Almenabar, Almodovar shortlisted for Oscar

17 September 2004

MADRID – Spain’s top two directors Alenjandro Amenábar and Pedro Almodóvar have been chosen as possible contenders to represent Spain at the next Oscar ceremony, it emerged Friday.

Mar Adentro (The Sea Within) which won an award at the Venice Film Festival last weekend, and Almodovar’s recent ‘La mala educaccion’ (Bad Manners) have been short listed to represent Spain at the ceremony in February.

Another, lesser-known film, ‘Tiovivo 1950’, by Oscar-winner José Luis Garci will also be presented as a possible contender to be Spain’s offering in the best foreign film category at the Oscars.

The three short listed films were chosen by the Spanish Academy of Cinema.

But the film which will finally be chosen to represent Spain as the contender for best film at the Oscars will be picked on 1 October.

The most fancied film will be Mar Adentro, which tells the controversial story of the disabled sailor Ramon Sampedro, who fought to end his own life for 30 years. He was finally helped to commit suicide by someone whose identity has not been revealed.

The film sparked a national debate about euthanasia and renewed pressure on  the current Socialist government to reform the law on this subject.

Disabled rights groups attacked the film, claiming it presented a negative image of disabled people.

But Almodovar’s film could also be picked as it received widespread critical acclaim in Europe and will be distributed shortly in the US.

Garci won an Oscar in 1983 for best foreign film for ‘Volver a empezar’ (To start again), while  Almodóvar achieved the same feat in 1999 with ‘Todo sobre mi madre’ (All about my mother).

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news