Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Finalists for Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film

After last year's disastrous snubbing of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by the Oscar Foreign Language committee, it seems like the group has done it again. Conspicuously absent from this year's finalists is Gomorrah, by director Matteo Garrone, one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. The blogosphere is up in arms over this, as the Academy proves again that more often than not, their Foreign Language category isn't always the best barometer when truly determining the best Foreign film of the year. Here are the finalists, from which the five nominees will be selected:

Revanche (Gotz Spielmann, Austria)
The Necessities of Life (Benoit Pilon, Canada)
The Class (Laurent Cantet, France)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel, Germany)
Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, Israel)
Departures (Yojiro Takita, Japan)
Tear This Heart Out (Roberto Sneider, Mexico)
Everlasting Moments (Jan Troell, Sweden)
3 Monkeys (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey)

Courtesy of Variety.

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