'Septic Tank' shortlisted in Oscars' Best Foreign Language Film category By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ
October 17, 2011, 3:23pm
The cast of 'Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank:' Kean Cipriano, Kai Cortez, Eugene Domingo and JM de Guzman
MANILA, Philippines - “Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank” has surged forward in the Oscar race by becoming one of 63 films shortlisted for the final nominees in the prestigious award-giving body’s Best Foreign Language Film category.
Singer-actor Kean Cipriano, one of the film’s stars, posted on Twitter on Oct. 16: “’Babae sa Septik Tank’ now OSCARS shortlist contender: entry was accepted. Hope PHL makes it to the 5 Foreign Language Nominees! PLS RT!”
The official nominees will be announced January 2012, while the Oscars’ awards night will take place on February.
Prior to “Septic Tank” (international title: The Woman in the Septic Tank”), a number of Filipino films have already been included in the Best Foreign Language Film shortlist of the Academy. These include Adolf Alix, Jr.’s “Donsol” (2007), and Gil Porters’ “Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices)” (2002).
“Septic Tank” has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike since it was released during the most recent festival season of the Cinemalaya in July. It garnered several accolades at the Cinemalaya awards night, namely Best Screenplay (Chris Martinez), Best Director (Marlon Rivera), Best Film, Audience Choice Award, and Best Actress (Eugene Domingo), all under the festival’s New Breed category.
It has also been invited to several festivals abroad, such as the Busan International Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, Tokyo Film Festival, and Udine Far East Film Festival. More, “Septic Tank” has been nominations in the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival (in the Cinema Fairbindet Award and Best First Feature Award categories), as well as in the Vancouver International Film Festival (for the Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema).
Here’s the rest of the shortlisted films (and their corresponding directors) for the 84th Academy Awards:
Albania: "Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani
Argentina: "Aballay," Fernando Spiner
Austria: "Breathing," Karl Markovics
Belgium: "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam
Bosnia and Herzegovina: "Belvedere," Ahmed Imamovic
Brazil: "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within," José Padilha
Bulgaria: "Tilt," Viktor Chouchkov, Jr.
Canada: "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau
Chile: "Violeta Went to Heaven" (Andrés Wood)
China: "The Flowers of War," Zhang Yimou
Colombia: "The Colors of the Mountain," Carlos César Arbeláez
Croatia: "72 Days," Danilo Serbedzija
Cuba: "Havanastation," Ian Padrón
Czech Republic: "Alois Nebel," Tomás Lunák
Denmark: "Superclásico," Ole Christian Madsen
Dominican Republic: "Love Child," Leticia Tonos
Egypt: "Lust." Khaled el Hagar
Estonia: "Letters to Angel." Sulev Keedus
Finland: "Le Havre," Aki Kaurismäki
France: "Declaration of War," Valérie Donzelli
Georgia: "Chantrapas," Otar Iosseliani
Germany: "Pina," Wim Wenders
Greece: "Attenberg," Athina Rachel Tsangari
Hong Kong: "A Simple Life," Ann Hui
Hungary: "The Turin Horse," Béela Tarr
Iceland: "Volcano," Rúnar Rúnarsson
India: "Abu, Son of Adam," Salim Ahamed
Indonesia: "Under the Protection of Ka'Bah," Hanny R. Saputra
Iran: "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi
Ireland: "As If I Am Not There," Juanita Wilson
Israel: "Footnote," Joseph Cedar
Italy: "Terraferma," Emanuele Crialese
Japan: "Postcard," Kaneto Shindo
Kazakhstan: "Returning to the ‘A,’" Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky
Lebanon: "Where Do We Go Now?" Nadine Labaki
Lithuania: "Back to Your Arms," Kristijonas Vildziunas
Macedonia: "Punk Is Not Dead," Vladimir Blazevski
Mexico: "Miss Bala," Gerardo Naranjo
Morocco: "Omar Killed Me," Roschdy Zem
Netherlands: "Sonny Boy," Maria Peters
New Zealand: "The Orator," Tusi Tamasese
Norway: "Happy, Happy," Anne Sewitsky
Peru: "October," Diego Vega and Daniel Vega
Poland: "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland
Portugal: "José and Pilar," Miguel Gonçalves Mendes
Romania: "Morgen," Marian Crisan
Russia: "Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel," Nikita Mikhalkov
Serbia: "Montevideo: Taste of a Dream," Dragan Bjelogrlić
Singapore: "Tatsumi," Eric Khoo
Slovak Republic: "Gypsy," Martin Sulík
South Africa: "Beauty," Oliver Hermanus
South Korea: "The Front Line," Jang Hun
Spain: "Black Bread," Agusti Villaronga
Sweden: "Beyond," Pernilla August
Switzerland: "Summer Games," Rolando Collas
Taiwan: "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," Wei Te-sheng
Thailand: "Kon Khon," Sarunyu Wongkrachang
Turkey: "Once upon a Time in Anatolia," Nuri Bilge Ceylan
United Kingdom: "Patagonia," Marc Evans
Uruguay: "The Silent House," Gustavo Hernández
Venezuela: "Rumble of the Stones," Alejandro Bellame Palacios
Vietnam: "The Prince and the Pagoda Boy," Luu Trong Ninh