The UK's foreign language submission at the Oscars will now be Tim Lyn's Eldra, a Welsh-language rites-of-passage story.
In a telephone interview from Belgium before heading to Los Angeles for the Golden Globes this weekend, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 60, and Luc Dardenne, 57, who are the subject of a retrospective at the IFC Center in New York beginning this weekend, talked about their film, the vagaries of competing for film prizes and whether the Academy should actually pick foreign-language submissions.
A director who challenged "Eklavya: The Royal Guard," India's foreign-language submission, withdrew her petition yesterday.
Unlike the largely dry language of submissions by the US and EU, India's contains colourful passages explaining its attitude towards the environment, citing its long tradition of a harmonious relationship between man and nature.
This marks the 25th anniversary of the Palm Springs International Film Festival; in the past, the festival would strive to show all the foreign language Oscar submissions.
At previous PSIFFs, I caught several Oscar foreign language film submissions, including my 2014 fave (technically released in 2013), The Hunt, by the courageous Thomas Vinterberg (of Dogme fame).
That's the worry, for anyone who fancies they've just about wrestled the English language into submission.
Taking advantage of a lull outside the club, I sidle up to the rope, my body language indicating submission and camaraderie.
RELATED: Complete list of foreign-language film submissions.
The 86th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 2. A record 76 foreign-language Oscar submissions.
