Awards Season 2006

[Schkura]

Customs. But with this shit between Ahmadinejad & Bush even that's hazy & vague now. Call first before you go. But please hurry.

Thanks, Schrek-o. I just peed a little.

[Len]

No Oscar for Finland, that's for sure.

Film director Aki Kaurismäki has no great love for current US foreign policy, and so it was perhaps not a huge surprise that he refused to allow his film Laitakaupungin valot (Lights in the Dusk) to go forward as the Finnish nomination for this year's Academy Awards.
He phoned the managing director of Suomen Filmikamari, who would be sending the formal nomination to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to state that he would not sign the necessary documents. Hence the film will not be among those in the pre-selection for the Best Foreign-Language Picture category at next year's Oscars.
The films that are shortlisted in this category are all put forward by national film organisations, and the final list is made public in January.

[Barmy]

The American public will be DEVASTATED by this. Every year they look forward to the Finnish Oscar selection as it plays in multiplexes across the country and brings joy to kids of all ages. George W. Bush is apparently holding a press conference about this and has sent Condi to Helsinki.

[The Invunche]

Try not to soil sarcasm's good name.

[Barmy]

Was that intended to be sarcastic lol

[The Invunche]

Was that intended to be sarcastic lol

Of course not.

[marty]

If Kaurasmaki decided not to enter his film into the Oscar foreign-language category because of his disdain for Bush, then he is a fucking idiot. His films have been nominated before in this category and have, in fact, helped profile his films to get a US distributor (as well as UK, Australia, France etc) and now he is turning his back on the awards that have helped him make money. If he is so anti-USA, then I hope he also refrains from purchasing any US products such as his Apple computers and all of the cameras and his post-production facilities that use US equipment to make his films in the first place. The world would probably be a better place without his films, anyway.

[Jeff]

Here is the official list of the 61 foreign film submissions:

[quote]Algeria, “Days of Glory,â€

[Kudzu]

If Kaurasmaki decided not to enter his film into the Oscar foreign-language category because of his disdain for Bush, then he is a fucking idiot. His films have been nominated before in this category and have, in fact, helped profile his films to get a US distributor (as well as UK, Australia, France etc) and now he is turning his back on the awards that have helped him make money. If he is so anti-USA, then I hope he also refrains from purchasing any US products such as his Apple computers and all of the cameras and his post-production facilities that use US equipment to make his films in the first place. The world would probably be a better place without his films, anyway.

I know! How dare someone follow through on what they believe regardless of the fact that it'll screw them over in the end!

And look at how much the US has helped him out in putting out DVDs of his work! Look at all the money he's made off of those!

Oh...wait...

[marty]

Then I am sure he would be more than happy to never enter his films for the Oscars ever again.

Also, somehow I don't think Kaurasmaki's decision to pull his films out of the Oscar nominations would convince Bush to pull out of Iraq. I may be wrong but you never know.

[Travis]

He's pulling out tomorrow. Didn't you get the memo?

[toiletduck!]

Also, somehow I don't think Kaurasmaki's decision to pull his films out of the Oscar nominations would convince Bush to pull out of Iraq. I may be wrong but you never know.

Yeah, and Cindy Sheehan's a twat! Why's she wasting our time?

-Toilet Dcuk

[marty]

Exactly. I think too many people are obsessed with their own self-importance. In the end, us commoners have very little impact on global affairs. Despite around 80% of the world being anti-war, there are still wars and killings of innocent civilians happening around the world. Cindy Sheehan and Aki Kaurasmaki are just as helpless and useless as we are and any grand gesturing they may make is futile.

[toiletduck!]

Oh, God, he's serious, and this thread's about to derail in 3, 2, 1...

-Toilet Dcuk

[Andre Jurieu]

I'm missing the part where Kaurismäki says he's Anti-US. All I'm seeing is that he's anti-"the current administration."

... and since we're all helpless and useless and all our gestures are futile, we should all stop trying to do anything at all and just sit back and assume our roles as productive consumers by buying more DVDs.

[Poncho Punch]

Switzerland's selection, Vitus, is a very good film, though I had issues with some of the editing decisions (and I kept expecting Joseph Goebbels to pop around a corner in the grandfather's home). Korea's pick, The King And The Clown, was even better, but I don't see the academy awarding a film revolving around a gay/tranny love triangle much more than a polite nod.

[marty]

I'm missing the part where Kaurismäki says he's Anti-US. All I'm seeing is that he's anti-"the current administration."

... and since we're all helpless and useless and all our gestures are futile, we should all stop trying to do anything at all and just sit back and assume our roles as productive consumers by buying more DVDs.

