Cinefile

Acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodvar will have to bank on getting a screenplay nod from the Academy as his latest film The Skin I Live In will not be in the running for the Best Foreign Film Oscar! Screen Daily reports that Spain has instead selected Agusti Villaronga’s period drama Black Bread as its official entry.

"“To win the Oscar would be fabulous because Agusti deserves it,” says Isona Passola, the producer of Black Bread, which is about a young boy living in a small Catalan village who uncovers dark secrets from the past. “After seven years of not filming it, he finally managed to rescue the project from the depths. He’s also managed to capture a new audience outside of his regular faithful viewers of his previous films.”

Black Bread is unlikely to be perceived as an undeserving entrant, and its nomination isn’t a total surprise as the film swept the board at the Goyas, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars, earlier this year.

But it was widely believed that Almodovar’s latest film, starring his old muse Antonio Banderas as a risk taking plastic surgeon, would be put forward after it was well received by the critics and is performing well at the box office."

What do you think about Spain's surprise decision to not go with past Oscar winner Almodovar for this season's awards race?