List of Tunisian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Tunisia has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film on an irregular basis since 1995. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[1] As of 2016, only three Tunisian films have been submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and none of them have been nominated for an Oscar.
Submissions
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1956. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films. Following this, they vote via secret ballot to determine the five nominees for the award.[1] Below is a list of the films that have been submitted by Tunisia for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.
Year (Ceremony) | Film title used in nomination | French title | Director | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 (68th) |
Le magique | Le magique | Melliti, AzdineAzdine Melliti | Not Nominated |
2002 (75th) |
The Magic Box | La Boîte magique | Behi, RidhaRidha Behi | Not Nominated |
2016 (89th) |
As I Open My Eyes[2] | À peine j'ouvre les yeux | Bouzid, LeylaLeyla Bouzid | Not on the final list[3] |
Tunisia's first two Oscar submissions were dramas with exceptionally similar plots, both revolving around the influence of cinema on the life of impressionable young Tunisian boys. Le Magique is a semi-autobiographical story, based on the life of director Melliti, in which a young boy is left home alone to watch over the family residence when his impoverished family emigrates to France. The boy discovers the joy of movies at a local cinema and begins to try and re-enact them (sans camera) with his friends. In The Magic Box, a Tunisian director in France is writing a screenplay based on his life as a boy in Tunisia, seen through flashbacks, in which his strict, religious father tried to instill different values in him than his more liberal film-loving uncles. Both films were primarily in French, with some Arabic dialogue.
See also
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films
- Cinema of Tunisia
References
- 1 2 "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ↑ "Officiel : 'A peine j'ouvre les yeux' de Leyla Bouzid représentera la Tunisie aux Oscars 2016". Tuniscope. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ↑ "85 Countries In Competition For 2016 Foreign Language Film Oscar". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
External links
- The Official Academy Awards Database
- The Motion Picture Credits Database
- Home Alone in Tunisia / A boy dreams of film-making fame - SFGate