Oscar Embraces Globalization and Diversity This Year

Though it may not win Best Picture, the film most emblematic of the Academy Awards in March will be “Babel,” which examines the modern tension between instant communications and persistent language barriers. This year, films like “Babel,” with six languages, and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” mostly in Japanese, are honored in the Best Picture category, rather than confined to Foreign Film nominations. International actors, too, from Babel’s little-known Rinko Kikuchi to Penelope Cruz, are recognized for performances in their native languages. The nominations, first and foremost, highlight the vitality of foreign-film industries. More profoundly, it may reflect a shift in American film criticism – as well as movie-going habits – toward a greater appreciation of movies from around the world. In fact, this most famous American awards show, in its slate of nominations for this year, reveals that the global film industry has steadily acquired a non-American flavor. – YaleGlobal