29/09/2005

Private [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Saverio Costanzo and produced by Offside, Istituto Luce and Cydonia, has been selected as Italy’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the Academy Awards.
The decision passed with a 4/5-majority vote (against Giovanni Veronesi’s Manual of Love ), and was delivered by a Selection Committee instituted this year by Anica (Italian Association of Cinematographic Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries), as per the regulations of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Selection Committee was comprised of filmmakers and experts Bernardo Bertolucci, Vincenzo Cerami, Dante Ferretti, Fabio Ferzetti and Paola Corvino; producers Pio Angeletti, Filiberto Bandini, Adriano De Micheli, Roberto Di Girolamo, Pietro Innocenzi and Enrico Vanzina of UNPF-ANICA (ANICA’s National Union of Film Producers); and Angelo Barbagallo, Donatella Botti, Lionello Cerri, Roberto Cicutto, Rosanna Seregni and Sandro Silvestri of API (Association of Independent Producers).

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"I’ve been jury president at Cannes and Venice, but this was the first time I had to choose an Italian film that will compete for an award as important as the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The result was immensely satisfying," said Bertolucci at the conclusion of the Committee’s decision-making process. The nominations for the five finalists for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar will be disclosed by the Academy next January 31, while the ceremony for the 78th Academy Awards will be held on March 5, 2006 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

(Translated from Italian)