After seeing the film and reading some of the viewers comments/ reviews at
http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/crva.aw/p ... Water.html
I think it will get nomoinated at least. May even walk away with it??

Here are some of the comments:

A great film with a spin on a cultural social tradition from a very different point of view from what we are used to hear in North America. The filming is stunning; absolutely beautiful. The acting is exceptional and the story is unique. Some people may have trouble relating to the Hindu culture, nontheless; this film will make you think and will open your eyes. Hopefully this will get a "best foreign film" oscar nod along with C. R. A. Z. Y for this year.
9/10
20.11.2005 - jmullen@ - age: 18-25

Such an amazing movie, a must see on the big screen. Visually stunning in a subtle way, a movie that deals with a serious issue but is never too heavy, a movie where you will literally laugh, cry, smile and be moved. And the end of the film everyone just took their time leaving cuz of how moving it was. I took my mom to see this and there isnt many movies we both would enjoy together.
10/10
20.11.2005 - ac416@ - age: 26-35

Beautiful cinematography... artistically presented... amazing performances... unflawed... an absolute treasure!
10/10
18.11.2005 - marsha00001@ - age: 26-35

------------------------

But, someone also wrote:

Omg, it sucked. Waste of money and time. Dont go, pointless, and terrible ending. Awful movie.
1/10
17.11.2005 - deviliciouscass@

----------------------------

Overall, over 9.0/10 from 31 reviewers so far. (If, ignore this 1/10 as an odd ball, it comes to about 9.5/10.

---------------------------

Canada submitted WATER?

I know for a fact WATER is not the official submission from canada ( its C.R.A.Z.Y - http://imdb.com/title/tt0401085/ )

Here is the list of all sumbmissions


Full list of submitted films:

Argentina, El Aura, Fabian Bielinsky, director;

Bangladesh, Shyamol Chaya, Humayun Ahmed, director;

Belgium, L'Enfant / The Child, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors;

Bolivia, Say Good Morning to Dad, Fernando Vargas, director;

Bosnia & Herzegovina, Totally Personal, Nedžad Begovic, director;

Brazil, 2 Filhos de Francisco / Two Sons of Francisco, Breno Silveira, director;

Bulgaria, Stolen Eyes, Radoslav Spassov, director;

Canada, C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée, director;

Chile, Play, Alicia Scherson, director;

China, The Promise, Chen Kaige, director;

Colombia, La Sombra del Caminante / The Shadow of the Traveler, Ciro Guerra, director;

Costa Rica, Caribe, Esteban Ramírez, director;

Croatia, A Wonderful Night in Split, Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;

Cuba, Viva Cuba, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, director;

Czech Republic, Stesti / Something Like Happiness, Bohdan Sláma, director;

Denmark, Adam's Apples, Anders Thomas Jensen, director;

Estonia, Shop of Dreams, Peeter Urbla, director;

Fiji, The Land Has Eyes, Vilsoni Hereniko, director;

Finland, Mother of Mine, Klaus Härö, director;

France, Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas, Christian Carion, director;

Georgia, Tbilisi-Tbilisi, Levan Zakareishvili, director;

Germany, Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Marc Rothemund, director;

Hong Kong, Perhaps Love, Peter Ho-Sun Chan, director;

Hungary, Sorstalanság / Fateless, Lajos Koltai, director;

Iceland, Ahead of Time, Ágúst Gudmundsson, director;

India, Paheli, Amol Palekar, director;

Indonesia, Gie, Riri Riza, director;

Iran, Kheili dour, kheili nazdik / So Close, So Far, Reza Mir Karimi, director;

Iraq, Requiem of Snow, Jamil Rostami, director;

Israel, What a Wonderful Place, Eyal Halfon, director;

Italy, La Bestia nel cuore / The Beast in the Heart , Cristina Comencini, director;

Japan, Blood and Bones, Yoichi Sai, director;

Korea, Welcome to Dongmakgol, Kwang-hyun Park, director;

Luxembourg, Renart the Fox, Thierry Schiel, director;

Mexico, Al Otro lado / On the Other Side, Gustavo Loza, director;

Mongolia, The Cave of the Yellow Dog, Byambasuren Davaa, director;

The Netherlands, Bluebird, Mijke de Jong, director;

Norway, Kissed by Winter, Sara Johnsen, director;

Palestine, Paradise Now, Hany Abu-Assad, director;

Peru, Días de Santiago / Days of Santiago, Josué Méndez, director;

Poland, The Collector, Feliks Falk, director;

Portugal, Noite Escura / Dark Night, João Canijo, director;

Puerto Rico, Cayo, Vicente Juarbe, director;

Romania, Moartea Domnului Lazarescu / The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Cristi Puiu, director;

Russia, The Italian, Andrei Kravchuk, director;

Serbia & Montenegro, Midwinter Night's Dream, Goran Paskaljevic, director;

Singapore, Be with Me, Eric Khoo, director;

