what we are reading – EightandHalf
…it would have been so much fun. Like us, if you also woke up at 6am, stared at the tv screen for 4 hours, got bored and felt like killing someone by the end of it, then just click on the play button. Enjoy!
And dear Academy Members, go chew those marbles of Hooper & Harvey.
Tip – Jahan Bakshi
And thats not all.
Out of the 65 films, some are festival favourites and winners too. There is Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful (Mexico), Xavier Beauvois’s Of Gods and Men (France – Grand Prix at 2010 Cannes), Apichatpong Weerathesakul’s Uncle Boonmee Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand – Palm d’Or Cannes 2010), Susanne Bier’s In a Better World (Denmark), Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies Canada), Danis Tanovic’s Circus Columbia (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Florin Serban’s If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle ( Silver Bear at Berline 2010), Semih Kaplanoglu’s Bal ( golden Bear at Berlin 2010), and Oliver Schmitz’s “Life, Above All” (South Africa).
Here is the complete list…
Albania – East, West, East, directed by Gjergj Xhuvani
Algeria – Outside the Law, directed by Rachid Bouchareb
Argentina – Carancho, Pablo Trapero
Austria – La Pivellina, directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Azerbaijan – Precinct, directed by Ilgar Safat
Bangladesh – Third Person Singular Number, directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Belgium – Illegal, directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Cirkus Columbia, directed by Danis Tanovic
Brazil – Lula, o filho do Brasil, directed by Fábio Barreto
Bulgaria – Eastern Plays, directed by Kamen Kalev
Canada – Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Chile – The Life of Fish, directed by Matías Bize
China – Aftershock, directed by Feng Xiaogang
Colombia – Crab Trap, directed by Oscar Ruíz Navia
Costa Rica – Of Love and Other Demons, directed by Hilda Hidalgo
Croatia – The Blacks, directed by Goran Devic and Zvonimir Juric
Czech Republic – Kawasaki’s Rose, directed by Jan Hrebejk
Denmark – In a Better World, directed by Susanne Bier
Egypt – Messages From The Sea, directed by Daoud Abdel Sayed
Estonia – The Temptation of St. Tony, directed by Veiko Öunpuu
Ethiopia – The Athlete, directed by Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew
Finland – Steam of Life, directed by Joonas Berghail & Mika Hotakainen
France – Of Gods and Men, directed by Xavier Beauvois
Georgia – Street Days, directed Levan Koguashvili
Germany – When We Leave, directed by Feo Aladag
Greece – Dogtooth, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Greenland – Nuummioq, directed by Torben Bech and Otto Rosing
Hong Kong – Echoes of the Rainbow, directed by Alex Law
Hungary – Bibliteque Pascal, directed by Szabolcs Hajdu
Iceland – Mamma Gógó, directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
India – Peepli Live, directed by Anusha Rizvi
Indonesia – How Funny (This Country Is), directed by Deddy Mizwar
Iran – Farewell Baghdad, directed by Mehdi Naderi
Iraq – Son of Babylon, directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji
Italy – The First Beautiful Thing, directed by Paolo Virzì
Israel – The Human Resources Manager, directed by Eran Riklis
Japan – Confessions, directed by Tetsuya Nakashima
Kazakhstan – Strayed, directed by Akan Satayev
Latvia – Hong Kong Confidential, directed by Maris Martinsons
Macedonia – Mothers, directed by Milcho Manchevski
Mexico – Biutiful, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Netherlands – Tirza, directed by Rudolph van den Berg
Nicaragua – Le Yuma, directed by Florence Jaugey
Norway – Angel, directed by Margreth Olin
Peru – Undertow, directed by Javier Fuentes-León
Philippines – Noy, directed by Dondon Santos
Poland – All That I Love, directed by Jacek Borcuch
Portugal – To Die Like A Man, directed by João Pedro Rodrigues
Puerto Rico – Miente, directed by Rafi Mercado
Romania – If I Want to Whistle…I Whistle, directed by Florin Serban
Russia – The Edge, directed by Aleksei Uchitel
Serbia – Besa, directed by Srdjan Karanovic
Slovakia – The Border, directed by Jaroslav Vojtek
Slovenia – 9:06, directed by Igor Sterk
South Africa – Life, Above All, directed by Oliver Schmitz
South Korea – A Barefoot Dream, directed by Tae-gyun Kim
Spain – Even The Rain, directed by Iciar Bollain
Sweden – Simple Simon, directed by Andreas Ohman
Switzerland – La petite chambre, directed by Stéphanie Chaut & Véronique Reymond
Taiwan – Monga, directed by Doze Niu
Thailand – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerathesakul
Turkey – Honey ( Bal), directed by Semih Kaplanoglu
Venezuela – Hermano, directed by Marcel Rasquin
Are we still selling Slumdogs ? Blame it on our over- desperation or something else, we make sure that we dig out some kind of connect with Oscar Nomination/Award every year. Its the same this year. A good friend figured this one and tweeted us the info.
Kavi, a short film in Hindi has been nominated for the Oscar Awards in the Short Film (Live Action) category. Its directed by Gregg Helvey. Kavi is about an Indian boy and his parents who are forced to work as slave labor in a brick kiln. Still selling poverty porn ?
The 15 mins short film was made on a budget of about $30,000 (Rs.1.4 million) and was shot in Wai in eight days. Click here to know more about the film. And click on the play button to check out the trailer of the film.
Yes, its official. And it was expected. Indian’s official entry to this year’s Oscar Award in the Foreign Language Film Category was Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory. Sixty five films had originally qualified in the category.
The nine films which have been shortlisted for the next round are…
Argentina – El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Director – Juan Jose Campanella)
Australia – Samson & Delilah (Warwick Thornton )
Bulgaria – The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner (Stephan Komandarev )
France – Un Prophète – (Jacques Audiard )
Germany – The White Ribbon – ( Michael Haneke )
Israel – Ajami – ( Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani )
Kazakhstan – Kelin – (Ermek Tursunov )
The Netherlands – Winter in Wartime – ( Martin Koolhoven )
Peru – The Milk of Sorrow – ( Claudia Llosa )
Out of the nine films, five will make the final cut for the nomination which will be announced on February 2nd, 2010. And the Academy Awards will be presented on March 7th, 2010.
BTW, Harishchandrachi Factory is releasing on 29th January. And do watch the film. The early reviews and the buzz from the festivals has been quite positive so far. The film is directed by Paresh Mokashi who has been doing theatre since last twenty years. Harishchandrachi Factory is Mokashi’s debut film.
The film traces the obstacles and hurdles faced by Dhundiraj Phalke (Dada Saheb Phalke), also known as the father of Indian cinema,while he was making the first Indian film Raja Harishchandra in 1913. And here is the theatrical trailer of the film…
For more details about the film/director/promos, click on the website link http://harishchandrachifactory.com/ .
Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory is India’s official entry to this year’s Oscars in the Foreign Film Category. The film is directed by Paresh Mokashi who has been doing theatre since last twenty years. Harishchandrachi Factory is Mokashi’s debut film.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 
