Oscars: Italy Enters Scorsese-Shepherded ‘A Ciambra’ In Foreign Language Race

With the deadline for submissions to the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race fast approaching, Italy — the winningest country in the history of the category — has set Jonas Carpignano’s A Ciambra as its entry this year. IFC’s Sundance Selects acquired North American rights to the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight drama last May in what was the first sale for a film to be boosted by the emerging filmmakers fund spearheaded by Martin Scorsese, his Sikelia producing partner Emma Koskoff and RT Features’ Rodrigo Teixeira.

A Ciambra stars Pio Amato and Koudous Seihon. It’s set in a small Romani community in Italy, where 14-year-old Pio is in a hurry to grow up. When he sets out to prove his worth to his brother, a series of events will forever change the way he sees the world.

IFC Films also distributed Carpignano’s debut, Mediterranea, which won a National Board of Review prize and received three Indie Spirit nominations.

Italy has previously won 11 FL Oscars and three honorary prizes. Outside the wins, it has had 17 nominations. The last Italian film to take the Oscar was Paolo Sorrentino’s 2013 Rome love letter The Great Beauty.

Here’s the updated running list of submissions:

2017 Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions

• Albania – Day Break – Gentian Koçi
• Algeria – Road to Istanbul – Rachid Bouchareb
• Austria – Happy End – Michael Haneke
• Azerbaijan – Pomegranate Orchard – Ilgar Najaf
• Belgium – Racer and the Jailbird – Michaël R Roskam
• Bolivia – Dark Skull – Kiro Russo
• Bosnia and Herzegovina – Men Don’t Cry – Alena Drljevića
• Brazil – Bingo: King of the Mornings – Daniel Rezende
• Bulgaria – Glory – Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
• Cambodia – First They Killed My Father – Angelina Jolie
• Canada – Hochelaga, Land Of Souls – François Girard
• Chile – A Fantastic Woman – Sebastian Lelio
• Colombia – Guilty Men – Iván Gaona
• Croatia – Quit Staring at My Plate – Hana Jušić
• Czech Republic – Ice Mother – Bohdan Sláma
• Denmark – You Disappear – Peter Schønau Fog
• Dominican Republic – Woodpeckers – José Maria Cabral
• Ecuador – Alba – Ana Cristina Barragan
• Egypt – Sheikh Jackson – Amr Salama
• Estonia – November – Rainer Sarnet
• Finland – Tom of Finland – Dome Karukoski
• France – BPM (120 Battements Par Minute) – Robin Campillo
• Georgia – Scary Mother – Ana Urushadze
• Germany – In the Fade – Fatih Akin
• Greece – Amerika Square – Yannis Sakardis
• Hong Kong – Mad World – Wong Chung
• Hungary – On Body and Soul – Ildikó Enyedi
• Iceland – Under the Tree – Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
• India – Newton – Amit V Masurkar
• Indonesia – Leftovers – Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo
• Iran – Breath – Narges Abyar
• Iraq – The Dark Wind – Hussein Hussan
• Ireland – Song of Granite – Pat Collins
• Israel – Foxtrot – Samuel Maoz
• Italy – A Ciambra – Jonas Carpignano
• Japan – Her Love Boils Bathwater – Ryota Nakano
• Kazakhstan – Road To Mother – Akan Satayev
• Kenya – Kati Kati – Mbithi Masya
• Kosovo – Unwanted – Edon Rizvanolli
• Kyrgyzstan – Centaur – Aktan Abdykalykov
• Laos – Dearest Sister – Mattie Do
• Latvia – The Chronicles of Melanie – Viestur Kairish
• Lebanon – The Insult – Ziad Doueiri
• Lithuania – Frost – Sarunas Bartas
• Luxembourg – Barrage – Laura Schroeder
• Mexico – Tempestad – Tatiana Huezo
• Morocco – Razzia – Nabil Ayouch
• Nepal – Seto Surya (White Sun) – Deepak Rauniyar
• Netherlands – Lalya M – Mijke de Jong
• Norway – Thelma – Joachim Trier
• Pakistan – Saawan – Farhan Alam
• Panama – Beyond Brotherhood – Arianne Benedetti
• Palestine – Wajib – Annemarie Jacir
• Peru – Rosa Chumbe – Jonatan Relayze
• Philippines – Birdshot – Mikhail Red
• Poland – Spoor – Agnieszka Holland
• Portugal – Saint George – Marco Martins
• Romania – The Fixer – Adrian Sitaru
• Russia – Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Serbia – Requiem for Mrs J – Bojan Vuletić
• Singapore – Pop Aye – Kirsten Tan
• Slovakia – The Line – Peter Bebjak
• Slovenia – The Miner – Hanna Antonina Wojcik Slak
• South Korea – A Taxi Driver – Jang Hoon
• Spain – Summer 1993 – Carla Simon
• Sweden – The Square – Ruben Östlund
• Switzerland – The Divine Order – Petra Volpe
• Taiwan – Small Talk – Huang Hui-chen
• Thailand – By the Time It Gets Dark – Anocha Suwichakornpong
• Turkey – Ayla: The Daughter of War – Ca Ulkay
• Ukraine – Black Level – Valentyn Vasyanovych
• United Kingdom – My Pure Land – Sarmad Masud
• Uruguay – Another Story Of The World – Guillermo Casanova
• Venezuela – El Inca – Ignacio Castillo Cottin
• Vietnam – Father and Son – Lương Đình Dũng