While governmental legislation moves forward to secure and better define our countries borders, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences are opening their borders wider than ever before. The Academy sent out entry forms Friday to a record 95 countries to submit their films for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
To be eligible for entry, a movie has to show in a commercial theater for seven consecutive days between October 1st, 2006 and September 30th, 2007. However, each country is only allowed to submit one movie. Basically, they have to decide what film best represents it, and then the Academy gets to decide who the actual contenders for this year’s award are.
While I’m excited to see more countries than ever participating, I’m starting to think the Academy’s whole “foreign film” idea is a bit antiquated, relegating movies not made in America toward a second-citizen status. Film tends to be more universal than that, and treating movies differently because of the country of their origin disregards the whole concept of film being able to transcend language barriers and bridge the gap between cultures.
Take last year for instance. Guillermo del Toro’s Laberinto del fauno (known as Pan’s Labyrinth in the States) was a fantastic picture, completely worthy of the Best Foreign Language award (although it didn’t win). In fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that del Toro’s movie was better than half the American nominees for Best Picture. Should a movie of that quality be disregarded simply because it was made in Mexico? And what about the year you wind up with a Pan’s Labyrinth against a Motorcycle Diaries? Are we really so bold as to say Mexico has to choose between the two movies so that Norway can participate?
I guess I’m a little jaded about America’s handling of foreign films as of late. The AFI’s 100 years, 100 movies list lacked the presence of Akira Kurosawa or Bernardo Bertolucci, or many of the other filmmakers we have to give credit to for the development of the motion picture as an art form. While I respect the Academy for giving specific recognition to the movies of other countries, I have to think there’s a better way to praise those movies, and acknowledge that “foreign films” can be just as good as anything the United States can generate at times.