Slovak Republic, The City of the Sun, Martin Šulík, director;

Slovenia, The Ruins, Janez Burger, director;

South Africa, Tsotsi, Gavin Hood, director;

Spain, Obaba, Montxo Armendáriz, director;

Sweden, Zozo, Josef Fares, director;

Switzerland, Tout un hiver sans feu / A Whole Winter Without Fire, Greg Zglinski, director;

Taiwan, Tian bian yi duo yun / The Wayward Cloud, Tsai Ming-liang, director;

Tajikistan, Sex & Philosophy, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, director;

Thailand, The Tin Mine, Jira Maligool, director;

Turkey, Lovelorn, Yavuz Turgul, director;

Vietnam, Buffalo Boy, Nguyen Vo Nghiem Mihn, director.

It's a Canadian Film and not Indian.

It was filmed in SriLanka.

And yes, dvdsoil is right. Oscar nominations have long been submitted before Water was premiered. I wonder what happens when a film releases after the Oscar naminations have already been sent. Is it considered for the next year??

Anyway, as it turned out in case of WARRIOR, one restriction for nomination for Foreign Film Category is that it has to be in the language of that country?? So, it never will qualify as Canadian film (film is in Hindi) acceptable for Oscar Nomination and will never qualify as an Indian Film as it has nothing to do with India except plot and a few hired bodies.

Anyway, whether it gets a nomination for an Oscar or not, it does deserve it IMHO. There should be a category for films that don't fit into any other category. Otherwise films like WARRIOR, WATER etc will always be left out of the competitions.

It was shot in Sri Lanka. Originally filming started several years ago in India, but people against the film burned down the sets and even all the footage, so Deepa Mehta had to reshoot in Sri Lanka.

Really? Then why did LES INVASIONS BARBARES get nominated - and even won - Best Film in a Foreign Language? If I'm not mistaken the film is in French, right? But French isn't an official language of Canada, right?

French is indeed an official language of Canada.

AUDIO CD???

I didn't know that.

Should be out December 13.

RULES CHANGED.

Water going for the Oscars (Feb 2007).

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rur ... the~Oscars!

Water is Canada's Oscar entry
Arthur J Pais in New York
September 22, 2006 16:43 IST

Canada has set a record for foreign Oscar submissions by nominating
a Hindi-language film, the Deepa Mehta-directed Water.

It could do so only because, three months ago, Oscar rules were
changed to allow a country to nominate a film that isn't in its
indigenous language as long as English is not the dominant language
in the film.

The Oscar nomination has, for several years, been the subject of
bitter controversies over the language issue. A milestone was the
rejection in 2003 of The Warrior.

The WarriorThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took
the unusual step of rejecting the movie because 'Hindi was not a
language indigenous to the UK.' It overlooked the fact that the film had
a British-born director, Asif Kapadia, and was co-produced by three
British companies. In an ironic twist, The Warrior, (right) set in
feudal India and starring Irrfan Khan, won Best British Film at the
British Academy Awards the following year.

Language was also the problem last year, when Austria's entry,
Michael Haneke's French-language thriller Cache -- for which he won
Best Director at Cannes -- was rejected. So was Italy's political
drama Private, featuring Arabic and Hebrew.

In a previous interview, Mehta had said that completing Water,
which inaugurated last year's Toronto International Film Festival, was
by itself hugely fulfilling, especially in the light of the project being
shut down by religious fundamentalists in Varanasi over four years
ago. The film exposes the sexual and other kinds of oppression in
a widow's ashram in the 1930s where the most beautiful of the
widows (Lisa Ray) has to prostitute herself to support fellow widows.
John Abraham plays a Gandhian idealist and Seema Biswas, the
silently rebellious older widow.

"It has been going to many festivals," Mehta said of the film, which went
to become the most successful Hindi film in North America, grossing
$5.4 million. "And if it gets an Oscar nomination, it will be a very big
boost for a small film." Made for about $3 million, the film has
grossed about $8 million worldwide.

Hindi is also heard for more than 15 minutes in the Danish foreign
Oscar entry, the Susanne Bier-directed After the Wedding. It
revolves around a Danish social worker in Mumbai who has to make
a sudden trip to Copenhagen, assuring his little friends at the
orphanage that he will return. But when he does, he is not the
same person. Will Pramod, his buddy at the orphanage, accept a
tempting offer from the Danish social worker?

Among other notable nominees so far is another Toronto International
Film Festival triumph, the grippingly disturbing drama from Germany,
The Lives of Others, about East Germany's Stasi secret service and
its system of domestic spying. Finland has nominated
Aki Kaurismaki's Lights in the Dusk, a story about a lonely night
watchman trapped in a series of misadventures.

If Water gets a nomination, it could be re-released in select
American and Canadian cities. The film was released in America by
Fox Searchlight, which will release Mira Nair's The Namesake in March.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the
five international nominees on January 23, 2007. The 79th
Annual Academy Awards will take place on February 25, 2007.

