Oscars 2016 Predictions: Chile Submits Pablo Larrain's 'The Club'; 'Arabian Night' To Compete for Portugal
Chile has submitted Pablo Larrain's "The Club" as its official Oscar selection.
The Latin American country will compete with the film that won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and will next stop at Toronto. The movie already has distribution through Music Box and if buzz continues as strongly as it has been perhaps the company pull off another win especially after taking home the Oscar for its film "Ida." The submission is among the strongest this year and one that could potentially be nominated.
"The Club" is the third film Chile submits by Larrain. The first was in 2008 for "Tony Manero" and the second was in 2012 with "No." That movie went on to be the country's first and only nomination.
Meanwhile, Portugal submitted "Arabian Nights Volume Two: The Desolate One." The film is the second chapter of a three-part film which runs for six hours and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to glowing mentions. The Miguel Gomes film is slated for release by Kino Lorber in December and will play at the New York Film Festival, where it hopes to obtain more buzz.
Portugal is one of the countries that has been submitting for years but has never been nominated. The country has never made the shortlist even though it has submitted films from Berlin and Cannes. This is the second time a Gomes film is submitted and with the buzz behind "Arabian Nights," this could end up being the country's first nomination.
As predicted Iceland submitted "Rams," which won the Grand Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie played at Telluride and is going to Toronto where it will continue its festival run.
Iceland has only been nominated once before in 1991 for the film "Children of Nature." The last time the country was close was in 2012 when "The Deep" made the shortlist.
Taiwan also submitted the Cannes favorite "The Assassin." The Well Go USA release is scheduled for October and is a strong contender especially after having won the Best Director award at the Cannes. While the Academy does not take to Asian cinema, this film is being hailed as the greatest marital arts film of all time and was a sensation back in May.
Taiwan won an Academy Award in 2000 for the film "Crouching Hidden Dragon" and has since only made the shortlist once. In 2011 as "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" was shortlisted but ultimately failed to obtain the nomination.
Netherlands will be represented by "The Paradise Suite," which will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Little is known about the film but Netherlands has had a good track record with the Academy, having won three times and being shortlisted twice in the past 10 years for the films "Winter in the Wartime," "Accused" and "Black Book."
Meanwhile Jordan's entry looks like a strong one. "Theeb" won the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival last year in the Orizzonti sidebar and went on to screen at Toronto and Miami International. The movie is being distributed by Film Movement, which is always a plus for smaller countries.
"Theeb" marks Jordan's second submission as the country has only entered once more in 2008 with the film "Captain Abu Raed," which was a sensation at Sundance.
The Kalovy Vary International Film Festival selection "Babai" was submitted by Kosovo. Like Jordan this is the second time the country enters and it will be interesting to see how the movie plays to Academy audiences.
The foreign film category is already getting crowded and extremely competitive with Sony Pictures Classics' "Son of Saul" and "Labyrinth of Lies" among the strongest contenders. Magnolia's Golden Lion winner "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence" is also a top contender while Radius TWC's "Goodnight Mommy" could be a challenger for the Academy.
Big World Pictures recently acquired the Berlin winner "Aferim!" and that film looks to be another top contender.
The deadline to submit is Oct. 1 and France, Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Italy have yet to pick their films.
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