Michaël R Roskam’s feature film debut Bullhead, representing Belgium at the Oscars, is among the five films nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Academy Award. Bullhead is Belgium’s sixth Oscar nomination in this category. Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol’s A Cat in Paris also grabbed a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category. The winners of the 84th Academy Awards will be announced in Hollywood on 26 February.
Bullhead is an emotionally driven tale of revenge, redemption and fate set against the backdrop of the Belgian bovine growth hormone mafia. The story starts with young cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) who is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef trader. But the assassination of a federal policeman and an unexpected confrontation with a mysterious secret from Jacky’s past set in motion a chain of events with far-reaching consequences.
Bullhead received its international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, and went on to tour fests around the globe, on the way picking up over 25 awards at the likes of AFI Fest LA, Palm Springs, Austin, Montréal, Vancouver, Beaune, Les Arcs, Moscow, Motovun and Manresa. Earlier this year, Variety selected Roskam as one of its ’10 Directors to Watch’. On Indiewire, Eric Kohn wrote: 'Watching Bullhead, it’s easy to imagine that Roskam could inherit the heated world of double-crossers and violent avengers that put Martin Scorsese on the map.'
Bullhead also heralded the international breakthrough of the film’s lead actor, Matthias Schoenaerts. To play Jacky he underwent a true metamorphosis. His performance put him on the radar of French helmer Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) who cast him for the male lead, together with Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard, in his new film Rust and Bone. Schoenaerts can also be seen in the upcoming The Loft, alongside James Marsen, Wentworth Miller and Eric Stonestreet.
Bullhead is produced by Bart Van Langendonck for Savage Film, in co-production with Eyeworks (BE), Artémis Production (BE) and Waterland Film (NL). International sales are handled by Celluloid Dreams. ‘We are both surprised and extremely excited,” says Van langendonck of the nomination. ‘We thank the Belgian Oscar committee for giving Bullhead this opportunity and we’re of course happy that we’ve been able to qualify for a nomination.’
In addition to Roskam’s debut feature, A Cat in Paris has also been nominated. The animation feature by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol is in the running for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. A Cat in Paris, a Flemish co-production, also debuted at last year’s Berlinale where it screened in competition in the Generation K+ section of the festival. Flemish co-producer is Annemie Degryse for Lunanime, and Flemish animators Pieter Samyn and Pascal Vermeersch were part of the film’s creative team. (Read an interview here)