For 5 of the last 6 Oscars seasons, Canada didn't make the shortlist of the Best Foreign Language Film award. The last 2 attempts didn't generate any significant chatter with Hochelaga, terre des âmes and Chien de Garde.
Xavier Dolan's Juste la fin du monde was the only film in that streak to make the shortlist and even that film didn't make the Top 5 cut.
Here are the Best Foreign Language Film nominees for the 91st Academy Awards in 2019 alongside their directors:
Birds Of Passage (Colombia) Cristina Gallego/Ciro Guerra
The Guilty (Denmark) Gustav Moller
Never Look Away (Germany) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Shoplifters (Japan) Hirokazu Kore-eda
Ayka (Kazakhstan) Sergei Dvortsevoy
Capernaum (Lebanon) Nadine Labaki
Roma (Mexico) Alfonso Cuaron
Cold War (Poland) Pawel Pawlikowski
Burning (South Korea) Lee Chang-dong
Cold War is from the same director who did Ida, the film that won 4 years ago. I loved Shoplifters, which won the Palme d'Or prize at Cannes. I also enjoyed Border (Sweden), a film that a few people were surprised did not make the list. Then again, Roma is the odds-on favourite to win.
This list of 9 nominees will be reduced to 5 films on January 22. The Oscars ceremony will be on February 24.
Canadian film review: Family First
Chien de garde is Canada's Best Foreign Language Film entry
While I didn't think much of Chien de Garde, Canada wasn't going to be a player in this year's discussion.
The depth of foreign films is rather strong. Denys Arcand and Xavier Dolan did release films in 2018 but Dolan's film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is in English. Arcand's film La chute de l'empire américain has attracted little attention outside Quebec.
Canada can't rely on Arcand and Dolan, even though the 2 filmmakers have accounted for 7 Canadian entries in the Oscars category. The winning streak of top 5 nominees for Canada from 2013-2015 feels like a distant memory.
Canadian film review: Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Canadian film review: Maelstrom
I have prided myself of seeing the Canadian entries for Best Foreign Language Film. Of the 22 films nominated since 1997, I have now seen 18 of them. My consecutive streak goes back to 2003 for The Barbarian Invasions.
In 2018, I saw Maelstrom (2000) and Hochlega, Land of Souls (2017) to help the streak.
These 4 films are the missing films since 1997. I came close to seeing Emporte-Moi but the event hosts couldn't find a version with subtitles.
| Year | Film title English | Film title French | Director |
| 1998 | August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre | Denis Villeneuve |
| 1999 | Set Me Free | Emporte-moi | Léa Pool |
| 2002 | Soft Shell Man | Un crabe dans la tête | André Turpin |
| 2004 | Far Side of the Moon | La face cachée de la lune | Robert Lepage |
I have seen 6 nominated films that were released before 1997: Mon oncle Antoine (1971); Les Ordres (1975); Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986); Jésus de Montréal (1989); Léolo (1992); and Le Sexe des étoiles (The Sex of the Stars) (1993).
CanadianCrossing.com film reviews
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Should Canada make films that will do well in the Best Foreign Language Film category? Canada should make good films and let the world decide. In the 3 years after the winning streak, the Canadian entries were all fine films but didn't click on the world stage. Canada could be proud of those entries. The entries from the last couple of years produced more puzzled looks than cheers.
Let's hope for a return to a Best Foreign Language Film entry from Canada that Canadians can be proud of nominating.
video credit: YouTube/Bandes Annonces Cinéma
image credit: Chien de Garde film
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