List of Australian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Australia has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1996. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[1] It was not created until the 1956 Academy Awards, in which a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.[2] As of 2016, ten Australian films have been submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and none of them have been nominated.
The Australian nominee is selected by a committee of Australian industry professionals convened and selected by Screen Australia.
Submissions
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956.[2] The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.[1] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Australia for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year (Ceremony) | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 (69th) |
Floating Life | Floating Life | Cantonese, English, German | Law, ClaraClara Law | Not Nominated |
2001 (74th) |
La Spagnola | La Spagnola | Spanish, English, Italian | Jacobs, SteveSteve Jacobs | Not Nominated |
2006 (79th) |
Ten Canoes | Ten Canoes | Yolngu Matha, Gunwinggu, English |
de Heer, RolfRolf de Heer | Not Nominated |
2007 (80th) |
The Home Song Stories | The Home Song Stories | Cantonese, English, Mandarin | Ayres, TonyTony Ayres | Not Nominated |
2009 (82nd) |
Samson and Delilah[3] | Samson and Delilah | Warlpiri, English | Thornton, WarwickWarwick Thornton | Made January Shortlist |
2012 (85th) |
Lore[4] | Lore | German | Shortland, CateCate Shortland | Not Nominated |
2013 (86th) |
The Rocket[5] | The Rocket | Lao | Mordaunt, KimKim Mordaunt | Not Nominated |
2014 (87th) |
Charlie's Country[6] | Charlie's Country | Yolngu Matha | de Heer, RolfRolf de Heer | Not Nominated |
2015 (88th) |
Arrows of the Thunder Dragon[7] | Arrows of the Thunder Dragon | Dzongkha | Sneddon, GregGreg Sneddon | Not Nominated |
2016 (89th) |
Tanna[8] | Tanna | Nauvhal | Martin Butler, Bentley Dean | TBD |
As a majority-English-speaking country, Australia only infrequently sends non-English language movies to the Oscars. Three of their first five submissions were stories of the lives of immigrants to Australia. Australia's first submission, Floating Life is a drama about Cantonese immigrants from Hong Kong who reunite with their daughter who moved to Australia several years before. The second submission, La Spagnola is a black comedy about a pregnant Spanish immigrant who is deserted by her husband after arriving in Australia. A subsequent submission, The Home Song Stories is about a Chinese woman from Shanghai who moves to Australia with her two children after marrying an Australian citizen. Both principal actors, Clara Law and Tony Ayres, were born in Macau and became naturalized Australian citizens.
Australia's 2006, 2009 and 2014 submissions were Aboriginal Australian stories. Ten Canoes was the first feature film made primarily in one of Australia's Aboriginal languages.[9] The film, set before the arrival of white Australian settlers, tells a story within a story, about what happens when a young man falls for one of the brides of the local chief. Samson & Delilah, the first Australian film to make an Oscar shortlist, won the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 2009, and focused on a teenaged Aboriginal couple on the run.
See also
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
- List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees
- Cinema of Australia
References
- 1 2 "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2013-08-26.
- 1 2 "History of the Academy Awards - Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
- ↑ Runner-up: Van Diemen's Land, directed by Jonathan auf der Heide. Source: http://www.screendaily.com/awards/academy-awards/academy-awards-news/australia-selects-samson-for-foreign-language-oscar/5006233.article
- ↑ "Australian film Lore up for an Oscar". Vogue. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- ↑ "Australian film The Rocket has a shot at the Oscars". The Australian. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
- ↑ "Oscars: Australia Selects 'Charlie's Country' for Foreign-Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ Maddox, Garry (9 October 2015). "Arrows the Thunder Dragon: the Australian Oscar contender you won't have heard of". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ↑ Frater, Patrick (23 August 2016). "Australia Selects 'Tanna' as Foreign-Language Oscar Contender". Variety. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0466399/trivia