OSCAR WAR ENTRY SKIPS THE COUNTRY

PARIS January 29, 2007 (Times Online) - Rachid Bouchareb, 53, surprised critics who had expected him to enter Days of Glory [French title: Indigènes], a film about the African soldiers who fought for France in the Second World War, as a Gallic production. ... But Mr Bouchareb has stirred controversy by entering the film for the Oscars under an Algerian flag, where it is competing for the title of best foreign language film... Under the rules of the ceremony, the nationality of the director determines that of the film. Mr Bouchareb has French and Algerian passports and could have chosen either.

But M. Bouchareb chose Algeria.

France is piqued because -- aside from the horror, the horror and the shock!, of M. Bouchareb not choosing France -- the French view is French money determines what is a French film -- and a good deal else.

Le Figaro newspaper pointed out that more than 90 per cent of Indigenes’ €14 million budget came from France and asked with a mixture of indignation and irony whether Mr Bouchareb considered that Algeria was still a French colony. The surprise is all the greater because Days of Glory is down for the French cinema awards, Les Césars, as a Gallic film.

By the way, what's the story on equal black pay? The government had promised back in September to put it into effect as quickly as possible in the new year. We've seen nothing on the actual implementation of France's puny largesse. Perhaps le ministère des finances, busy re-predicting growth forecasts (this one didn't pan out), is waiting for the black pay problem to thin out a bit more.

PFFT (What is this?): Payback for France 4¼ | Payback for les indigènes 0 | Rayonnement français 0