In the Hellenistic period some tyrants rested their power on class feeling; others were foreign nominees, like the tyrants supported by the Macedonian kings in the Peloponnese in the 3rd century.
There were a lot of great foreign nominees this year!
-- Another best foreign film nominee, this one from Belgium.
Most all of the foreign film nominee screenings for New York members of the Academy are scheduled over President's Day weekend, a time when it is really easy to get a great table in New York restaurants, but not so great for finding people who are eligible to vote.
As has usually been the case in recent years, no foreign-language nominee has found a wide audience in the United States.
Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, which with Miramax, has dominated the distribution of foreign Oscar nominees in recent years, argues that nomination by screening committee is fair.
Two of President Bush's foreign policy nominees, who had already been in trouble on Capitol Hill, will face even stiffer resistance, Democrats said.
Among the year's screenplay nominations were at least two surprises, "A Separation," the Iranian foreign-language nominee, by Asghar Farhadi about family tensions, and "Margin Call," an indie drama, written by J. C. Chandor, about the financial meltdown.
The Act of Killing and the Square were amongst a shortlist of documentary contenders that followed predictions (though there was no room for Blackfish), while The Great Beauty and The Hunt turned up in the best foreign language nominees.
The Zeitgeist staff could not attend the ceremonies in Los Angeles because the small number of tickets allotted to the foreign language nominees went to the film's German producers.
Photograph: Stephen Butler/Rex Features Updated at 9.01pm GMT 8.46pm GMT Not in the English language Thank heavens for the subtitles that guide the viewer through this year's foreign film nominees: Amour, Headhunters, The Hunt, Untouchable, and Rust and Bone.