Sorry dvdisoil. That was actually last year's list....some of the films on there like "Merry Christmas" from France, "Tsotsi" from South Africa and "The Promise" from China have long been released. And of course, "Paheli" is on there. The new deadline is 10/2:

Foreign Language and Short Film
Oscar® Entries Due October 2
Beverly Hills, CA — Monday, October 2, is the deadline to submit Oscar entries in the Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film categories as well as in the Foreign Language Film category. To be considered for the 79th Academy Awards®, entry forms and supporting materials must arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by 5 p.m. that day.

For the short film categories, filmmakers must submit an entry form, film synopsis, cast and credits list, stills, filmography, a film print and proof of qualifying exhibition or festival win. Films that advance to the branch screening round of voting will need to provide a second film print by Wednesday, January 3, 2007.

The reviewing committee of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch will begin screening eligible live action and animated shorts on Saturday, November 4.

In the Foreign Language Film category, additional documentation, including an English-language synopsis of the film, a cast and credits list, a biography and photograph of the director, and a clipping of public notification of theatrical exhibition is due by October 2.

Foreign language film prints must be received no later than Friday, October 13. Only one picture will be accepted from each country.

The Foreign Language Film award screening committee will begin screening the eligible films on Friday, October 20.

The 79th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at 5:30 a.m. PST, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival segment.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Awards Coordinator Torene Svitil via phone at (310) 247-3000, ext. 190, by fax at (310) 247-2600, by e-mail at mailto:tsvitil@oscars.org, or by visiting http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/rules.

This year's official Oscar list:

The 2006 submissions:

Algeria, "Days of Glory"

Argentina, "Family Law"

Australia, "Ten Canoes"

Austria, "You Bet Your Life"

Bangladesh, "Forever Flows"

Belgium, "Someone Else's Happiness"

Bolivia, "American Visa"

Bosnia and Herzegovina, "Grbavica"

Brazil, "Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures"

Bulgaria, "Monkeys in Winter"

Canada, "Water"

Chile, "En la Cama"

China, "Curse of the Golden Flower"

Colombia, "A Ton of Luck"

Croatia, "Libertas"

Cuba, "El Benny"

Czech Republic, "Lunacy"

Denmark, "After the Wedding"

Egypt, "The Yacoubian Building"

France, "Avenue Montaigne"

Germany, "The Lives of Others"

Greece, "Chariton's Choir"

Hong Kong, "The Banquet"

Hungary, "White Palms"

Iceland, "Children"

India, "Rang De Basanti"

Indonesia, "Love for Share"

Iran, "Transit Cafe"

Iraq, "Dreams"

Israel, "Sweet Mud"

Italy, "Golden Door"

Japan, "Hula Girls"

Kazakhstan, "Nomad"

Korea, "King and the Clown"

Kyrgyzstan, "The Wedding Chest"

Lebanon, "Bosta"

Lithuania, "Before Flying Back to Earth"

Macedonia, "Kontakt"

Mexico, "Pan's Labyrinth"

Morocco, "The Moroccan Symphony"

Nepal, "Basain"

the Netherlands, "Black Book"

Norway, "Reprise"

Peru, "Madeinusa"

the Philippines, "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros"

Poland, "Retrieval"

Portugal, "Alice"

Puerto Rico, "Thieves and Liars"

Romania, "The Way I Spent the End of the World"

Russia, "9th Company"

Serbia, "Tomorrow Morning"

Slovenia, "Gravehopping"

Spain, "Volver"

Sweden, "Falkenberg Farewell"

Switzerland, "Vitus"

Taiwan, "Blue Cha Cha"

Thailand, "Ahimsa Stop to Run"

Turkey, "Ice Cream, I Scream"

Ukraine, "Aurora"

Venezuela, "Maroa"

Vietnam, "Story of Pao"

http://www.samachar.com/showurl.htm?rur ... B~bows~out

Water shortlisted for Oscars, RDB bows out

Deepa Mehta's Water has been shortlisted in the best foreign
film category for the Oscars. The film, set in the 1930s,
stars John Abraham and Lisa Ray and dwells on the plight of
Indian widows.

The Canadian film finds a place in the list along with the acclaimed
Black Book from the Netherlands and Volver from Spain,
Variety.com, reported.

Other films in the list are Days of Glory (Algeria), After the
Wedding (Denmark), Avenue Montaigne (France), The Lives of
Others (Germany), Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico) and Vitus (Switzerland).

Meanwhile, India's official Oscars entry Rang De Basanti, directed
by Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra, lost out in the race for Best Foreign Film.

Among the shortlisted movies, five would be nominated for
the prestigious award on January 23. But a surprise omission
was China's "Curse of the Golden Flower", Zhang Yimou's epic which
had been tipped to vie for the top prize at the Oscars.

I was very sure of Water making it through and RDB, loosing on its way