Oscar 2015 Predictions, Best Foreign Film: Spain, Uruguay, France & Italy Join Race
The Oct. 1 Oscars submission deadline is rapidly approaching with Spain and Uruguay among the recent countries to have submitted for the 2015 Academy Awards.
This year, Spain submitted the Goya Award-winner "Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed." The film, directed by David Trueba, won six Goya Awards, including Best Film, and stars Javier Camara, who is best known for his work on "Talk to Her." The movie opened in the U.S. back in June and grossed $11,600 over one weekend in Miami.
Having been nominated 19 times and won four foreign film Oscars, Spain may have a hard time finding a nomination. Reviews have been spectacular and the film premiered at San Sebastian and Seattle International Film Festival. However, it lacked a premiered at Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, and even Venice.
Uruguay announced it would be submitting "Mr. Kaplan." Directed by Alvaro Brechner, the movie is a co-production with Spain and Germany and was produced through Memento films. It is slated to appear at the Busan, London and Chicago International Film Festivals, where it should get a huge boost.
While Uruguay has never been nominated for the Academy, this may be a strong contender for Latin America.
A year after winning the Oscar, Italy has submitted yet another strong candidate. This time, the country submitted "Human Capital" which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Best Actress award. "Human Capital" is also known for having defeated "The Great Beauty," last year's foreign film, winner at the David Di Donatello Awards, also known as Italy's Oscars.
The feature was recently picked by Film Movement and that could definitely be beneficial for the country. With 27 nominations and 10 wins, Italy could be looking at its 28th nomination.
While Italy submitted a strong contender, France made a controversial move by submitting "Saint Laurent," a feature that opened at Cannes to mixed reviews. The biopic was chosen over "Blue is the Warmest Color," which won the Palme D'Or in 2013 and which many had suggested would get chosen.
Bertrand Bonello's "Saint Laurent" currently has distribution from Sony Pictures Classics and will be screened at the New York Film Festival. The film is slated to be released in the coming months and while France has been nominated 35 times and won nine Oscars, this will most likely not be nominated.
Kosovo made history as it submitted its first contender entitled "Three Windows and a Hanging," which won at the Sarajevo Film Festival. The country joins Mauritania and Panama this year, as both countries also submitted their first films.
Other contenders include Bosnia and Herzegovina's "With Mom," which had its world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival and Iceland's "Life in a Fishbowl," which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and later will be shown in Zurich.
Bosnia has won the Oscar while Iceland has only been nominated once.
India nominated the Sundance Film Festival hit "Liar's Dice" while Israel submitted "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem." After having won the top prize at the Israel Academy Awards and beating out the Tribeca winner "Zero Motivation," Israel has yet another huge chance at getting nominated. "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem" premiered at Cannes and was later picked up for U.S. distribution by Music Box Films.
The Philippines chose the four-hour epic "Norte: The End of History," which opened in June. It was a huge festival hit and premiered at the New York and Toronto Film festivals. Having never been nominated, this could be a tricky proposition due to its length.
Singapore's selection was the 70-minute film "My Beloved Dearest" while the Palestinian territories chose the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival selection, "Eyes of a Thief."
Meanwhile, Thailand will attempt to conquer Oscar glory with "Teacher's Day," a comedy that was a big hit and will screen at the Busan Film Festival.
The deadline is fast approaching and Argentina, Russia, Cuba, Nigeria and Kenya have yet to submit.
The Academy Award nominations will be announced in January and the winners will be announced on Feb. 22.