Co-hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the American Cinematheque will screen all of the 2008 Golden Globe nominees for Best Foreign Language Film, The Baader-Meinhof Complex, Everlasting Moments, Gomorrah, I’ve Loved You So Long, and Waltz with Bashir (all films subtitled in English), with all five nominated filmmakers in person at a FREE seminar January 10th.
Unless it falls into one of the main, more popular categories (Dramatic Film, Comedy Film, Actor, Actress, etc) it’s unlikely you’ll have the opportunity to see all five of the contenders for any given Golden Globe category. Especially when the category is one usually marked for extra credit in the office pool. But this year you may just beat out your office buddies because The American Cinematheque is making it easy to view what the Foreign Press deems to be nomination worthy.
For the rest of this week you can see this year’s nominees on the big screens of Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre and Hollywood’s grand old Egyptian. And at the end of the week you’ll have the opportunity to meet the filmmakers themselves (Uli Edel, Jan Troell, Ari Folman, Philippe Claudel, and Matteo Garrone) as they all gather for a unique panel discussion moderated by Screen International’s Mike Goodridge. The seminar will take place Saturday, January 10th at 1:00PM at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
The Wednesday January 7th 7:30PM screening of The Baader Meinhof Complex at the Aero Theatre will include a discussion with director Uli Edel and writer/producer Bernd Eichinger. Thursday, the Aero will present a double feature starting with the Swedish/Danish co-production of Everlasting Moments at 7:30PM, followed by the Israeli production of Waltz with Bashir.
Friday night offers another double feature at the Aero starting with the French submission I’ve Loved You So Long at 7:30, followed by Italy’s Gomorrah (already selected to be Italy’s official Oscar submission). Directors for both films will be on hand to introduce their respective work.
If you’re able to see all five films, then be sure to round out the experience with the seminar on Saturday at 1:00PM at the Egyptian Theatre. Exceptional filmmaking outside the realm of Hollywood is challenging enough, but for the filmmaker beyond our borders (and I’m not talking Canada here), there must be a slew of intriguing, behind the scenes stories about the making of each and every one of the five honored films, that will undoubtedly ensure an intriguing discussion covering the unique challenges facing international filmmakers today. The event should make you a shoe-in for the office awards pool.