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The one thing that Academy Award haters and lovers can agree on is the long and fascinating history of Oscar snubs. It’s the “Predator handshake” topic that brings us all together. It happens every year: the wrong movie wins a certain award or fails to secure the nomination it deserves. Some would say it’s a big part of the awards show experience.

Every now and then, though, the Academy Awards go above and beyond by implementing a “blanket snub.” It’s one thing for a great movie or actor to not get the win or nomination they’ve earned in the eyes of theater audiences. It’s quite another to realize that there have been numerous all-time great films throughout history that didn’t even get a single Oscar nomination, much less an Oscar win.

But let’s go one step further than that. We’re not going...

‘The Salesman’ (Courtesy: Habib Majidi)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we’re well on our way to seeing how the best foreign language film race will shape up at the Oscars in 2017. Leading the pack of the shortlist is The Salesman from Iran, which could land filmmaker Asghar Farhadi a rare second win in the category. How often do we see someone with more than one win in this worldwide competition?

The shortlist of nine films — more about those here — will, on January 24, be trimmed down to the official five nominees that will eventually face off at the Oscars on February 26. This site’s namesake, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, lists the current frontrunners as: Germany’s Toni Erdmann (written and directed by Maren Ade), Denmark’s Land of Mine (written and directed by Martin Zandvliet), Sweden’s A...

Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi action thriller helps complete the Forum section of the Berlinale.

The Forum strand of the Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has completed its 2014 programme with a series of special screenings.

These include Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-ho’s adaptation of a French comic by Jean-Marc Rochette, starring Chris Evans, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton.

The Korean production, known there as Seolguk-yeolcha, is set during an impending ice age, whose last survivors are left circling the earth in a non-stop express train.

Producer Park Chan-wook, director Bong Joon-ho, actors Song Kang-ho, Ko Asung, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton and author Rochette will attend the screening.

Interview: Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer

Other new additions to the Forum special screenings include two documentaries about the recent upheavals in Egypt. These include the world premiere of Viola Shafik’s Arij (Scent of Revolution) and Jehane Noujaim’s recently Oscar-nominated documentary Al midan (The Square).

Forum Special Screenings

Wp = World...

Other winners include Harmony Lessons and Ilo Ilo.

Directors Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’ In Bloom was awarded the grand prize and $6,830 (Y700,000) at the closing awards of the 14th edition of Tokyo Filmex, which ran Nov 23 to Dec 1.

The Georgia-Germany-France co-production is set in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi during the early years of the dissolved Soviet Union as two teenaged girls struggle against a backdrop of familial and political strife.

Chairperson of the jury Mohsen Makhmalbaf praised In Bloom for “its talent to portray two strong girls and the energetic recreation of reality in cinema.”

The award adds to previous accolades won in Berlin, Hong Kong, AFI Fest and Montreal among other festivals.

The special jury prize and $2,930 (Y300,000) was presented to Kazakhstan writer-director Emir Baigazin for his debut feature Harmony Lessons.

The tough juvenile drama previously won prizes at Berlin, Tribeca and Warsaw. Baigazin is seen as a leading light in the Kazakh new wave...

Other winners include Harmony Lessons and Ilo Ilo.

Directors Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’ In Bloom was awarded the grand prize and $6,830 (Y700,000) at the closing awards of the 14th edition of Tokyo Filmex, which ran Nov 23 to Dec 1.

The Georgia-Germany-France co-production is set in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi during the early years of the dissolved Soviet Union as two teenaged girls struggle against a backdrop of familial and political strife.

Chairperson of the jury Mohsen Makhmalbaf praised In Bloom for “its talent to portray two strong girls and the energetic recreation of reality in cinema.”

The award adds to previous accolades won in Berlin, Hong Kong, AFI Fest and Montreal among other festivals.

The special jury prize and $2,930 (Y300,000) was presented to Kazakhstan writer-director Emir Baigazin for his debut feature Harmony Lessons.

The tough juvenile drama previously won prizes at Berlin, Tribeca and Warsaw. Baigazin is seen as a leading light in the Kazakh new wave...

Following the announcement that came earlier this week, launching yet another hugely impressive line-up at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the respective line-up has now been announced for what is in some ways its European counterpart, the 2013 Venice Film Festival.

The announcement shows that the two will continue to have a number of films overlapping, including Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (the Opening Night Film in Venice), Peter Landesman’s Parkland, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, and more. But it also brings with its news of where a number of films will be making their debut, including Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem; the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises; James Franco’s Child of God; Lee Sang-il’s Yurusarezaru Mono, the Japanese remake of Unforgiven; and Steven Knight’s Locke, led by Tom Hardy, and shot in one take.

In Competition

Es-Stouh – Merzak Alloucache (Algeria, France, 94’) L’Intrepido – Gianni Amelio (Italy,...

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale to be guest host for the section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival where William Friedkin will receive a lifetime achievement honour.

Claudia Cardinale, best known for roles in Once Upon a Time in the West and Fellini’s 8 ½, is to be the guest host of Venezia Classici, the section devoted to restored films and to documentaries about cinema of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7.

The section, introduced last year, features a selection of classic film restorations completed over the past year by film libraries, cultural institutions or production companies around the world.

Cardinale will attend the screening of Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, Luchino Visconti’s 1965 film in which she starred that won the Golden Lion at the 30th Viff and has been restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

It is is one of the four classics restored this year that has been conserved at the Historic Archives of the...