Wow, the Oscar off-season gets shorter by the year. Before we know it, they’ll generously let us have a single night’s sleep after the ceremony before plunging us into campaign hell.
Of course, I exaggerate — this is hardly news to set pundits’ pulses racing. Still, last year we at least got to wait until late August before the convoluted (and invariably disheartening) process of assembling the contenders for Best Foreign Language Film began with Denmark submitting first. (And promptly sinking without trace.)
This year, Sri Lanka comes first — and early — out the gate by naming its official Oscar submission as “Flowers of the Sky,” a melodrama from director Prasanna Vithanage than screened earlier this year at the Palm Springs fest. The flim’s site describes it as follows:
Faded film star Sandhya Rani (Malani Fonseka) unexpectedly sees her profile rise again when she is embroiled in controversy. As a media-crazy nation draws her into its net, she is confronted with a changed, compromised industry – more commercialized, media savvy and value-less. As she faces her new found fame, Sandhya comes to confront her darkest demons – and also herself…
Can’t say I’ve heard of the film, and given the barrage of entries still to come, the odds are against us hearing much more about it. Can any local readers offer some thoughts? But snaps for Sri Lanka for leading the charge — this marks only the second time they’ve submitted an Oscar entry.
Meanwhile, steel yourself for the inevitable snubs and headscratching choices — whether by the hand of individual countries’ selectors or the Academy itself — still to come.
Comments
7 responses to “Sri Lanka kicks off foreign film race”
These foreign films…always sellin’ the sex. ;)
(Not that I’m complaining, exactly.)
I’ve always wondered who chooses the films. Is it the government or some AMPAS-like organization?
Prominent cleavage = two more reader comments for an unknown Sri Lankan pic than my last post on “Inglourious Basterds” got.
Let that be a lesson to us all.
;)
Mr. F: It varies from country to country. In some countries a small committee of industry figures is appointed, in others as many as a thousand people vote on the submission. No set system.
Guy,
Personally, I’m sort of waiting to see where I stand on the QT pic. I think I’ll probably enjoy it, and am quite amused by the various ads. But I have a feeling that, as with Death Proof, I’ll be surrounded by a group of people in the theatre who want more action, less talk. I’ll come expecting long passages of dialogue, hopefully given suspenseful context by various characters pretending to be a nationality they’re not, and hoping not to be found out.
Anyways, though this might be the first big (creative) bomb of his career (Death Proof got pretty good reviews, overall), I think most people drew their line in the sand with regards to QT long ago, and this film will only continue that trend.
I think Pulp Fiction’s a masterpiece, and have quite enjoyed most of his films since then, so I’m relatively optimistic about IB, despite the mixed/negative response as Cannes.
Didn’t really mean to pick on “Basterds” there, JC. First example of a recent post that came to mind.
Oh, I know.
Just wanted to note why I haven’t felt compelled to make any comments on the posts about IB. I do read them, though, as I do most of the articles you guys write here. What can I say?; I’m a pop-culture junkie. ;)