The Director’s Guild of America has nominated Ari Folman in the category Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for his animated feature, Waltz with Bashir. The film was just voted Best Foreign-Language Film at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles. The 61st Annual DGA Awards will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31 at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Folman is up against Gonzalo Arijon for Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains (Ethan Prods./Zeitgeist Films), Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco for The Judge and the General (West Wind Prods./PBS), Peter Gilbert and Stevie James for At the Death House Door (Kartemquin Films/ IFC) and James Marsh for Man on Wire (Wall to Wall, Red Box Films/Magnolia Pictrues).
Death House Door, capital punishment expos’, and Man on Wire, the story of a Frenchman who walked a tight rope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, are both short-listed for Oscar consideration. Bashir didn’t make that list, but it is Israel’s entry for Best Foreign-Language Film and is also eligible for Best Animated Feature. Released domestically by Sony Pictures Classics, the film about Folman’s quest to recover memories of an Israeli army mission he participated in during the first Lebanon War of the early 1980s is highly topical in light of Israel’s controversial occupation of Gaza.
In addition to winning a Gloden Globe, Bashir received the Los Angeles Film Critics’ award for Best Animated Film, was hailed Best Foreign Film at the 11th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) and was recently named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics.
