And then there were nine. Eighty-seven nations submitted one film each to compete for the 2019 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and last month the Academy announced its shortlist. Cinephiles can now or very soon see all but one of these extraordinary movies, which tell stories of Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, and Asia, on a Laemmle screen:
| Birds of Passage (Colombia), dirs.: Cristina Gallego/Ciro Guerra |
| The Guilty (Denmark), dir: Gustav Moller |
| Never Look Away (Germany), dir: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| Shoplifters (Japan), dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| Ayka (Kazakhstan), dir: Sergei Dvortsevoy (this one is still looking for a U.S. distributor) |
| Capernaum (Lebanon), dir: Nadine Labaki |
| Roma (Mexico), dir: Alfonso Cuaron |
| Cold War (Poland), dir: Pawel Pawlikowski |
| Burning (Korea), dir: Lee Chang-dong |
The Academy will announce the final five nominees on January 22. Read Nancy Tartaglione’s Deadline Hollywood post about the shortlist, including a couple surprising omissions, here.
Are there any 2018 films you think should have made the cut? Or do you think AMPAS did well?
All those films were good. I’ll never forget the end of “Capernaum.”
Cold War the best. Superb acting Great script. Loved the music and songs.
“Roma” should win Best Film let alone Foreign Film. I loved “Cold War” so I hope that makes the cut. Agree with the person above re: “The Cakemaker” omission (maybe it wasn’t submitted?). Where can we see “Never Look Away”? I had no idea he has a new film out and “The Lives of Others” is on my list of favorite films of all time.
Only seen “Shoplifters”, “Burning” and “Roma” thus far….the best of those three in my opinion was “Burning” with three enigmatic lead characters who kept me in suspense as to what was gonna happen next. Hope to see the others available at Laemmle. So thankful for Laemmle theaters!!!
Of the seven I’ve seen, “Shoplifters” is my favorite. “Roma” will win, and my prediction on the other three nominees is “Cold War,” “Capernaum” and “Never Look Away”; the latter is the only film among the seven I did not like.
The greatest omission is “The Wild Pear Tree.” I’m not sure the Academy even knows who Nuri Bilge Ceylan is.
I’d nominate, of the shortlisted films, “Burning” and “Girl” over “Never Look Away” and “Cold War,” Although it’s close between “Girl” and “Cold War.”
Info please regarding “ON HER SHOULDERS” show dates and times in Oasadena California location…
Missing from the Academy’s shortlist of best foreign films of 2018 is “The Cakemaker” from Israel. In my opinion, one of the best fioms of any year, shows love on every level and the beauty and wonder and capacity of the human heart.