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Yes, people make a big deal about the Oscars as if they were the entire world's film awards and sure once again we can admit they are the biggest, but there is a difference between being "the closest thing to a global film awards" and being "the uncontested global film awards that everyone on the planet follows with reasonably equal passion".
In most of the world the Oscar winners get a quick mention at the end of the entertainment news bulletin.
Yes ! But if one of the best film/actor/director selection happens to be from the country.
Cannes and Berlin festivals are more international in my opinion. You'll see more local productions from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Oscar is more about Hollywood kind of films. It's very unlikely that Xavier Dolan would get an award some day, even if his films are very good, they are not marketable for the Oscar.
Yes ! But if one of the best film/actor/director selection happens to be from the country.
Cannes and Berlin festivals are more international in my opinion. You'll see more local productions from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Oscar is more about Hollywood kind of films. It's very unlikely that Xavier Dolan would get an award some day, even if his films are very good, they are not marketable for the Oscar.
Many people are tempted to see the Oscars as the reward for the best films the world has to offer, but this is only because it involves the film industry they are familiar. The Oscars can't claim to reward the best in global cinema because of the requirement for the Best Picture winner to be a film in English.
Many people are tempted to see the Oscars as the reward for the best films the world has to offer, but this is only because it involves the film industry they are familiar. The Oscars can't claim to reward the best in global cinema because of the requirement for the Best Picture winner to be a film in English.
Well, I dont know about that. Hollywood is very global. You have the best people from all over the world working there. Not everyone who makes English films in Hollywood is a native English speaker or American. And many non-English speaking countries watch Hollywood movies.
Many of the people winning oscars these days are not American. Just this year, the best picture award went to 12 Years a Slave (British Director, team and actors), and best director went to Alfonso Cuarón from Mexico (for Gravity).
Well, I dont know about that. Hollywood is very global. You have the best people from all over the world working there. Not everyone who makes English films in Hollywood is a native English speaker or American. And many non-English speaking countries watch Hollywood movies.
Many of the people winning oscars these days are not American. Just this year, the best picture award went to 12 Years a Slave (British Director, team and actors), and best director went to Alfonso Cuarón from Mexico (for Gravity).
But when you consider how many movies out there are produced in languages other than English, the language requirement is a significant "restrictor" and basically disqualifies the Oscars from being the reward for the best film made in the world during that given year.
I've been looking at the Palme d'Or winner from Cannes vs. the Oscar winners and you've got stuff like Dancer in the Dark (Cannes) vs. Gladiator (Oscar), The Pianist (Cannes) vs. Chicago (Oscar), The Departed (Oscar) vs. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Cannes).
And these films from Cannes are all in English - I haven't even taken into account those winners from Cannes that were in other languages.
But when you consider how many movies out there are produced in languages other than English, the language requirement is a significant "restrictor" and basically disqualifies the Oscars from being the reward for the best film made in the world during that given year.
I've been looking at the Palme d'Or winner from Cannes vs. the Oscar winners and you've got stuff like Dancer in the Dark (Cannes) vs. Gladiator (Oscar), The Pianist (Cannes) vs. Chicago (Oscar), The Departed (Oscar) vs. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Cannes).
And these films from Cannes are all in English - I haven't even taken into account those winners from Cannes that were in other languages.
English language maybe a barrier for writers and actors in Hollywood, but I see a lot of international film makers producing English content in Hollywood these days.
I concede that the Academy has its flaws when it comes to the nominating and awarding process, especially in the best Film Category. But they have been trying to improve that and have expanded the category to include 10 films a few years ago. The nominating and awarding processes for Canne and Toronto Film Festivals are very different.
Then again, best film is just one category. What about best screenplay, director, animation, etc. If you look at the recent history, they have all been fairly international. I don't have the specific details but you can easily confirm that in the past 3-4 years:
best actor=French
best film=British
best director=British, Taiwan
best music=Indian
best director=Mexican
For example:
Director, Ang Lee won the Oscar for Best Director in 2012. He is from Taiwan. His movie, Life of Pi had actors from India. And was based on a book by Yann Martel, a Canadian writer.
