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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film every year since the award was created in 1956.[1] The award is handed out annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[1][2] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films.[2]
For the 79th Academy Awards, which were held on February 25, 2007, the Academy invited 83 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, including Lithuania, which was invited to submit a film for the first time in the history of the Academy.[3][4] Sixty-three countries submitted films to the Academy and sixty-one of those films were accepted for review by the Academy, a record number for the time.[5] The submissions of Finland and Luxembourg were rejected before the formal review process.[6][7]
Two rule changes were made for the 79th Academy Awards in regard to the Best Foreign Language Film process.[8] The first was instituting a two-step process in choosing the nominees for the award in order to allow New York-based members of the Academy to participate.[9] An initial committee would select nine films to form a shortlist in January that would then be reviewed by a committee composed of ten members of the initial committee, ten Los Angeles-based members, and ten New York-based members that would select the final five nominees.[10] The second change was the removal of a rule requiring that the films be in an official language of the submitting country.[11] This was done in response to the rejection of Italy's and Austria's submissions for the 78th Academy Awards, Private and Caché respectively, because they were not filmed in the official language of their respective countries.[10][12] This allowed for the acceptance of submissions such as Canada's Water, which contained solely Hindi dialogue.[12] Following the revealing of the shortlist, the Academy released a list of the five nominees on January 23, 2007.[13] The winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Germany's The Lives of Others, which was directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.[14]
Submissions
| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Algeria | Days of Glory | Indigènes | Arabic | Rachid Bouchareb | Nominated |
 Argentina | Family Law | Derecho de familia | Spanish | Daniel Burman | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} Australia | Ten Canoes | Ten Canoes | Indigenous Australian languages, English | Rolf de Heer | Not Nominated |
 Austria | You Bet Your Life | Spiele Leben | German | Antonin Svoboda | Not Nominated |
 Bangladesh | Forever Flows | Nirontor | Bengali | Abu Sayeed | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | Someone Else's Happiness | Een ander zijn geluk | Dutch | Fien Troch | Not Nominated |
 Bolivia | American Visa | American Visa | Spanish | Juan Carlos Valdivia | Not Nominated |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | Grbavica: Land of My Dreams | Grbavica | Bosnian | Jasmila Žbanić | Not Nominated |
 Brazil | Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures | Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus | German, Portuguese | Marcelo Gomes | Not Nominated |
 Bulgaria | Monkeys in Winter | Maimuni prez zimata | Bulgarian | Milena Andonova | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} Canada | Water | Water | Hindi | Deepa Mehta | Nominated |
 Chile | In Bed | En la cama | Spanish | Matías Bize | Not Nominated |
 China | Curse of the Golden Flower | Mǎnchéng Jìndài Huángjīnjiǎ (满城尽带黄金甲) | Mandarin | Zhang Yimou | Not Nominated |
 Colombia | A Ton of Luck | Soñar no cuesta nada | Spanish | Rodrigo Triana | Not Nominated |
 Croatia | Libertas | Libertas | Italian, Serbo-Croatian | Veljko Bulajić | Not Nominated |
 Cuba | El Benny | El Benny | Spanish | Jorge Luis Sánchez | Not Nominated |
 Czech Republic | Lunacy | Šílení | Czech | Jan Švankmajer | Not Nominated |
 Denmark | After the Wedding | Efter brylluppet | Danish, Hindi, Swedish | Susanne Bier | Nominated |
 Egypt | The Yacoubian Building | Omaret Yakobean (عمارة يعقوبيان) | Arabic | Marwan Hamed | Not Nominated |
 Finland | Lights in the Dusk | Laitakaupungin valot | Finnish, Russian | Aki Kaurismäki | Withdrawn[A] |
 France | Avenue Montaigne | Fauteuils d'orchestre | French | Danièle Thompson | Made Shortlist |
 Germany | The Lives of Others | Das Leben der Anderen | German | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Won Academy Award |
 Greece | Chariton's Choir | I horodia tou haritona | Greek | Grigoris Karantinakis | Not Nominated |
 Hong Kong | The Banquet | Yè Yàn (夜宴) | Mandarin | Xiaogang Feng | Not Nominated |
 Hungary | White Palms | Fehér Tenyér | Hungarian, Russian | Szabolcs Hajdu | Not Nominated |
 Iceland | Children | Börn | Icelandic | Ragnar Bragason | Not Nominated |
 India | Rang De Basanti | Rang De Basanti (रंग दे बसंती) | Hindi | Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | Not Nominated |
 Indonesia | Love for Share | Berbagi suami | Indonesian | Nia di Nata | Not Nominated |
 Iran | Transit Café | Café Transit | Greek, Persian, Turkish | Kambuzia Partovi | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} Iraq | Dreams | Ahlaam (أحلام) | Arabic | Mohamed Al-Daradji | Not Nominated |
 Israel | Sweet Mud | Adama Meshuga'at (אדמה משוגעת) | French, Hebrew | Dror Shaul | Not Nominated |
 Italy | The Golden Door | Nuovomondo | Italian | Emanuele Crialese | Not Nominated |
 Japan | Hula Girls | Hura Gāru (フラガール) | Japanese | Lee Sang-il | Not Nominated |
