Best Foreign Film Odds 2012 Academy Awards

The Best Foreign Film odds for the 2012 Academy Awards has “A Separation” as the pretty big -1200 favorite. You can find more competitively priced Academy Awards categories at WagerWeb.com here, which was taking bets on all the Oscar categories. 

“A Separation” is an Iranian film that has garnered a lot of press heading into this weekend’s Oscars so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this will be the favorite to win. 

It focuses on an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the intrigues which follow when the husband hires a lower-class caretaker for his elderly father.

The film has been met with universal acclaim, currently holding a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 109 reviews.

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter wrote from the Berlinale: "Just when it seemed impossible for Iranian filmmakers to express themselves meaningfully outside the bounds of censorship, Asghar Farhadi's Nader and Simin, A Separation comes along to prove the contrary. Apparently simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, it succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus for in a way few other films have done." Young held forward how Farhadi portrayed Iran's social and religious divisions and complimented the film's craft: "As in all the director's work, the cast is given top consideration and their realistic acting results in unusual depth of characterization. All five main actors stand out sharply in Mahmood Kalari's intimate cinematography. Though the film lasts over two hours, Hayedeh Safiyari's fast-moving editing keeps the action tensely involving from start to finish.

“Bullhead” is a Belgian film with +3000 odds to win the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars. 

From Wikipedia:  It tells the story of the yougn Limburgish cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille who is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious West-Flemish beef trader. But the assassination of a federal policeman, and an unexpected confrontation with a mysterious secret from Jacky's past, set in motion a chain of events with far-reaching consequences. It is mainly spoken in Limburgish language, which is a recognized regional language.

“Footnote” comes to us from Israel.  It is about a power struggle between a father and son who teach at the Talmud department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.   The son essentially accrues honors and recognition from his peers, overshadowing his father.

“In Darkness” is a film from Poland which tells the story of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in the Polish city of Lviv, who uses his knowledge of the city's sewers to shelter a group of Jews from the Nazis.

“Monsieur Lazhar “ is a Canadian film about an Algerian refugee in danger of being deported who assumes the responsibility of a teacher who has taken her own life. 

Best Foreign Language Film

* Note: 84th Academy Awards - Feb 26, 2012