Last week's announcement of the top nine shortlist yielded a lot of surprises, both good (Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Cannes winning 3 Monkeys; Gotz Spielmann's explicit revenge drama Revanche) and bad (Cannes and multi-award winning Italian mafia film Gomorra was snubbed, as did Sundance Filmfest contenders Captain Abu-Raed and Russia's The Mermaid). As always, the most prickly branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences preferred their usual tastes: family generational dramas set in Latin America (Mexican telenovela-like Tear This Heart Out), Europe and Scandinavia (two time nominee Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments); domestic strife and reconciliation (Japan's Departures); old man and his young friend's reflection on life (Canada's The Necessities of Life); and the coming of age story (Cannes' Palme d'Or winner The Class).
Israel's highly acclaimed animated feature-cum-documentary Waltz with Bashir is considered a front runner, though it was surprising that it made the cut in this category. The movie is in the running for Best Animated Feature.) Sony Pictures Classics, its North American distributor knows how to handle foreign language releases especially during the awards season, and Bashir's highly favorable critical traction in the U.S. assure writer-director Ari Folman and his wife a seat at the Kodak Theater come February 22. Hence, it's in.
Here are my predicted nominees in the category:
The Class, France; Laurent Cantet, director (first picture, above)
Everlasting Moments, Sweden; Jan Troell, director
Revanche, Austria; Gotz Spielmann, director (second picture)
3 Monkeys, Turkey; Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director (The first Turkish film to be nominated in this category.)
Waltz with Bashir, Israel; Ari Folman, director
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