News

Entries for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards.

Submissions for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards are coming in and will continue until October, when the full list of eligible submissions will be revealed.

Last year, a record 83 countries submitted features and the eventual winner was Polish feature Ida, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.

This year’s nominations must be submitted by Oct 1.

Nine finalists will be shortlisted, which will be whittled down to five nominees that will be announced on Jan 14, 2016.

The 88th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 28, 2016.

Afghanistan: Utopia, Hassan Nazer

Albania: Bota, Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci

Austria: Goodnight Mommy, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Bangladesh: Jalal’s Story, Abu Shahed Emon

Belgium: The Brand New Testament, Jaco Van Dormael

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Our Everyday Life, Ines Tanović

Brazil: The Second Mother, Anna Muylaert

Bulgaria: The Judgement, Stephan Komandarev

Cambodia:...

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2016: 'Viva' with Héctor Medina. Multicultural Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2016 submissions Nearly ten years ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed a key rule regarding entries for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar;* since then, things have gotten quite colorful. Just yesterday, Sept. 16, '15, Ireland submitted Paddy Breathnach's Viva – a Cuban-set drama spoken in Spanish. And why not? To name a couple more “multicultural and multinational” entries this year alone: China's submission, with dialogue in Mandarin and Mongolian, is Wolf Totem, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud – a Frenchman. And Germany's entry, Labyrinth of Lies, was directed by Giulio Ricciarelli, who happens to be a German-based, Italian-born stage and TV actor. 'Viva': Sexual identity in 21st-century Cuba Executive produced by Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Viva tells the story of an 18-year-old Havana drag-club worker,...

Ajay Bahl’s B.A. Pass has won the Audience Award at the maiden edition of the South Asian Alternative Film Festival (Saaff) in France.

In 2012, the film was named the Best Film in Indian Competition at the 12th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival.

Balaji Shaktivel’s Vazhakku Enn 18/9 won the Jury Award while the Student Jury Award went to Gurvinder Singh’s Anhey Ghore da Daan.

The festival screened films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Another Indian film Subbaraj Karthik’s Pizza was also in competition, along with Bangladeshi film Udhao by Amit Ashraf and Nepali film Loot by Nischal Basnet.

Onir’s My Brother Nikhil, Ar Murugadoss’ 7am Arivu – The 7th Sense and Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly were also screened under special sections at the festival that was held from 16th to 20th January 2013.

Paris will host a new festival for South Asian films that will screen films from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The South Asian Alternative Film Festival aims to show that South Asian cinema is not only about Bollywood.

“We want to show that there is a dynamic alternative scene,” said Némésis Srour, Artistic Director of the festival.

The festival will run from 16th to 20th January 2013.

Gurvinder Singh’s Anhey Ghore Da Daan, Ajay Bahl’s B A Pass, Balaji Shaktivel’s Vazhakku Enn 18/9 and Subbaraj Karthik’s Pizza will compete at the first edition of the festival.

Bangladeshi film Udhao by Amit Ashraf and Nepali film Loot by Nischal Basnet are the other contenders.

Three other Indian films will be screened under special sections: Onir’s My Brother Nikhil, Ar Murugadoss’ 7am Arivu – The 7th sense and Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly.

Deepak Rauniyar’s Highway, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2012, was recently screened at the Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival. Credited with making the first Nepali film to travel to one of the top festivals in the world, Berlinale, Deepak Rauniyar tells us more about Highway:

What was the starting point for the film?

In 2009, I happened to be on a road trip from east Nepal to the capital, Kathmandu. Our journey was obstructed by three different ‘bandhs’, organized by three different groups in three different parts of the country. This was when my colleagues Kedar Sharma, Khagendra Lamichhane and I started talking about the idea for this film, Highway. I felt that by setting a story against the backdrop of this new ‘bandh’ culture, I would not only be able to explore physical ‘bandhs’, but also explore the mental/psychological ‘bandhs’ that many of us seem to be facing these days.