Lang Thompson explains: > You may already know this but the foreign language film award doesn't work > like the other awards. Each country chooses one film to be considered by > the Academy; there must be available an English-subtitled print for viewing > by members though I'm not sure if that status of release in the US makes a > difference (probably not since many haven't been). From this "short list" > the Academy then determines the actual nominations, so that the foreign > language nominations have actually been filtered twice: once by the country > and then once by the Academy. It's no surprise that the best work > (Kiarostami? Hou Hsiao-Hsien?) is ignored as is anything politically or > formally innovative. The complete list of country submissions for this > year was printed in "Variety"; if you need the info I can get the issue > date fairly easily. There are also other complications. One is that the official category is "Best Foreign *Language* Film*, which creates the uncertain status given to British/Irish/Canadian/Australian and other productions mentioned in other posts. In addition, the global economy creates new questions, as cross-border coproductions raises questions about which country, if any, should get the credit as the sponsor of the film. Thus, some well-received films in recent years have been totally ignored. Don Larsson ---------------------- Donald Larsson Minnesota State U, Mankato [log in to unmask] ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama.