Tiny Minneapolis-based art movie distributor Adopt Films has a position in next year's Academy Awards that many larger competitors must envy. Three of its films have been chosen as their nation's official submission to the best foreign language Oscar race.
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's "Caesar Must Die," winner of the Berlin Golden Bear and screening at the upcoming New York Film Festival, was announced as Italy's Oscar entry this morning. The film is a docudrama featuring inmates of Rome's maximum-security Rebibbia prison performing Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" while behind bars.
Yesterday, Switzerland submitted "Sister," the story of a poor 12-year-old boy and his teenage sister who survive on what they can steal from wealthy tourists at a ski resort. The film stars Lea Seydoux, recently seen in "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol."
In August, Germany announced its entry would be Christian Petzold's "Barbara," the political/romantic drama of a 1980s East German doctor banished to a small countryside hospital after requesting an exit visa.
In New York, preparing for the Tavianis' arrival for a NYFF press conference and a Seydoux reception at the Swiss consulate, Adopt principal Tim Grady said there wasn't much time to kick back and savor his mini-studio's trifecta.
"We're not popping a bottle of champagne," he said. "We're popping a cup of coffee." With the backing of their respective governments, the films are guaranteed an unusual amount of attention over the coming months. Grady expects that "Sister" will open in the Twin Cities in the next four to six weeks, with "Barbara" and "Caesar" arriving this winter.
The nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 10, 2013. The winners will be revealed at the Oscar ceremony Feb. 24.
