Here are my comments, for what they're worth:
The Oscar ceremony telecast is watched by somewhere around a billion people world wide, or so I read. With the international distribution and influence of Hollywood films, no doubt most of that audience is more interested in the major nominations and winners rather than their own "foreign" country's domestic product. The scant and brief attention usually given to the best foreign film award during the Oscar ceremony bears this out. I would think it would be up to the producing studio and the national press of the country involved to determine what publicity it would give to an Oscar nomination/win of a domestic film, and whether this would influence the box office take. You would almost have to study each individual country's practice, which may well be governed by political, cultural and economic situations, in addition to language. A film such as Italy's LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL is doing excellent international business, so a foreign Oscar win may be less significant for that movie than a less popular film which could benefit from the potential publicity. I hope these remarks are helpful.
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> From: M Furniss <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Academy Award question
> Date: Friday, February 12, 1999 11:58 AM
>
> On Monday I am being interviewed about the impact of the Academy
> Awards on international film production and I would like to get the
> opinions of others on that point to add to my own.
> I am interested in finding out more about how a
> nomination for an American Academy Award (for Best Foreign
> Language Film, or whatever) is viewed within the film industries of
> various countries.  Any award is probably seen as desirable to a
> filmmaker, but I'm trying to get at how the Academy Awards are viewed
> in particular.  In the US, of course, they are very significant and a
> nomination certainly contributes to the commercial success of films
> screened here.  I'm wondering about the impact within the
> country of a film's origin -- both for the sales of a film and the
> career/reputation of a filmmaker.  Does it seem like only particular
> kinds of films are eligible for such a nomination? If you have any
> comments, I'd love to hear them.
>
> Maureen Furniss
> Asst. Professor, Film Studies
> Chapman University
> [log in to unmask]
>
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