Update: This story has been updated as of 3 pm Eastern on January 15.
Canada nominees for
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film | Year** | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| War Witch | 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monsieur Lazhar | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incendies | 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water | 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barbarian Invasions* | 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jesus of Montréal | 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Decline of the American Empire | 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Oscar winner **Year of the film, not the ceremony. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After a stretch of 3 years where a Canadian film made the top 5 on the Oscars list for Best Foreign Language Film, the last 2 Canadian nominees haven't even made the shortlist of the top 9 films.
"Gabrielle" was a nice thoughtful film, but "Mommy" is one of the best films in any language this year. This was a strong year for foreign films in the nomination process, but "Mommy" was that good.
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2014 Windsor International Film Festival wrapup
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2014 TIFF releases Canadian content list
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Xavier Dolan wins coveted Cannes Jury Prize for 'Mommy'
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CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Tegan and Sara's performance of "Everything is Awesome" from "The Lego Movie" is up for best original song. Assuming the Canadian duo will sing the song at the Oscars, the appearance could be more valuable than winning the Oscar.
Dean DeBlois, who directed the Golden Globes winning "How To Train Your Dragon 2," is up for an Academy Award. Graham Annable is also nominated for a best animated feature Oscar as co-director for "The Boxtrolls."
Norway-born, Montréal-raised Torill Kove is up for best animated short film category for "Me and My Moulton." Kove won the Oscar in 2007 for "The Danish Poet" and was also nominated in 2000.
Craig Mann, who grew up in the Toronto area, has a nomination for sound mixing for "Whiplash."
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"Mommy" took home the Jury Prize at the 2014 Cannes festival in May. Dolan shared the prize with the legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard for his film "Goodbye to Language."
When "Mommy" didn't get a Golden Globes nod, the writing was on the wall.
The 5 Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language Film this year are Wild Tales (Argentina); Tangerines (Estonia); Timbuktu (Mauritania); Ida (Poland); and Leviathan (Russia). All but Timbuktu and Wild Tales were nominated for Golden Globes.
Leviathan (Russia) won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The other 4 nominees were Ida (Poland/Denmark); Force Majeure (Sweden); Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Israel); and Tangerines (Estonia).
I have had chances to see "Ida" but haven't yet. I did see "Force Majeure" — which did make the Top 9 Oscars cut — in Windsor. "Force Majeure" was decent enough and an overall good film, but not an Oscars or Golden Globes worthy film. Not even close.
Reese Witherspoon did win a Best Actress nomination and Laura Dern for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in "Wild," directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.
The 2015 Academy Awards will air February 22 on ABC and CTV.
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"Mommy" played TIFF in September and has played all across Canada, including the 2014 Windsor International Film Festival.
As for a U.S. release, a Golden Globes and/or Oscars nomination would have helped for larger distribution. Based on "Mommy," Oscar winning actresses Susan Sarandon and Jessica Chastain have reportedly signed on for his next film.
That and a top prize at Cannes should get this film some play in the States.
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We were definitely stretching to find glimpses of Canadian content among Sunday night's Golden Globes winners and nominees.
Maggie Gyllenhaal won for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie for The Honourable Woman. The program was carried in several countries, including Canada via the CBC.
Julianne Moore was nominated for best actress in a musical or comedy for David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars. Moore lost out to Amy Adams for "Big Eyes." Ironically, Moore won for best actress in a drama in "Still Alice" and she beat out Reese Witherspoon for her role in "Wild," directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.
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This year's Sundance Film Festival features 2 prominent Canadian filmmakers on its schedule.
Guy Maddin's new film "The Forbidden Room" stars Charlotte Rampling and Karine Vanasse and will be featured in the New Frontier Film category.
Bruce McDonald will be there with "Hellions" with Rossif Sutherland and focuses on sinister trick-or-treaters. The film will be part of the Park City at Midnight program.
Both films will screen out of competition.
The festival will also feature "Turbo Kid" from the Montreal-based team of Anouk Whissell, Francois Simard, and Yoann-Karl Whissell. The film is set in the post-apocalyptic future with an orphan who takes on Zeus.
The Sundance Film Festival starts January 22 and runs through February 1 at Park City, Utah.
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