Last edited by sandman249; 06-11-2014 at 12:02 PM..
What about Europe? Is there any European country where you don't see as many McDonalds and Starbucks, and American pop music and TV series are limited in their influence and local cultural content still remains strong? For example, do young Spaniards listen to Laday Gaga etc more than Spanish singers? Do French people enjoy French movies more than Hollywood Blockbusters (all that summer garbage)? Do the Italian still take price in domest culture rather than think everything American is "cool" and fashionable?
FYI: The thread title isn't "here Americans and British who no nothing about anything revel in their excellency producing crap".
SO, I would like to answer this question if you don't mind? Props for Acajack for fighting the ignorance, though.
Yes, my country has a very healthy culture, not overly dominated by the Anglosphere. Of course we produce a lot of crap as well, but we aren't dependent on American crap or the good stuff either.
Our literature is having quite the reneissance in the last 20 years or so, and many bestsellers are domestic. As many other countries, Scandinavian murder/detective/crime fiction is also hugely popular.
The most popular TV show is Finnish, Secret Lives, a cult soap opera/drama serie that has been going on for 15 years and almost 2700 episodes already.
Finnish cinema is quite healthy, with many movies winning international awards. Awards that actually are international. One of the most famous directors is Aki Kaurismäki, who has been nominated for Oscars twice I think in the international pity-category, but he haven't even attended, as he simply don't value those awards.
The pop music is very crap here as well, but there's some really good stuff beneath the surface. But if we take the top 20 hit list, on this week 10 of the artists are domestic.
TV series are very much American and British. But TBH, a nation of 5.5 million people simply don't have the muscle to provide all channels with domestic production. I watch a lot of American TV shows and have a lot of respect for those, but much of what we do is great as well. Especially black dramas who can be quite unforgiving. Earlier mentioned British programmes like Top Gear, Hell's Kitchen and The Office have been very popular as well. But German crime dramas and some Spanish soap operas as well. Los Serrano is most likely one of the most popular TV shows ever aired in Finland. Comedy in Finland is down the drain, so no words about that. Documentaries are overwhelmingly Finnish, Swedish, British, German and French.
Speaking of American crap dependency, today at 9am, here in Toronto, CTV started to show Kelly and Michael show at 9 am. - I mean, what the f8ck? As a country with 35M people, you can't broadcast something that is Canadian, instead you just can't wait till the evenings to put on the American stuff??
After 6pm, the TV is dominated by American TV - Hot in Cleveland, Anger Management, Big Bang Theory etc. I really feel ashamed. Seriously, import the Charlie Sheen crap?
I am glad most Europe countries are not nearly pathetic.
Your right, in fact the top 10 songs on Itunes right now in America, 4 of them are Australian
I cant name any other country that has as many Australian artists on there top ten as America does,
-Problems (Iggy)
-Fancy (Iggy)
-Rude (Magic)
-Boom (Charlie)
America really likes Iggy and her songs, Iggy seems to be more popular in the US than in the country she is from though, I mean fancy and problems have been on the top for 6 weeks now.
I don't even know who Iggy is, it's a shame the best Australian music isn't in the top ten.
Well, I dont know about that. Hollywood is very global. You have the best people from all over the world working there. Not everyone who makes English films in Hollywood is a native English speaker or American. And many non-English speaking countries watch Hollywood movies.
Many of the people winning oscars these days are not American. Just this year, the best picture award went to 12 Years a Slave (British Director, team and actors), and best director went to Alfonso Cuarón from Mexico (for Gravity).
I disagree.
The entire Hollywood scene is very Americanized, or at least Anglo-centric. The fact that the Oscars considers all movies conducted in other language as "foreign" shows how narrow minded it is. basically if a movie is not in English, you can only compete for "Best Foreign movie" award.
The people winning oscars may not the American, but most of its voters are probably English speaking. I can only consider the Oscar award an American film award, nothing more than that.
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