 Kazakhstan | Nomad | Kôshpendiler (Көшпенділер) | Kazakh | Sergei Bodrov, Talgat Temenov, Ivan Passer | Not Nominated |
 Kyrgyzstan | The Wedding Chest | Sunduk predkov | French, Kyrgyz | Nurbek Egen | Not Nominated |
 Lebanon | Bosta | Bosta (بوسطة) | Arabic | Philippe Aractingi | Not Nominated |
 Lithuania | Before Flying Back to the Earth | Prieš parskrendant į žemę | Lithuanian, Russian | Arūnas Matelis | Not Nominated |
 Luxembourg | Your Name is Justine | Masz na imie Justine | German, Polish | Franco de Peña | Disqualified[B] |
 Macedonia | Kontakt | Kontakt | German, Macedonian | Sergej Stanojkovski | Not Nominated |
 Mexico | Pan's Labyrinth | El laberinto del fauno | Spanish | Guillermo del Toro | Nominated |
 Morocco | The Moroccan Symphony | La symphonie marocaine | Arabic | Kamal Kamal | Not Nominated |
){kind=small} Nepal | Basain | Basain | Nepali | Subash Gajurel | Not Nominated |
 Netherlands | Black Book | Zwartboek | Dutch, Hebrew, German | Paul Verhoeven | Made Shortlist |
 Norway | Reprise | Reprise | Norwegian | Joachim Trier | Not Nominated |
 Peru | Madeinusa | Madeinusa | Spanish | Claudia Llosa | Not Nominated |
 Philippines | The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros | Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros | Filipino, Tagalog | Auraeus Solito | Not Nominated |
 Poland | Retrieval | Z odzysku | Polish, Russian | Slawomir Fabicki | Not Nominated |
 Portugal | Alice | Alice | Portuguese | Marco Martins | Not Nominated |
 Puerto Rico | Thieves and Liars | Ladrones y mentirosos | Spanish | Ricardo Méndez Matta | Not Nominated |
 Romania | The Way I Spent the End of the World | Cum mi-am petrecut sfârșitul lumii | Romanian | Catalin Mitulescu | Not Nominated |
 Russia | 9th Company | 9 rota (9 рота) | Russian | Fyodor Bondarchuk | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} Serbia | Tomorrow Morning | Sutra ujutro | Serbo-Croatian | Oleg Novkovic | Not Nominated |
 Slovenia | Gravehopping | Odgrobadogroba | Slovene | Jan Cvitkovič | Not Nominated |
.svg.png){kind=small} South Korea | King and the Clown | Wang-ui namja (왕의 남자) | Korean | Lee Jun-ik | Not Nominated |
 Spain | Volver | Volver | Spanish | Pedro Almodóvar | Made Shortlist |
 Sweden | Falkenberg Farewell | Farväl Falkenberg | Swedish | Jesper Ganslandt | Not Nominated |
 Switzerland | Vitus | Vitus | Swiss German | Fredi Murer | Made Shortlist |
 Taiwan | Blue Cha Cha | Shen hai (深海) | Mandarin, Taiwanese | Chen Wen-Tang | Not Nominated |
 Thailand | Ahimsa: Stop to Run | Ahingsa-Jikko mee gam (อหิงสา จิ๊กโก๋ มีกรรม) | Thai | Kittikorn Liasirikun | Not Nominated |
 Turkey | Ice Cream, I Scream | Dondurmam Gaymak | Turkish | Yüksel Aksu | Not Nominated |
 Ukraine | Aurora | Avrora (Аврора) | Russian, Ukrainian | Oxana Bayrak | Not Nominated |
 Venezuela | Maroa | Maroa | Spanish | Solveig Hoogesteijn | Not Nominated |
 Vietnam | Story of Pao | Chuyen cua Pao | Vietnamese | Quang Hai Ngo | Not Nominated |
See also
- 79th Academy Awards nominees and winners
- List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film
Notes
- A Rejected before the formal review process because director Aki Kaurismäki withdrew the film from consideration.[6]
- B Rejected before the formal review process because the Academy determined that not enough creative input was received from within Luxembourg for the film to meet the Academy's requirements.[7]
References
- General
- "61 Countries Seeking Foreign Language Film Oscar". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2006-10-19. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- Specific
- ^ a b "History of the Academy Awards - Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2008-06-22. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ a b "Special Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ "83 Countries Invited to Submit Foreign Language Films for 2006 Oscar". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ "83 countries compete for foreign language Oscar". The Guardian. 2006-07-12. Archived from the original on 2013-04-20. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (2006-10-19). "Oscar race counts 61 countries". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ a b Selkokari, Antti (2006-10-18). "Kaurismaki turns off 'Lights' on Oscar bid". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ a b Goodfellow, Melanie (2006-11-08). "Lux out of 'Name' game". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ "79th Oscar Rules Approved by Academy". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2006-06-30. Archived from the original on 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ "Rules Change for Foreign-Language Oscar". Fox News. 2006-07-02. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ a b "Rules Change for Foreign-Language Oscar". San Francisco Chronicle. 2006-07-01. Archived from the original on 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ Welkos, Robert (2006-07-03). "Foreign film rules altered". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ a b Pais, Arthur (2006-09-22). "Water is Canada's Oscar entry". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ "Nominations Announcement – The 79th Annual Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2007-01-23. Archived from the original on 2008-06-22. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ Paris, Barry (2007-03-01). "'The Lives of Others'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2008-06-24.