-thumb-80x80-31030.jpg)
It's pretty rare for an Australian film to meet the Oscar eligibility criteria for Best Foreign Language Film, so when it happens and a film is pushed forward by the filmmaking authorities, everyone gets a bit breathless.
Given eligible films need to have a predominantly non-English dialogue track, remarkably Australia had two films to choose from this year (that is if you don't include Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, which was largely unintelligible) - the indigenous language uber-arthouse gem Samson & Delilah and Van Diemen's Land, which uses Gaelic to draw its cannibal protagonists' moral quandaries.
Not surprisingly the much-lauded Samson & Delilah has been put forward as Australia's official entry for nomination consideration. In itself this might seem like a non-news item if not for the film's remarkable dream run of standing ovations and awards so far, including the Camera d'Or for best first feature at Cannes 2009, making it one of the best shots for a coveted statue in years.
Written and directed by Warwick Thornton, Samson & Delilah tells the story of two Aboriginal kids in central Australia. Part love story, part harrowing fable, the film's release in Australia was a punch in the guts to a film industry dragged down by years of turgid suburban dramas, and the first brilliant film in what has turned out to be a great year for Aussie cinema.
Always calm in the eye of the storm, Producer Kath Shelper told Twitch the news was "very cool".
"It's a long shot and only the beginning of the process, but when we were kicking around in the red dust of Central Australia shooting the film last year, we couldn't have written the script for what has happened with the film this year. So far it's been a pretty fabulous ride."
Check out the trailer embedded below
Given eligible films need to have a predominantly non-English dialogue track, remarkably Australia had two films to choose from this year (that is if you don't include Baz Luhrmann's film Australia, which was largely unintelligible) - the indigenous language uber-arthouse gem Samson & Delilah and Van Diemen's Land, which uses Gaelic to draw its cannibal protagonists' moral quandaries.
Not surprisingly the much-lauded Samson & Delilah has been put forward as Australia's official entry for nomination consideration. In itself this might seem like a non-news item if not for the film's remarkable dream run of standing ovations and awards so far, including the Camera d'Or for best first feature at Cannes 2009, making it one of the best shots for a coveted statue in years.
Written and directed by Warwick Thornton, Samson & Delilah tells the story of two Aboriginal kids in central Australia. Part love story, part harrowing fable, the film's release in Australia was a punch in the guts to a film industry dragged down by years of turgid suburban dramas, and the first brilliant film in what has turned out to be a great year for Aussie cinema.
Always calm in the eye of the storm, Producer Kath Shelper told Twitch the news was "very cool".
"It's a long shot and only the beginning of the process, but when we were kicking around in the red dust of Central Australia shooting the film last year, we couldn't have written the script for what has happened with the film this year. So far it's been a pretty fabulous ride."
Check out the trailer embedded below
Hah! Laughed out loud at the Baz comment ... and great news on this! Such a good year for Australia. Van Diemen's Land ended up being Swarez's fave at Fantastic Fest.