Spanish Nomination for the Oscar

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118024741.html?categoryid=19&cs=1

Spain puts forward 'Rain' for Oscars
Iciar Bollain pic scoops Spanish candidature
By JOHN HOPEWELL, EMILIO MAYORGA

MADRID -- Iciar Bollain's "Tambien la lluvia" (Even the Rain) has been chosen by members of the Spanish Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as Spain's foreign-language Oscar entry.
It is the first time a film from a femme director has been put forward by Spain.
One of a three-film shortlist, "Rain" beat out Daniel Monzon's "Cell 211" and Andrucha Waddington's "Lope."
World preeming to an upbeat reaction at Toronto, "Rain" strikes telling parallels between past and present, chronicling the attempts of a foreign film shoot, led by its producer (Luis Tosar) and director (Gael Garcia Bernal), to shoot a revisionist drama about Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, just as the Bolivian government attempts to privatize the country's water supply.
"Rain," which Bollain called her most ambitious film to date, is her fifth feature and the first from a screenplay by Ken Loach scribe Paul Laverty, her partner.
It is produced by Spain's Morena and Vaca Films, France's Mandarin Cinema and Mexico's Alebrije Cine y Video.
Vaca and Morena also produced "Cell 211," another Tosar-starrer, a sign of their pre-eminence in Spanish filmmaking.

My Thoughts:
I think that is ironic that the Academy of Spain chose this film as its official nomination to be considered for Foreign film of the year. Although I have not seen the film, and can't critique it, I think that it is ironic that they decided to choose a film that was directed by a female one year after Kathryn Bigelow became the first female to receive the Best Director Award. I am excited that the film was submitted, since Spain is a country dominated by a patriarchal mentality. Although Spain as a country can be very liberal, its history still allows for the Spanish to hold on to a sense of conservatism. It would be amazing for 2011 to be the year when a foreign female director takes the award!

A European Foreign Service: Turning Diplomacy Inside Out

Hi Everyone,

I work at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy (The USC Center on Public Diplomacy seeks to advance and enrich the study and practice of public diplomacy through its research and publication programs, professional training and public events), and I want to share one of our center's upcoming events with you.

Dr. Mai'a Cross is coming to our center on November 11 to discuss the creation of a European foreign service (formerly known as the European External Action Service).

You can read more here: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/events/events_detail/13126/

I will be working this event and it'd be great to see you all there!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I have recently seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire, both written and directed by Swedish filmmakers based on a series of novels by Stieg Larsson, the third being The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest I have not had the chance to see. If any of you have Netflix, The Girl with the Dragon is on instant play. There has been a lot of talk around Hollywood recently about a remake, so far David Fincher has been confirmed to direct with Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. The female lead, Lisbeth is a strong female character who is a computer hacker and dresses masculine. Its refreshing to watch a female lead that doesn't need to be rescued when she's hurt or oversexualized as a femme fatal figure. The film also reads really well from the first to the sequel, unlike many films they were shot back to back and seem very cohesive. I highly recommend checking it out, I just hope the U.S. version doesn't try to change too much in order to make it more commercial.

La Haine

After our discussion on immigration and identity on Monday, I couldn't help but think of La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995). While Lamerica deals with the struggles of a post-Italian occupied Albania and the resulting identity issues, La Haine deals with the identity of the immigrant in France and their predetermined social outcast roles. I think that the film is a really interesting look into the mentality France has on immigration and the resulting issues of the immigrant population. The three main characters come from different cultural backgrounds, but were all raised in the outskirts of Paris in housing projects. It's a really interesting look into the new French identity and the new multiculturalism that the country is being forced to deal with.

Check it out! It's awesome!

European Films Being Co-Produced by the U.S.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118024006.html?categoryid=19&cs=1&sms_ss=facebook

My friend Matt is the head of international acquistions at Paramount Pictures, and when he sent me this link it never really crossed in my mind to connect it to this class. After conceptualizing what I read a few days later, I came to realize how pertinent this is. I personally think that it is ironic how Americans are going to Europe (and other territories) to co-produce films. Hollywood has realized that there is money to be made with European cinema. I have always seen European cinema as artistic, and less commercial than Hollywood. Maybe this was because the co-productions were financed among European nations, but now that America is beginning to finance, I wonder how much European cinema will change. Moreover, it is also ironic how many Hollywood studios are releasing their films in Europe before than domestically. For example, this past summer, Robin Hood was released in Europe before than the States. Europe is beginning to take the spot of Japan of being the international hot spot for American studios, where their international revenue is coming from.

More on the Roma Crisis

I want to share this link from the Prague Post: http://www.praguepost.com/news/5647-schwarzenberg-blasts-immigration-summit.html

This article discusses how the Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg criticized France for not inviting the Czech Republic, Romania, or Bulgaria to the immigration summit in Paris. While I was studying abroad in Prague, Roma were mentioned many times during our orientation. Our program wanted us to be aware of the Roma situation in the Czech Republic, so we could better understand the Czech mentality towards them. While I never encountered any Roma myself it was clear that many of the adults had a strong distaste for them. That being said I found this quote from the article very interesting: "Speaking to journalists after the talks, Schwarzenberg said he is sensitive about the Roma issue because he grew up close to the camp in Lety, south Bohemia, where more than 1,300 Roma were gathered during the Nazi occupation." This reminds me of the discussion we had in class today about the other and also either becoming the other or sympathizing with the other. While Schwarzenberg may be Czech, because he grew up so close to a concentration camp filled with many Roma he can't help but sympathize with them. In this instance he may be going against what his national identity tells him he should feel. Finally the article mentions "In a recent interview, Schwarzenberg said he believed that the French expulsion - spearheaded by Sarkozy - "goes against the spirit and rules of the EU." He added that "to put it mildly, when inspecting the case, one cannot but voice the suspicion that racist motivation plays a role, too."

British TV

I know that we haven't talked much about TV in class, nor are we focusing on Western/Northern Europe, but does anyone else like Doctor Who or Torchwood?

Roma in France

I am sure most of you are familiar with France's decision to expel hundreds of Roma from France to Romania and Bulgaria, but this article gives a nice synopsis.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/08/romanian-gypsy-leader-com_n_708764.html

a few old favorites

I'm sure that most of you have seen these films in your various critical studies courses, but a couple that I've really enjoyed are The Bicycle Theives and Umberto D. I was really moved by the stories in these films — the bonds of friends and family which help us through the most impossible situations in our lives. But, if DeSica isn't really your thing, I recommend Bread and Tulips which is a more recent Italian film (2000) about a housewife who gets separated from her family and comes to realize that everyone needs some time to enjoy their own lives instead of always worrying about others. The movie is at least partly a comedy, especially when the private investigator gets involved.

I assure you the fact that these films are all Italian is a coincidence.

(This post written by Elizabeth Seaford)