Cannes '08 to Oscars '09? 'Waltz With Bashir' will dance in U.S. with Sony Pictures Classics

The bad news: Director Ari Folman's critically acclaimed "Waltz With Bashir" got lots of respect, but no outright love from the Festival de Cannes jury on Sunday.

The good news: Now that Sony Pictures Classics' Michael Barker and Tom Bernard confirmed today that they bought Folman's film, North American audiences, and select Latin American movie fans, will have the opportunity to see "Waltz With Bashir" in theaters, perhaps even on Academy screeners, sometime soon.

Folman's striking film is an animated autobiographical documentary about a former Israeli Army soldier who tries to recount his long-forgotten mission in the first Lebanon War in the early eighties. In an attempt to conjure lost memories, the solider travels around the world interviewing old friends and comrades about what they remember. Using only rudimentary Flash animation, Folman unleashes a pastiche of incredible cinematic scenes that are as innovative as they are devastating.

We grabbed a quick comment from Barker, who was en route from Cannes, to confirm the purchase and also elaborate on a potential awards campaign for "Bashir" in the 2009 best animated film Oscar race.

Barker's reply:

"The experience of watching 'Waltz with Bashir' reminds me of what it was like when we saw 'The Battle of Algiers' for the very first time. It is one of the great anti-war movies told in a new way, this time with ingenious animation. It is overwhelming. Our past success with 'Triplets of Bellville' and 'Persepolis' has shown that there is a substantial audience out there with an insatiable appetite for high quality animated features for adults. Ari Folman's 'Waltz With Bashir' will shake people up as it reaches for the stars with its bold ambition."

It still remains to be seen whether Israel will submit "Bashir" as its official Oscar selection or if Folman's film will meet the Academy's particular animated film submission requirements. But given SPC's familiarity with Oscar rules, and its established Academy pedigree, it seems safe to say that "Bashir" will be at least submitted for consideration in one category or another.

But that's not all, folks. SPC also acquired North American rights to "Tyson," James Toback's intimate portrait of Mike Tyson; Bent Hamer's "O' Horten," which I like to refer to as '"Amelie" for geezers,' but is actually a lovely look at a newly retired Norwegian train engineer; and the Dardenne brothers' "Lorna's Silence," about the exploitation of illegal immigrants in Belgium, which won the Cannes jury's screenwriting award.

-- Sheigh Crabtree

Image: Courtesy Cannes Film Festival.