Articles

Prison drama A Prophet sweeps French Oscars
(from BBC News)
It's funny, really -- the BAFTAs must be the only non-American awards that are criticised for resolutely rewarding their own cinema. Maybe it's because British cinema is so lacking (we think only America produces films, but that's because we don't see so much of the low-key foreign output), maybe it's because we're so desperate to position ourselves as an Oscar predictor, or maybe it's just because we speak English and so American movies are equally (nay, more) important than our own (whereas in non-English-speaking countries, local cinema can equal or best the big American movies at the box office as well as in critics' eyes). And if you happen to be thinking that the French film won and all/most of the other big nominees were the English-language films we're used to seeing at every other ceremony this year... nope.