Palmerin Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 why is there a Foreign Language Oscar? In Panama, Poland and Portugal English is a foreign language. Which one is better: the movie in English or the movie in any other language? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 why is there a Foreign Language Oscar? In Panama, Poland and Portugal English is a foreign language. Which one is better: the movie in English or the movie in any other language? The reason for the Foreign Language Oscar cateory is simple; To limit the choices to English speaking films since the Oscar's is paid for and run by Americans and America is an English speaking country (well for the most part anyway). To open up the nominations to films from any and all countries would have a major impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 why is there a Foreign Language Oscar? In Panama, Poland and Portugal English is a foreign language. Which one is better: the movie in English or the movie in any other language? ¿Que? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 The reason for the Foreign Language Oscar cateory is simple; To limit the choices to English speaking films since the Oscar's is paid for and run by Americans and America is an English speaking country (well for the most part anyway). I am sorry to learn that. Tell me if it isn't true that many times the non-English language movie was clearly superior to the English language one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I am sorry to learn that. Tell me if it isn't true that many times the non-English language movie was clearly superior to the English language one. Yes, often the non-English language movies are superior to English language ones. But the main goal of the Oscars is to promote US made movies. Yea, the Oscars is mostly just a marketing gimmic to promote US made films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnm001 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 why is there a Foreign Language Oscar? In Panama, Poland and Portugal English is a foreign language. Which one is better: the movie in English or the movie in any other language? I don't understand this question. Are you asking which is better, a film in its native language or one dubbed in English? Or, are you asking which is better, an American film or a foreign film? The first answer is, movies are always better in their native language, undubbed. The second answer is, it depends on the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I don't understand this thread at all. It's not as if foreign language films can ONLY be nominated in that category. There have been plenty of foreign language films that have been nominated in or won in other categories. Just of the top of my head, I'm thinking of SEVEN SAMAURAI, GATE OF HELL, RAN, WILD STRAWBERRIES, AMOUR, FANNY & ALEXANDER, CRIES & WHISPERS, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, I VITELLONI, RULES OF THE GAME, many, many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxreyman Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 why is there a Foreign Language Oscar? In Panama, Poland and Portugal English is a foreign language. Which one is better: the movie in English or the movie in any other language? The following is from www.princeton.edu The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. When the first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929 to honor films released in 1927/28, there was no separate category for foreign language films. Between 1947 and 1955, the Academy presented Special/Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These Awards, however, were not handed out on a regular basis (no Award was given in 1953), and were not competitive since there were no nominees but simply one winning film per year. For the 1956 (29th) Academy Awards, 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 then. Unlike other Academy Awards, the Best Foreign Language Film Award is not presented to a specific individual. It is accepted by the winning film's director, but is considered an award for the submitting country as a whole. Over the years, the Best Foreign Language Film Award and its predecessors have been given almost exclusively to European films: out of the 62 Awards handed out by the Academy since 1947 to foreign language films, fifty one have gone to European films, five to Asian films, three to African films and three to films from the Americas. Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini directed four Best Foreign Language Academy Award-winning films during his lifetime, a record that remains unmatched as of 2007 (if Special Awards are taken into account, then Fellini's record is tied by his fellow countryman Vittorio De Sica). The most awarded foreign country is Italy, with 10 awards won, 3 Special Awards and 27 nominations. I believe 1987’s The Last Emperor and 2011’s The Artist are the only truly foreign made films ever to receive a Best Picture Oscar. Even though both were distributed by American distributors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts