List of Ukrainian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Ukraine has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1997. 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 2018, eleven films have been selected to represent Ukraine in this category, and five were accepted and screened by AMPAS. The sixth film, A Driver for Vera was disqualified for having insufficient Ukrainian origins.

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 Ukraine for review by the Academy for the award by year and the respective Academy Awards ceremony.

Year
(Ceremony)		Film title used in nominationOriginal titleDirector(s)Language(s)Result
1997
(70th)		 A Friend of the Deceased Приятель небіжчика (Pryiatel nebizhchyka)
Приятель покойника (Priyatel pokoinika)		 Viacheslav Kryshtofovych Russian (original)/Ukrainian (dubbed) Not Nominated
2003
(76th)		 Mamay [2] Мамай (Mamai) Oles Sanin Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar Not Nominated
2004
(77th)		 A Driver for Vera [3] Водій для Віри (Vodiy dlya Viry)
Водитель для Веры (Voditel dlya Very)		 Pavlo Chukhrai Russian Disqualified
2006
(79th)		 Aurora [4] Аврора (Avrora) Oksana Bairak Russian Not Nominated
2008
(81st)		 Illusion of Fear [5] Ілюзія страху (Iliuziya strakhu)
Иллюзия страха (Illiuziya strakha)		 Oleksandr Kiriyenko Russian (original)/Ukrainian (dubbed) Not Nominated
2012
(85th)		 Firecrosser[6] Той, хто пройшов крізь вогонь
(Toi, khto proishov kriz vohon)		 Mykhailo Illienko Ukrainian, English, Russian, Crimean Tatar Not Nominated
2013
(86th)		 Paradjanov[7] Параджанов (Paradzhanov) Serge Avedikian,
Olena Fetisova		 Russian (original)/Ukrainian (dubbed) Not Nominated
2014
(87th)		 The Guide[8] Поводир (Povodyr) Oles Sanin Ukrainian, Russian, English Not Nominated
2016
(89th)		 Ukrainian Sheriffs[9] Українські шерифи (Ukrayinski sheryfy) Roman Bondarchuk Ukrainian, Russian Not Nominated
2017
(90th)		 Black Level[10] Рівень чорного (Riven chornoho) Valentyn Vasianovych No dialogue Not Nominated
2018
(91st)		 Donbass[11] Донбас (Donbass) Sergei Loznitsa Russian, Ukrainian
TBD

The Ukrainians have had a shaky record in this category:

  • In 2004, A Driver for Vera was disqualified for being a majority-Russian production. The film was largely shot in Ukraine, and was a co-production between Russian and Ukrainian production companies, but the film was made in Russian by a Russian writer-director (Pavlo Chukhrai, who represented Russia in this category and won an Oscar nomination in 1997) and five of the six top-billed actors were Russian.
  • In 2006, a Columbia University film professor alleged that Ukraine's selection process was opaque, and that cancer drama Aurora had never actually screened in accordance with AMPAS rules.[12] Despite the protest, Aurora was accepted and screened.
  • In 2007, it was rumored that Ukraine would finally form a special Oscar committee to annually choose a Ukrainian nominee and that supposedly the movie "Koroliova" would be selected in 2007 as Ukraine's Oscar reperesentative.[13] However, eventually it was revealed that the committee did not meet to choose a nominee.[14]
  • In 2014, Ukraine's decision to submit Oles Sanin's The Guide ahead of the more acclaimed festival hit The Tribe by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, sparked a controversy that resulted in accusations of collusion by several members of the country's selection committee, who were forced to step down.[15]
  • In 2015, Ukraine missed the deadline to submit a film. They requested an extension from the Academy but it was denied.[16]

Black comedy Friend of the Deceased (in Russian), surreal romance Mamay (in Ukrainian), and political thriller-cum-fantasy Illusion of Fear (in Russian) all represented the country without incident.

The first and only Ukrainian production to be nominated for an Oscar was Wartime Romance, a Russian-language production made by Odessa Film Studios which was selected to represent the Soviet Union in late 1984, and which received an Oscar nomination at the 1985 Academy Awards.

See also

References

  1. 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. 2013. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  2. ↑ http://www.kinokolo.ua/news/517/
  3. ↑ http://www.indiewire.com/article/foreign_oscar_quandary_academy_nixes_maria_colombia_adds_el_rey_and_other_s/
  4. ↑ 'Аврора' будет представлять Украину на 'Оскаре' ['Aurora' will represent Ukraine for the 'Oscars']. annews.ru (in Russian). 30 November 2006. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  5. ↑ http://www.umoloda.kiev.ua/number/1270/164/44972/
  6. ↑ "Ukraine to submit Firecrosser for Best Foreign Language Film at Oscars". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  7. ↑ "Ukraine nominates Paradjanov for Academy Awards". armenpress. Retrieved 2013-09-13.
  8. ↑ "Oscars: Ukraine Nominates Oles Sanin's 'The Guide' for Foreign Language Category". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Ukraine selects its candidate for foreign-language Oscar". Ukraine Today. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  10. ↑ Holdsworth, Nick (29 August 2017). "Oscars: Ukraine Selects 'Black Level' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  11. ↑ Kozlov, Vladimir (29 August 2018). "Oscars: Ukraine Selects 'Donbass' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  12. ↑ http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ufc/news/cinenews_aurora.html
  13. ↑ Вітчизняне кіно: шукайте в кінотеатрах - Telekrytyka, 29.10.2007 (in Ukrainian)
  14. ↑ Молодо-зелено. Чому Україна цього року відмовилася від «Оскара» - Week's mirror, 26.10.2007 (in Ukrainian)
  15. ↑ "Oscars: Backlash Over Ukraine's Nomination for Best Foreign Language Category". Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  16. ↑ "Oscars: Ukraine Misses Foreign-Language Deadline, Requests Extension". Retrieved 2016-08-25.
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