The Broken Circle Breakdown nominated for best foreign-language Oscar

The Belgian film The Broken Circle Breakdown has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Foreign Language Film. The nominations were announced in Beverly Hills yesterday afternoon Belgian time.

“I just got done crying,” said the film’s director Felix Van Groeningen at a press conference after the announcement. “This nomination is the cherry on the cake. I am so proud. We noticed at screenings in Los Angeles that the film had an effect on people. We saw that it has a life of its own. It conjured up questions; viewers wanted to know what we thought about themes like faith and atheism.”

Groeningen is already known across Europe for his 2009 film De helaasheid der dingen (The Misfortunates).

Broken Circle is based on the stage play by Johan Heldenbergh and Mieke Dobbels about singers in a bluegrass band struggling with the death of their child. Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens played the film’s leads.

Despite not being nominated for America’s other big film prize – a Golden Globe – Broken Circle was a favourite for the foreign film Oscar nomination, having won the Panorama Public Prize and the Europa Cinemas Label for Best European Film at the Berlin Film Festival, Best Actress and Best Script at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and the FIPRESCI prize at the prestigious Palm Springs Film Festival. 

Broken Circle also won the European Parliament’s LUX prize last month, while Baetens pulled down the best actress prize at the European Film Awards. It has screened in cinemas across Europe and the US and is set to open in Japan next month. 

This is the seventh time a Belgian film has been nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. Two years ago Michaël R Roskam’s Rundskop (Bullhead) was also nominated; but Belgium has yet to bring home the prize. The Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for 2 March.

photo by Dirk Waem / BELGA