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Michael Haneke’s Amour And Yang Yong-hi’s Our Homeland Submitted For Best Foreign Language Film Oscar As Submissions Roll In

With fall at our doorsteps, awards season is right around the corner, and with changes coming to the music branch and hosting duties already being discussed, it’s the foreign award that has finally been given some spotlight.

Both Japan and Austria have picked their Oscar entries for the Best Foreign Language Film award and they couldn’t be more different. First up, Austria, who has chosen iconic director Michael Haneke’s  Amour, while Japan has given a nod to the first narrative fiction feature from director Yang Yong-hi, entitled  Our Homeland.

October 1 is the deadline for foreign submissions, with January 15 being the announcement as to what five features will garner nominations, so while it’s great to see entries rolling in, there is still a long road ahead. The Haneke film isn’t a shocking reveal, but then again, it’s easily the most talked about foreign language film of this year (it is a Palme d’Or winner, after all).   I’m not entirely familiar with the Japanese entry, but it’s a film that is described as an autobiographical feature following a ‘South Korean (Arata Iura) who was sent to live in North Korea, after 25 years in exile, returns to visit his family in Japan under the eye of a government watchdog (Yang Ik-June). The director is a second-generation Korean now living in Japan.’

As always, this is one of the most talked about awards leading up to the show, so expect much more on films being entered for the award as they are announced.

Source  THR  /  Variety  /  TOH

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.