Beans Wit Attitude: Foreign Films and the Oscars

On Oct. 17, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced 61 movies will be in contention for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2010 Academy Awards. And once again, there was controversy.

Year after year, the academy ignores proposals to change the nomination process for Best Foreign Language Film. The academy is focused tradition and keeping a system that has been used since 1956.

Although awards for the category have been handed out since 1947, the traditional five nominees were not used until 1956. Since then, the eligibility standards for the category have become more vigorous and ridiculous. Not only is it difficult to become eligible, it is equally difficult to become nominated.

According to the rules, each country gets one submission for the category. This has not only created controversy with the academy, but within foreign countries as well. While some have praised the rule because it includes smaller countries, it also excludes bigger markets from submitting quality films.

In 2007, France was presented with this dilemma. With two great films to choose from, it opted to submit “Persepolis” instead of “La Vie en Rose.” “Persepolis” went on to get snubbed in both the foreign and animated film categories, while “La Vie en Rose” won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Similarly, Spain excluded “Talk to Her” in 2002 but it went on to win the Best Original Screenplay award.

The process of choosing one film has sparked accusations of favoritism and political ties as well. Since winning the Best Foreign Language Film award in 1990 for “Cinema Paradiso,” director Giuseppe Tornatore has represented Italy three times. His film “Baaria” was chosen this year and accusations of political ties with the Italian Film Commission broke out, especially since Marco Bellocchio’s “Vincere” has been met with critical acclaim and several awards.

Another eligibility requirement is the movie must be released in its respective country in a commercial theater for seven consecutive days. Second, the film must be released before Sept. 30, while the deadline for American films is December 31. Both of these rules are problems for low-budget films that cannot make it into commercial theaters. Also, it creates an unnecessary deadline for foreign directors to meet.

In 2008, a Swedish film called “Let the Right One” In was released on Sept. 24 in order to meet the deadline. This bothered the Swedish Film Institute and it chose Jan Troell’s “Everlasting Moments” instead. The producers immediately pulled “Let the Right One In” from theaters. Afterwards, the film went onto become an international success and was one of the most critically acclaimed foreign films of the year. The producers of the movie rode its success and decided to release it again in 2009. While the film was eligible again, Sweden opted to ignore the movie because it had already been nominated once.

The academy presents the award to the winning movie’s country, not the film itself. This is contradicting because the movie’s eligibility depends on its language, not what country it represents. Movies set in other countries but use English as its primary language are ineligible for nomination, which was seen in 2007 with the Israeli film “The Band’s Visit.” In fact, some films have been disqualified because they did not represent a country at all. In 2002, “Divine Intervention” went unconsidered because the movie represented Palenstine, which is not a state the academy recognizes.

The problems for this category need to be addressed and the rules need to be revamped. First, the academy must allow countries to submit more than one film. This will alleviate countries’ decisions on which films to choose and make the category more competitive. Second, the academy needs to discontinue its current deadline. This will give smaller movies more time to find commercial venues and become eligible for nomination. Also, filmmakers will not be rushed to meet a deadline and release a film before it is ready. Finally, a film should be eligible for nomination even if its primary language is English, which will suit the director and help represent the country as well.

Information Beans: Festival Unites Southern Illinois Artists

When asked what he could do to help the university, Nick Yeck-Stauffer said he wanted to throw a party.

Not that kind of party though.

Yeck-Stauffer, an alumnus with a filmmaking degree, was asked this question while working for SIUC University Communications and decided to create an event that would unite community artists. “All Together Now,” which has been running since Wednesday, will continue at 6 p.m. on today in Ballroom D of the SIUC Student Center.

Yeck-Stauffer said his goal was to bring different art forms together to help people realize they can create something new.

“You have your photography students and your film students who both do a lot of the same things, but very rarely do they collaborate,” Yeck-Stauffer said. “I knew a lot of these people, so I figured I could just have an excuse to get my friends together.”

Of the numerous projects going on, Yeck-Stauffer said there would be open gallery time for anyone to show off their art, projection time for student films, an open microphone for performances and various art workshops.

Meagan Oestry, a senior from Carbondale studying speech communication, helped Yeck-Stauffer plan the event. She said the event welcomes every kind of art, from painting a picture to playing the violin.

“There are no boundaries. You can do whatever you want to do,” Oestry said. “We basically said come do it. Come see other people and maybe see if you can collaborate with someone to create something big and awesome.”

The event kicked off Wednesday with a performance by Dave Armstrong, also known as DaveX on the radio station WDBX. Armstrong said his performance is a re-creation 1971 composition by John Cage and Lejaren Hiller called “KNOBS.” Armstrong said the original performance consisted of 208 computer-generate tapes, a circular screen 340 feet tall and over 100 projectors displaying various movies and slides. The performance lasted over five hours.

“I was surprised to find out nobody had presented it since the original John Cage performance,” Armstrong said. “I jumped at the opportunity.”

In addition to the epic performance, Oestry said other musical and theatrical presentations will take place in the Student Center Auditorium, including a performance by the local band The Cloud Cuckoo Band. She said there will also be art workshops, including stencil and circuit bending workshops.

Yeck-Stauffer said people were hesitant to get involved because of the project’s ambitious goals and layout. However, he said the projects have come together really nicely and people have gotten excited and jumped on board.

Oestry said she and Yeck-Stauffer have been planning the event since the summer. She said they sent out e-mails to various RSO’s and relied on the student network and local artists to stimulate support for the event. She said the lack of communication among various art groups in the community makes the event important.

