“COLD WAR”
Poland; Paweł Pawlikowski
Director: Paweł Pawlikowski
Producers: Tanya Seghatchian and Ewa Puszczyńska
Writers: Paweł Pawlikowski, Janusz Głowacki, and Piotr Borkowski
Cinematography: Łukasz Żal
Editor: Jaroslaw Kaminski
Composer: Marcin Masecki
Distributor: Amazon Studios
Budget: $4.8 million
Release Date: December 21, 2018
Run-time: 89 minutes
FILM SYNOPSIS: In 1949, pianist Wiktor scouts for talent for a musical ensemble and begins a romance with Zula, the singer and dancer he discovers. Over the next decade, as they travel throughout a politically divided Europe, the couple’s turbulent relationship is the source of both their greatest happiness and bitterest feelings of betrayal.
With “Roma” looking to be the juggernaut of the Foreign Language Features, there does not appear to be much chance for any of the other titles. But if there’s one that can squeak through, it would be “Cold War.” With three nominations, including Best Directing and Best Cinematography, it lands in a few places that “Roma” does as well. The problem is, “Roma” also has so many more, like Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. Would it be a surprise if anything beat “Roma”? Yes. But landing in those other big categories is a big deal for a Foreign Language film. With “Ida” winning in 2014, there’s no rush to award Poland. Mexico, on the other hand, even has the fact that they’ve never won an Academy Award working in their favor as well.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
| YEAR | FILM | AWARD | CATEGORY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 (36th) | “Knife In The Water” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1966 (39th) | “Pharaoh” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1974 (47th) | “The Deluge” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1975 (48th) | “Land Of Promise” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1976 (49th) | “Nights And Days” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1979 (52nd) | “The Maids of Wilko” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 1981 (54th) | “Man Of Iron” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 2007 (80th) | “Katyn” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 2011 (84th) | “In Darkness” | Nominated | Best Foreign Language Feature |
| 2014 (87th) | “Ida” | Won | Best Foreign Language Feature |
PAWEŁ PAWLIKOWSKI
In most categories, there are nominees that were just lucky to get nominated at all. Director Paweł Pawlikowski for “Cold War” is one of those lucky nominees, not just because no one expected it, but because its pretty rare for Foreign Language Features to transcend to other categories. Alfonso Cuarón and Spike Lee are much more high profile nominees with better chances of winning. All four of the other nominees have Best Picture nominations to go with them, not to mention other big nominations. That being said, let’s give it up for Paweł Pawlikowski and his nomination to begin with, because that’s a huge accomplishment.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
| YEAR | FILM | AWARD | CATEGORY |
|---|---|---|---|
NONE |
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ŁUKASZ ŻAL
Like 2014, when “Ida” was also nominated for Best Cinematography, “Cold War” follows in the same vein. The crazy thing is that, this year, three of the five films nominated in the category are Foreign Language Features. Of the Foreign Language Features, “Cold War” isn’t even the best of the three, with “Roma” being the clear front-runner not just of those but of the entire category. “Roma” even has the black-and-white element that “Cold War” shares, so it’s not even set apart from the front-runner.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
| 2014 (87th) | “Ida” | Nominated | Best Cinematography |
STREAMING |
VIEWED: Saturday, January 26th, 2019 |
31 |
29 |
| Films Left | Days Left |
