, Kids!” Laha Mebow, director;

Thailand, “Karma,” Kanittha Kwunyoo, director;

Turkey, “Cold of Kalandar,” Mustafa Kara, director;

Ukraine, “Ukrainian Sheriffs,” Roman Bondarchuk, director;

United Kingdom, “Under the Shadow,” Babak Anvari, director;

Uruguay, “Breadcrumbs,” Manane Rodríguez, director;

Venezuela, “From Afar,” Lorenzo Vigas, director;

Vietnam, “Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass,” Victor Vu, director;

Yemen, “I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced,” Khadija Al-Salami, director.

The 89th Oscars^® will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre^® at Hollywood & Highland Center^® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.