Leading a quick roundup of some recent entries in the Best Foreign Language Film race, Norway has unsuprisingly selected Bent Hamer’s absurdist comedy “O’ Horten” as their pony. The film garnered a number of followers at Cannes and Telluride, with Variety declaring it a “warm and gently humorous divertissement.”
I was a big fan of Hamer’s previous films “Kitchen Stories” and “Factotum,” the latter a sadly underexposed Charles Bukowski adaptation that featured a career-best performance from Matt Dillon. I’m looking forward to “O’ Horten”; I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the final shortlist, at least.
Other titles joining the mix (that we haven’t already reported) include:
“Taare Zameen Par,” from India, starring and directed by Aamir Khan, a 2001 nominee for “Lagaan”;
“Last Stop 174,” from Brazil, a Toronto entry from Bruno Barreto, a 1997 nominee for the brilliant “Four Days in September”;
“The Tour,” from Serbia;
“No One’s Son,” from Croatia;
“The Friend,” from Switzerland;
“Salt of This Sea,” from Palestine;
“White Night Wedding,” from Iceland;
“Tricks,” from Poland;
And some less recent entries that, for one reason or another, I failed to mention earlier:
“My Magic;” from Singapore;
“The Rest is Silence,” from Romania;
“Iska’s Journey;” from Hungary;
“Ploning;” from The Philippines.
It’s getting difficult to keep up, so if we’ve missed anything here or in previous posts, please let us know in the comments. Also, I know we have a very cosmopolitan readership, so any tips, recommendations or perspectives on the entries would be most welcome.
Comments
5 responses to “‘O’ Horten’ among further Foreign Film entries”
WAS Aamir Khan a previous nominee? He was a producer of “Lagaan,” but not its director. So he would not have been the person to accept the award, had the film won that year.
It’s never been clear to me who’s considered the actual nominee or winner of that particular award. Is it the director, producers, or the country? I think I read that Fellini “won” 4 times in this category, but only has an Honorary Oscar.
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