27/09/2007

The Unknown [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Giuseppe Tornatore will represent Italy in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, winning the nomination by just one vote over Daniele Luchetti’s My Brother Is an Only Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniele Luchetti
interview: Riccardo Tozzi
film profile].

The decision was made by a commission selected by ANICA and API industry professionals: directors Gianni Amelio and Giuliano Montaldo; production designer Dante Ferretti; costume designers Gabriella Pescucci and Piero Tosi; MiBAC Director General Gaetano Blandini; producers Conchita Airoldi, Pio Angeletti, Lionello Cerri, Adriano De Micheli, Alessandro Fracassi, Fulvio Lucisano, Andrea Occhipinti and Sandro Silvestri; and critics Alberto Crespi and Paolo Mereghetti.

Whether or not The Unknown will make to the Oscar shortlist will not be known until January, when the Academy will announce all the finalists. If it is among these, on February 24 Tornatore could snag the second statuette of his career, after his 1990 win for Cinema Paradiso.

For now, the only thing that is certain is that the film is in prestigious company: other Oscar hopefuls include Swedish title You, the Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pernilla Sandström
interview: Roy Andersson
film profile] by Roy Andersson, animated French film Persepolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marc-Antoine Robert
interview: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Pa…
film profile] and Palme d’Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Oleg Mutu
film profile] by Cristian Mungiu, chosen to represent Romania.

Upon hearing the news on the set of Baaria, the film he is shooting in his native city of Bagheria, Tornatore (51) – who also picked up a Best Foreign Film nod in 1996 for The Star Maker and directed Maléna, which in 2001 won nominations for composer Ennio Morricone and DoP Lajos Koltai – says he has faith in the film’s reception by American audiences (“The first screenings in the US went very well”), but speaks of his third nomination with reserve.

“I’m not thinking about winning, although you can never tell. I’d just like to thank the Italian commission as well as those who voted for me”. He gave a special thanks to the film’s star, Russian actress Kseniya Rappoport: “The entire film was carried by this highly sensitive artist”.

An Italian/French co-production between Medusa Film and Manigolda Film, The Unknown debuted at the RomeFilmFest before going on to pick up five David di Donatello Awards (for best film, director, actress, soundtrack and cinematography) and four Nastri d'Argento (for best film, director, supporting actor and music).

(Translated from Italian)