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Oscar Watch: Spain and Italy Snub Auteurs Almodovar and Moretti

by Anne Thompson | September 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

Thompson on Hollywood
On the foreign Oscar front Spain has disappointed Pedro Almodovar yet again by not picking The Skin I Live In, which failed to win a prize at Cannes. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the kinky thriller starring Antonio Banderas stateside. And Italy did not choose Nanni Moretti's non-award winning Cannes entry Habemus Papam, either, which IFC is releasing here.

Instead, Agusti Villaronga’s post-Spanish Civil War drama Black Bread, which swept the Goyas, Spain's Academy Awards, is the official Spanish submission. Writes Screen:

It's about a young boy living in a small Catalan village who uncovers dark secrets from the past.

For its part, Italy went with Emanuele Crialese's Venice Fest special jury prize winner Terraferma, which also played well in Toronto. TOH Venice correspondent David Gritten loved the movie,

a story of an Italian fishing family living on a small, remote offshore island. Their business is declining, and their lives are altered when, out on their boat one night, they rescue North African illegal immigrants struggling to swim for shore.

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More: Awards, Festivals, Genres, Oscars, Toronto, Cannes, Foreign

2 Comments

  • jack | September 28, 2011Reply

    crialese is a auteur

  • AF | September 28, 2011Reply

    "Terraferma" is a great choice and a much better film than "Habemus Papam" (but that's not saying much).

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