"Leonera", de Pablo Trapero, afuera del Oscar

Según el nuevo sistema de la Academia, primero se dan a conocer nueve precandidatas al Oscar a la mejor película extranjera y una semana después esa lista se reduce a cinco. No entiendo muy bien el sistema pero por lo pronto se sabe que "Leonera", de Pablo Trapero, no entró al Oscar, ni tampoco "Gomorra", de Mateo Garrone. Siguiendo con importantes omisiones --aunque comprensibles, tomando en cuenta el habitual pésimo gusto de este grupo de electores-- no están "Aquel querido mes de agosto", de Miguel Gomes (Portugal), la chilena "Tony Manero", la belga "Eldorado", "Tulpan", de Sergey Dvortsevoy, entre otras. Y sí, entre las nueve está la impresentable película mexicana "Arráncame la vida". De cualquier manera, hay algunos títulos dignos en esta preselección de una categoría que a todos dan por seguro que ganará "Waltz with Bashir", del israelí Ari Folman.


Nine films have been named to the short list for the Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards, narrrowed down from the sixty-five titles that originally qualified for consideration.


Listed in alphabetical order by country, the films are:

Austria, “Revanche,” directed by Gotz Spielmann

Canada, “The Necessities of Life,” directed by Benoit Pilon

France, “The Class,” directed by Laurent Cantet, director (foto)

Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” directed by Uli Edel

Israel, “Waltz with Bashir,” directed by Ari Folman

Japan, “Departures,” directed by Yojiro Takita

Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out,” directed by Roberto Sneider

Sweden, “Everlasting Moments,” directed by Jan Troell

Turkey, “3 Monkeys,” directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Committees in New York and Los Angeles will view the nine films this weekend to determine the five nominees in the category. The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22nd in Los Angeles.