Tuesday, December 02, 2014

2015 Golden Globes Foreign Language Films Long List


Recently the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced that there are 53 motion pictures that have been approved for Golden Globe consideration in the Foreign Language category. In order to qualify for foreign language consideration, a film must have at least 51% of its dialogue in a language other than English, it must be released in its country or countries (in case of co-production) of origin between Nov. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2014, and it must have an official screening for HFPA voting members.

Documentaries do not qualify for the category and foreign language entries are not eligible in the best musical or comedy or best drama categories. But the filmmakers – actors, directors, screenwriters and composers – can also compete in their respective categories. The HFPA foreign language category rules allow American productions that are in languages other than English. The HFPA also does not limit each country to just one entry per year in the category.

These are the 53 approved films by country of origin. The list is similar to the one generated by the same category for the Academy Awards but the best part is that there are several films from great cinema countries, like France for example.

France (6)
Casse-tête chinois (Chinese Puzzle), Cédric Klapisch
Mea Culpa, Fred Cavayé
Saint Laurent, Bertrand Bonello
La Vénus à la fourrure (Venus in Fur), Roman Polanski
Salaud, on t'aime (We Love You, You Bastard), Claude Lelouch
Yves Saint Laurent, Jalil Lespert

Canada (3)
Mommy, Xavier Dolan
Siddharth, Richie Mehta
Work Weather Wife, Harpreet Sandhu

China (3)
归来 Gui Lai (Coming Home ), Zhang Yimou
亲爱的 Qin'ai de (Dearest), Peter Chan
后会无期 Hou Hui Wu Qi (The Continent), Han Han

Brazil (2)
A Grande Vitória (The Great Victory), Stefano Capuzzi Lapietra
Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (The Way He Looks), Daniel Ribeiro

Germany (2)
Die geliebten Schwestern (Beloved Sisters), Dominik Graf
Die Vampirischwestern 2 (Vampire Sisters 2: Bats in the Belly), Wolfgang Groos

Finland (2)
Betoniyö (Concrete Night), Pirjo Honkasalo
Mielensäpahoittaja (The Grump), Dome Karukoski

India (2)
Fandry, Nagraj Manjule
लायर्स डाइस Liar's Dice, Geetu Mohandas

Mexico (2)
Cantinflas, Sebastián del Amo
Palabras de Dioses (Words With Gods), 9 directors (first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series)

One (1) each
Argentina: Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales), Damián Szifrón
Australia: Charlie's Country, Rolf de Heer
Austria: Das Finestere Tal (The Dark Valley), Andreas Pochaska
Bolivia: Olvidados (Forgotten), Carlos Bolado
Chile: Matar a un Hombre (To Kill a Man), Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Colombia: Mateo, María Gamboa
Estonia: Mandariinid (Tangerines), Zaza Urushadze
Ethiopia: Difret, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Georgia: სიმინდის კუნძული Simindis kundzuli (Corn Island), George Ovashvil
Greece: Miss Violence, Alexandros Avranas
Hungary: Fehér isten (White God), Kornél Mundruczó
Indonesia: The Raid 2: Berandal (The Raid 2), Gareth Evans
Israel: גט Gett (Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem), Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabet
Italy: Il Capitale Umano (Human Capital), Paolo Virzì
Kurdistan: Êk Momik, Du Momik... (One Candle Two Candles), Jano Rosebiani
Kyrgyzstan: Құрманжан Датқа Kurmanjan Datka (Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains), Sadyk Sher-Niyaz
Mauritania: Timbuktu, Abderrahmane Sissako
New Zealand: The Dead Lands, Toa Fraser
Norway: 1001 gram (1001 Grams), Bent Hamer
Palestine: عيون الحرامية Eyes of a Thief, Najwa Najjar
Philippines: Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (Norte, the End of History), Lav Diaz
Poland: Ida, Pawel Pawlikowski
Romania: Brancusi Din Eternitate (Brancusi From Eternity), Adrian Popovici
Russia: Левиафан Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev
South Korea: 해무 Haemoo (Sea Fog), Shim Sung-bo
Sweden: Turist (Force Majeure), Ruben Östlund
Switzerland: Der Kreis (The Circle), Stefan Haupt
Turkey: Kış Uykusu (Winter Sleep), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Venezuela: Libertador (The Liberator), Alberto Arvelo

To check announcement at official site go here. All right France has six movies and not all are great French cinema, a couple are definitively mainstream but from trailer think could watch the action packed Mea Culpa. The best surprise is the second Mexican movie (Words with Gods) that I knew about it but absolutely forgot about how good can be the anthology. Then I am more surprised about a few European films that didn't made the list even when were submitted to Oscar.  But what made me laugh out loud is the second German film about vampires with bats in the belly!!!

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