“We had all of these art groups on campus that were all doing really wonderful things, but they were all doing them within their own disciplines and in their own areas,” Oestry said. “They weren’t really reaching out and making art together.”

Yeck-Stauffer said one of the most pleasant things about planning the event was the simplicity of booking the Student Center.

“You just have to have an idea, communicate with RSO’s about what it is you want to do, get some people on board and the president of the student organization can reserve the ballroom or the auditorium for free,” Yeck Stauffer said. “It is free and easy to do. It just requires some motivation.”

Information Beans: Famous Cinematographer Returns to SIUC

Cinema and photography students will have an opportunity to meet the former president of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Steven Poster, a former SIUC student, has served as the cinematographer in several movies, including “Rocky V,” “Donnie Darko,” “Stuart Little 2” and “The Box,” which opened in theaters last week.

Poster is visiting SIUC this weekend, starting with a photo exhibition from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the University Museum in Faner Hall. From 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, he will give a presentation on lighting in movies and from 5:30 to 9 p.m., he will be in Morris Library screening his movie, “Donnie Darko.”

Poster said he attended SIUC for two years before moving to the Los Angeles Arts Center. He said he discovered his love for cinematography while participating in an experimental freshman program at SIUC.

“It was one of the most exciting things educationally I have ever done,” Poster said. “I gained a love for education that, all through high school, I hadn’t had.”

After college, he said two of his earliest experiences were working on the sets of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Blade Runner.”

“Talk about an education, that was like doing a masters degree,” Poster said.

Walter Metz, chairman of the cinema and photography department, said Poster can talk to students about being an artist and what type of professional careers are available to cinematographers.

“What universities do well is talk about ideas. What they don’t do well is give students practical and hands-on professional experience,” Metz said. “So having him come is really great for the students because they can learn about career paths.”

Poster said he hopes he can offer students the advice they need to make it in the entertainment business.

“You have to be willing to really persevere. That’s the big deal,” Poster said. “It’s a tough business and right now, with the economy the way it is, it’s really tough.”

Dona Bachman, director of the University Museum, said Poster is excited to not only visit campus again, but to connect with students as well.

“He could have been a teacher because he clearly loves to talk about cinematography and photography, and he’s just really excited about talking to the students,” Bachman said.

Lilly Boruszkowski, a professor in the cinema and photography department, said having a prestigious cinematographer visit SIUC shows the university in a good light.

“It’s something to be incredibly proud of, that we have alumni who have had such amazing success and achievements in their careers,” Boruszkowski said. “It’s incredibly impressive.”

Bachman said she was the first to be contacted by Poster. She said she became interested in Poster’s photography exhibit when she found out he had attended SIUC.

Poster has made a living off cinematography, but he said he still has a passion for photography.

“I am constantly carrying a camera, whether I’m on a movie or not,” Poster said. “My life is photography.”

Bachman said the exhibit consists of about 24 large-scale black and white photographs that focus on solitude and the quiet moments in life.

“You can tell he has the mind of a photographer. He observes things that most of us don’t observe,” Bachman said.

Apart from the photo exhibit and the discussion with students, Poster said he is excited to revisit his former campus.

“I’m really excited to see the campus. I haven’t been there in so many years and I want to see how it’s grown,” Poster said. “It was a golden time in my life.”

Information Beans: Giant City Still Closed from May Storm

Anybody looking to enjoy a few trails at Giant City State Park before winter will have to wait a little longer.

Trails are still closed off from the storm on May 8, according to Bob Martin, site superintendent for the park. He said such trails as Red Cedar Hiking Trail, Trillium Trail and Stone Fort Trail are still closed due to wreckage from the storm.

Other parts of Makanda have not been cleaned up, according to Janelle Weber, innkeeper for Makanda Inn. She said the most damage was done around Giant City. Initially the storm cut power in Makanda for ten days, which hurt business during graduation weekend, she said.

Martin said a tree uprooted during the storm and destroyed a bridge on Stone Fort Road, which is still closed off. Martin said the park does not have the resources to clean up the wreckage left from the storm.

“We probably got trees 30 to 40 inches around that are leaning against the bluff,” Martin said. “We just don’t have the equipment to take them down.”

Martin said the park has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency all summer on contracts. FEMA, a government agency that offers aid for natural disasters, started cleaning three months after the storm at the end of August, Martin said.

An audit of FEMA released by the Department of Homeland Security in June of 2009 reviewed 32 disaster contracts from 2007, noting the agency was “not in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation or Acquisition Management Division’s contracting policies and procedures for emergency acquisitions for most of the contracts reviewed.”

Dolph Diemont, federal coordinating officer for the FEMA, did not return a phone call.

Jim Ewers, of Blue Sky Vineyard, said the vineyard was not affected by the storm and their power was only out for 20 minutes. He said he thought the community did a great job in getting everything back together.

“I was surprised with how quickly the mess was cleaned up,” Ewers said.

Despite the wreckage, Makanda businesses are not currently feeling the effects of the storm, Weber said. With Makanda Fest and various wine festivals, she said business is very good for Makanda at the moment.

“There are lots of festivals going on, so we actually just got done with the busiest time of the year,” Weber said.

Martin said business is not hurting at the park either, but visitors are limited in what they can do.

“The folks are still coming in, they’re just not able to go up in those areas to hike or rock climb,” Martin said.

Martin said the closed bridge entrance has not hurt the park either, as guests have still shown up consistently since the storm.

“I don’t think any place is really hurting. I mean there’s four different ways into this park,” Martin said. “It’s not completely closed. There’s still three other ways to find your way in here.”