SI CAYO, ¿OTORGO?

Acompaño esta “action photo” de Vicente Juarbe, director de Cayo, con el comunicado de prensa que anuncia las 58 películas que fueron sometidas a la competencia por el Oscar a la mejor película en idioma extranjero. Tengo una lectoría muy cinéfila, y a ellos les pregunto: ¿cuáles son los “odds” de Cayo? Yo pongo mi dinero en la película de Tayikistán (wherever that is).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that a record fifty-five countries, including first-timers Costa Rica, Fiji, and Iraq - plus Palestine, Puerto Rico, and Hong Kong (which somehow still manages to get into the roster as if it were an independent state within China) - have submitted films for consideration in the Best Foreign-Language Film category.

Among the 58 submissions are Berlin Film Festival Best Director and Best Actress (Julia Jentsch) winner Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Germany), directed by Marc Rothemund; Bohdan Sláma's Stesti / Something Like Happiness (Czech Republic), winner of the Golden Shell for Best Picture at the San Sebastián International Film Festival; Cristi Puiu's Moartea Domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania), winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Chicago International Film Festival; and Reza Mir Karimi's Best Picture winner at the 2005 Iran Cinema Celebration Awards, Kheili dour, kheili nazdik / So Close, So Far (Iran).

Also, Cristina Comencini's La Bestia nel cuore (Italy), which won Giovanna Mezzogiorno the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival; the Palm d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's L'Enfant / The Child (Belgium); Hany Abu-Assad's controversial tale of two Palestinian suicide bombers, Paradise Now (Palestine); and Tsai Ming-liang's sexually-charged Golden Horse Award Best Picture nominee Tian bian yi duo yun / The Wayward Cloud (Taiwan).

Full list of submitted films:

Argentina, El Aura, Fabian Bielinsky, director;
Bangladesh, Shyamol Chaya, Humayun Ahmed, director;
Belgium, L'Enfant / The Child, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors;
Bolivia, Say Good Morning to Dad, Fernando Vargas, director;
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Totally Personal, Nedžad Begovic, director;
Brazil, 2 Filhos de Francisco / Two Sons of Francisco, Breno Silveira, director;
Bulgaria, Stolen Eyes, Radoslav Spassov, director;
Canada, C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée, director;
Chile, Play, Alicia Scherson, director;
China, The Promise, Chen Kaige, director;
Colombia, La Sombra del Caminante / The Shadow of the Traveler, Ciro Guerra, director;
Costa Rica, Caribe, Esteban Ramírez, director;
Croatia, A Wonderful Night in Split, Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
Cuba, Viva Cuba, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, director;
Czech Republic, Stesti / Something Like Happiness, Bohdan Sláma, director;
Denmark, Adam's Apples, Anders Thomas Jensen, director;
Estonia, Shop of Dreams, Peeter Urbla, director;
Fiji, The Land Has Eyes, Vilsoni Hereniko, director;
Finland, Mother of Mine, Klaus Härö, director;
France, Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas, Christian Carion, director;
Georgia, Tbilisi-Tbilisi, Levan Zakareishvili, director;
Germany, Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Marc Rothemund, director;
Hong Kong, Perhaps Love, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, director;
Hungary, Sorstalanság / Fateless, Lajos Koltai, director;
Iceland, Ahead of Time, Ágúst Gudmundsson, director;
India, Paheli, Amol Palekar, director;
Indonesia, Gie, Riri Riza, director;
Iran, Kheili dour, kheili nazdik / So Close, So Far, Reza Mir Karimi, director;
Iraq, Requiem of Snow, Jamil Rostami, director;
Israel, What a Wonderful Place, Eyal Halfon, director;
Italy, La Bestia nel cuore / The Beast in the Heart , Cristina Comencini, director;
Japan, Blood and Bones, Yoichi Sai, director;
Korea, Welcome to Dongmakgol, Kwang-hyun Park, director;
Luxembourg, Renart the Fox, Thierry Schiel, director;
Mexico, Al Otro lado / On the Other Side, Gustavo Loza, director;
Mongolia, The Cave of the Yellow Dog, Byambasuren Davaa, director;
The Netherlands, Bluebird, Mijke de Jong, director;
Norway, Kissed by Winter, Sara Johnsen, director;
Palestine, Paradise Now, Hany Abu-Assad, director;
Peru, Días de Santiago / Days of Santiago, Josué Méndez, director;
Poland, The Collector, Feliks Falk, director;
Portugal, Noite Escura / Dark Night, João Canijo, director;
Puerto Rico, Cayo, Vicente Juarbe, director;
Romania, Moartea Domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Cristi Puiu, director;
Russia, The Italian, Andrei Kravchuk, director;
Serbia & Montenegro, Midwinter Night's Dream, Goran Paskaljevic, director;
Singapore, Be with Me, Eric Khoo, director;
Slovak Republic, The City of the Sun, Martin Šulík, director;
Slovenia, The Ruins, Janez Burger, director;
South Africa, Tsotsi, Gavin Hood, director;
Spain, Obaba, Montxo Armendáriz, director;
Sweden, Zozo, Josef Fares, director;
Switzerland, Tout un hiver sans feu / A Whole Winter Without Fire, Greg Zglinski, director;
Taiwan, Tian bian yi duo yun / The Wayward Cloud, Tsai Ming-liang, director;
Tajikistan, Sex & Philosophy, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, director;
Thailand, The Tin Mine, Jira Maligool, director;
Turkey, Lovelorn, Yavuz Turgul, director;
Vietnam, Buffalo Boy, Nguyen Vo Nghiem Mihn, director.

The 78th Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 5:30 a.m. (California time), in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The Academy Awards ceremony will be held at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday, March 5, 2006.