I am also missing the point of how Bush is somewhow involved in the Oscar selection committee for the foreign language Oscars. Bush can't even understand English let alone other languages. Kaurasmaki's association of Bush with the Oscars is ludicrous.

I will take a punt and say these should be the five nominees (winner in bold):

Canada, “Water,â€

[Andre Jurieu]

I am also missing the point of how Bush is somewhow involved in the Oscar selection committee for the foreign language Oscars. Bush can't even understand English let alone other languages. Kaurasmaki's association of Bush with the Oscars is ludicrous.

I don't really think Kaurismäki is making a direct association with Bush and the Oscars. However, it seems fairly clear that the Oscars do have an association to American culture since they are a US awards show, and Kaurismäki seems to place some level of importance on the fact that the Oscars still carry some weight within the American culture war, however brief that influence may be in reality. He might be misguided in thinking that his name carries that much influence, or that anyone really worries that much about the foreign language award, other than for marketing purposes, but I doubt Kaurismäki cares all that much about the ROR of a film. As long as he can continue to obtain adequate finances in order to make his films, I'm sure he's content with his current level of success. It's a small personal statement and a minor political protest that he's making as an artist. If he's unconcerned about the financial implications I doubt it disrupts too many lives. I'm not seeing why exactly we should become so upset by these actions.

[Grimfarrow]

Germany's THE LIVES OF OTHERS has the potential to upset. Believe me.

The nominees I think will be:

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Germany)
VOLVER (Spain)
PAN'S LABYRINTH (Mexico)
BLACKBOOK (Netherlands)
WATER (Canada)

Other possibilities:
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (China)
DAYS OF GLORY (Algeria)
AFTER THE WEDDING (Denmark)
THE GOLDEN DOOR (Italy)
HULA GIRLS (Japan)

[Len]

I think alot of you are reading Kaurismäki's decision in a wrong way. It's not supposed to be a huge Anti-Bush demonstration (as such it's very ineffective), but I'd believe it has more to do with the way Kaurismäki simply has no love for the Oscars and even more as a protest to the Suomen Filmikamari (who decide the oscar nominations), as they did not consult his opinion before nominating Laitakaupungin Valot as Finland's nominee. As for Marty saying Kaurismäki has had films nominated for Oscars before, I believe the only one to have gotten an nomination has been The Man Without A Past and even then Kaurismäki declared that should he win, he would not accept the Oscar and would not travel to the ceremony.

I don't think he originally intended to make a big deal out of this, but if they announce his film as the finnish nominee while he has no interest in letting the film to be nominated, I see no wrong with the way he acted. It's not like he held a huge press conference and shouted "Fuck Bush!". He phoned the guy at Suomen Filmikamari and said he wouldn't sign the necessary documents, and that's that. So the criticism that Kaurismäki should keep his nose out of grand public gestures like this is basically more than absurd.

And I can understand his decision very well. I doubt he really gives a fuck about the american market, as I believe his films have generally done very poorly in there, and he's not relying on Hollywood money to get his films funded.

[Barmy]

The 5 nominees should be as follows. (And I am PRAYING that that overrated cretin Almodovar pulls the ghastly "Volver" from consideration since he is so anti-Bush (I hear Penelope likes Bush, however)).

Hungary, “White Palms,â€

[MichaelB]

I'm missing the part where Kaurismäki says he's Anti-US. All I'm seeing is that he's anti-"the current administration."

Anyone who seriously thinks that Kaurismäki is anti-US clearly doesn't know his films very well!

Aside from possibly Wim Wenders, it's hard to think of a current European filmmaker who's quite so openly indebted to American popular culture. For its most extreme manifestation, look at the Leningrad Cowboys films (very much including Total Balalaika Show), but it's hard to think of a single one of his films that doesn't include at least a token nod, whether it's "Over the Rainbow" (sung in Finnish!) at the end of Ariel or the Salvation Army band discovering the joys of jukebox rockabilly in The Man Without A Past.

[Brian Oblivious]

I haven't seen it, but I don't know if the notoriously fuddy-duddy selection committee in this category is ready to nominate a film by the director of Showgirls at this stage, even if it is about the Holocaust. Maybe if it's a lot more refined and "inspirational" than I'm expecting.

I also have heard speculation that Pan's Labyrinth may be disqualified for not being sufficiently Mexican.

[portnoy]

trust me on this one - The Lives of Others' nomination is assured. The movie is excellent and is also exactly the sort of thing the foreign film nomination committee goes for.

[Grimfarrow]

[quote="Barmy"]The 5 nominees should be as follows. (And I am PRAYING that that overrated cretin Almodovar pulls the ghastly "Volver" from consideration since he is so anti-Bush (I hear Penelope likes Bush, however)).

Hungary, “White Palms,â€