What qualifies as "foreign"?

[XvoorheesX]

It may sound like a dumb question, but I'm wondering.
If it's made out of the U.S, then would X-Men and X-Men 2 be considered foreign movies? That wouldn't make much sense.
Or is it where the directors from? Because a lot of popular hollywood directors are European, Canadian, Mexican, etc.
So what does it take to be considered a foreign film?

[JCR]

For the sake of keeping it simple I think foreign here means anything not in english.

[randythetool]

i'd agree about not in english. alternately, you could say subtitled, dubbed, or just in the style of foreign cinema - like if Kurosawa were to make a movie with actors who spoke English.

Don't mind me.

[James Logan]

I'd say the language and the country of the producers. Such films as THE MATRIX or X2 may have been shot in Australia or Canada, but the people who supplied the funds were Yanks. As for the language, English obviously (although movies from the UK apparently qualify as foreign, too).

Basically, I think any movie that's released in the U.S. of A before it's released in any other country of the world is domestic, and the rest can qualify as foreign.

[XvoorheesX]

I always thought it was language, but then I found out British films count as foreign, so I wasn't sure.
Thanks.

[A.J. Hakari]

I'd say any film made in or majorly financed by a country other than the one you live in is a foreign film. For example, RUN LOLA RUN would be as much of a foreign film to Japan as THE MATRIX RELOADED would be, and TRAINSPOTTING would be the same to the U.S. as THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE would be. That's just my take on the whole deal.

[Maeljin_incarna]

Originally posted by Adam J. Hakari
I'd say any film made in or majorly financed by a country other than the one you live in is a foreign film.
It matters not where it was filmed. It only matters what's its "country of origin" is (i.e. where the film company primarily intended to show the film). If that country is not your own, then the film is a foreign film to you. It's incorrect to think that if a movie is filmed in a foreign country, it's a foreign film. The Bourne Identity is an American film, no matter where it was filmed. Eurotrip is an American film. Braveheart is an American film. Check the end credits for a film's "country of origin".

This website revolves mostly around North American main stream movies (or at least movies that have run the North American circuit) so the Foreign Film Talk grouping of threads logically revolves around films foreign to the U.S. market.

[JCR]

Originally posted by Maeljin_incarna
It matters not where it was filmed. It only matters what's its "country of origin" is

That can still be quite complicated though- imdb list Dogville's country of origin as: Denmark / Sweden / France / Norway / Netherlands / Finland / Germany / Italy / Japan / USA / UK. (God knows how japan got involved; I can only assume a japanese company was involved with financing it). So who is dogville foreign too?

[Maeljin_incarna]

Originally posted by JCR
That can still be quite complicated though- imdb list Dogville's country of origin as: Denmark / Sweden / France / Norway / Netherlands / Finland / