Andrzej Wajda's "Katyń", Marcel Łoziński's "If It Happens" and "Peter and the Wolf", animated film directed by Suzy Tepleton, are on the official "short list" of films running for Oscar nominations; they were qualified in different categories and subsidized by the Polish Film Institute.
"Katyń", by Academy Award winner director, tells the story of Polish army officers murdered by Soviets during the World War II. It has been advertised as a Polish candidate for Oscar in the "best foreign language film" category. Its producer Akson Film Studio, co-producer and distributor TVP Office of International Cooperation and Commerce and the Polish Film Institute in cooperation with an international public relations agency Premier PR operating in Los Angeles manage film's promotion.
Over 90 films from all over the world were submitted in the latter category and 63 of them were judged to be in line with the nomination requirements. From the candidates pool members of the Academy have selected 9 motion pictures which will be running for the 5 nominations in the "best foreign language film" category. Films will be nominated by a special committee comprising of 30 individuals. Later on the candidates will be voted by the Academy members.
Following films have been listed as running for an Oscar nomination along "Katyń":
"12", Nikita Michalkov (Russia)
"The Unknown", Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy)
"Days of Darkness", Denis Armand (Canada)
"The Counterfeiters", Stafan Ruzowitzky (Austria)
"The Year My Parents Went on Vacation", Cao Hamburger (Brazil)
"Beaufort", Joseph Cedar (Israel)
"Mongol", Sergiei Bodrov (Kazakhstan)
"The Trap", Srdan Golubovic (Serbia)
Also on the "short list", this time in the short subject category, is Marcel Łoziński's documentary "If It Happens". "If It Happens" tells the story of Tomek, director's 18-year-old son, who takes a walk in an old park, where he used to come as a child to ask old people questions about the meaning of life ("Everything can happen"). The people he used to talk to are long gone. Owing to the magic of cinema the grown-up Tomek is able to meet Tomek, the child. "If It Happens" was produced by Kalejdoskop Film Studio and TVP1 television.
The third of the Polish films, listed in the short animation category, is Suzy Templeton's "Peter and the Wolf", a Polish-British co-production produced by the Se-ma-for Film Studio and the Breakhru Films. "Peter and the Wolf", a frame-by-frame puppet animation, is an adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev's classic work. It took a team of 100 professionals from various countries to create the animation. Among others, Marek Skobecki, who has already worked at Steven Spilberg's "Schindler's List" , designed the set for the film.
The Oscar nominees will be announced on January 22, and the Award Ceremony will be held on February 24, 2008.
16.01.2008
