For the 14th time, Latvia is nominating a film that will be nominated for the US Academy Award for Oscars in the Best Foreign Language category, and an expert commission set up by the National Film Center (NCC) has agreed to nominate director Dace Pūce’s feature film “Pit”.
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As the NKC representative Kristīne Matīsa informed LETA, the applications submitted for Latvian studies were evaluated by an expert commission established by the NCC, which this year included Ieva Romanova Dreibergs, producer Uldis Cekulis, film critic and journalist Kristīne Simsone, State Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, member of the Film Council Dace Vilsone and NKC manager, film critic and theorist Dita Rietuma.
Three feature films were submitted for expert evaluation – Pūce’s “Bedre”, Dāvis Sīmanis’ “Year before the War” and Laila Pakalniņa’s “Mirror”. In a remote discussion, the panel of experts discussed the potential of all films and the possible resonance in different audiences, welcoming the individual and different qualities of each film.
Matīsa noted that after considering all the arguments, the commission of experts finally agreed to nominate director Pūce’s feature film “Bedre” as a Latvian application for the US Film Academy Award for the best foreign film.
In addition, according to experts, this film is a convincing director’s debut, which has already been successful abroad, so it can be internationally converted and understood outside the local audience – “Bedre” world premiere took place a year ago in Germany, Lübeck Festival, where the film immediately won the festival “, followed by the Best Film Award at the Russian Festival Baltic Debut.
Over the past year, the film “Bedre” has been selected for several more prestigious international film festivals. In the selection of the National Film Award “Lielais Kristaps”, the film has received eight nominations for awards, including the best feature film directing, screenwriting, cinematography and composer work, and three film actors have also been nominated for the awards.
The application and nomination processes for the Oscar nominees have also been delayed this year due to an emergency situation – the award ceremony, which usually takes place at the end of February, is currently scheduled for March 27, 2022. Countries must submit their national applications by November 1, a list of 15 film nominees will be announced on December 21, and five award-nominated films will be nominated on February 8.
The NCC representative pointed out that neighboring countries have already announced their applications for the US Film Academy Award, and the choice of Lithuania is especially important for Latvia – the documentary film “Leap” or “Jump” co-produced by Lithuania, Latvia and France In Latvia. The co-producer of the film is Uldis Cekulis, who represents the studio “VFS Films”.
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