>Does it seem like only particular
>kinds of films are eligible for such a nomination?

This is the really interesting question. Unless something has changed in
the process, you've got a wide variety of organizations in each respective
country selecting a single film for nomination consideration. Naturally,
these groups are often (usually?) governmental. Thus, a film like Hou's
_City of Sadness_, one of the most impressive Asian films of the 1980s by
anyone's measure, is not submitted simply because it's politically
sensitive. The list of examples is endless.

The other problem is the selection process _after_ nomination. I was at USC
film school when they were using our screening rooms for people who were
eligible to vote. Again this may have changed, but in order to vote you had
to watch a significant number of the films. This meant that the job went to
the people with a lot of time of their hands; you can imagine the age
demographic. I remember sitting speechless in my seat after _Wings of
Desire_, both because of the viewing experience and also because of the
comment by an elderly voting member next to me. While the credits were
rolling I asked what she thought of the film. She grimaced and said, "It
was OK I guess, but I couldn't figure out why it kept switching from black
and white to color. I didn't like that much." Now you know why all the
winning films are sweet, toothless melodramas.

Markus

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