As expected Israel's anti-war film, "Beaufort," received an Oscar nomination this week for Best Foreign Language Film.
No Israeli film has ever won the award and this is the first time in more than 20 years that an Israeli film has become an Oscar finalist.
The other movies in this category include, "Mongol," the first Kazakh film to garner a nomination, and Austria's "The Counterfeiters," which "Beaufort" director Joseph Cedar apparently thinks has the best chance of winning the award.
"Beaufort's" nomination didn't come without controversy: Israel's first choice, "The Band's Visit," was disqualified because too much of the film is in English and there was a whisper campaign that "Beaufort's" producers had quietly suggested that "The Band's Visit" wasn't eligible.
In 2006, some Israeli activists organized a protest against "Paradise Now," a movie about a pair of conflicted Palestinian suicide bombers, that was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
"Paradise Now" won a Golden Globe that year, but not an Oscar.
this is the first time in more than 20 years that an Israeli film has become an Oscar finalist???
Give us a break. Every Oscar finalist is an Israeli by marriage or birth.
this variety is another psyops piece aimed at resurrecting the image of Jews as victims and not murderers.
Posted by: Georgann Marks | January 26, 2008 at 07:40 AM