Klaus Härö’s historical drama The Fencer produced by Making Movies Oy was chosen by the Finnish Oscar jury for its ‘classical and solid story line’. The film opened domestically in March and is sold internationally by The Little Film Company. Three previous films by Härö were submitted as Finnish entries for Best Foreign Language Film: Elina as if I Wasn’t There (2003), Mother of Mine (2005) and Letters to Father Jacob (2009).
With Roar Uthaug’s The Wave, its first disaster movie and big scale epic, Norway will try to reiterate its successful bid for the Academy Awards nomination in 2012 with Kon-Tiki. The film opened last weekend in Norway and stormed to the top of the charts with 141.426 admissions for Nordisk Film, making it the third best opening ever for a Norwegian film. The Wave produced by Fantefilm Fiksjon will have its North American premiere in Toronto. TrustNordisk handles world sales.
One year after its Golden Lion win Venice, Roy Andersson continues to tour the world with A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, final instalment in his ‘living’ trilogy following Songs from the Second Floor and You, the Living, both previous Swedish candidates at the Oscars, along with Andersson’s 1970 film A Swedish Love Story. A Pigeon was produced by Roy Andersson Filmproduktion and had its Swedish premiere in November 2014. The film is currently playing in US cinemas, released by Magnolia Pictures. Coproduction Office handles world sales.
Denmark’s Oscar Committee selected three films from directors intimately connected to the Academy Awards.
- The realistic drama A War is written and directed by Tobias Lindholm who co-wrote The Hunt, Oscar nominated in 2012. A War is having its world premiere at Venice’s Orizzonti tomorrow. (See our interview below with the director).StudioCanal handles sales.
- The comedy hit Men & Chicken is directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, Oscar winner for his short film Election Night and writer of Susanne Bier’s Oscar winning In a Better World. LevelK handles sales.
- Joshua Openheimer’s The Look of Silence is the companion piece to his Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing. The film has won more than 30 international awards since its launch in Venice a year ago. Cinephil handles world sales. Drafthouse Films is currently showing it in various venues across the US.
Nine finalists will be shortlisted for the Foreign Language Film Oscar nominations, and the five official nominees will be announced on Jan 14, 2016. The 88th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 28, 2016.
The Wave, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, A War and The Look of Silence were supported by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.