"Monsieur Lazhar" is one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film for the Oscars, released earlier this morning. As you may recall, I saw "Monsieur Lazhar" at the Windsor International Film Festival, and I knew at the time that the film was Canada's entry into the Oscars.
The film is about a new teacher that comes into a classroom after their old teacher dies.
"Monsieur Lazhar" is the sixth Canadian nominee for the Oscar in this category, and the second one in a row from Canada that reached the Top 5. Denis Villeneuve's "Incendies" was nominated last year, but did not win. The other nominees throughout the years are "Water" (2006) and several films from Denys Arcand, nominations with "The Decline of the American Empire" (1986) and "Jesus of Montréal" (1989) and winner with "Barbarian Invasions" (2004).
The other foreign film nominees are "Bullhead" (Belgium), "Footnote" (Israel), "In Darkness" (Poland), and "A Separation" (Iran), winner of this year's Golden Globe in that category.
In the people categories, Christopher Plummer got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in "Beginners." Plummer won the Golden Globe in this category earlier this month. While Ryan Gosling was nominated for a pair of best actor Golden Globes, drama ("The Ides of March") and comedy ("Crazy, Stupid, Love"), Gosling got zero Oscar nominations.
Plummer was last nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in "The Last Station."
In other categories, two National Film Board shorts were also nominated.
We said last November about "Monsieur Lazhar" that "as far as Monsieur Lazhar goes in the Oscars world will improve the slight chances of making it onto American screens." Being a nominee gets a foot in the door; winning an Oscar will put you on more screens. Bonne chance!
The Oscars will air on ABC and CTV on February 26.
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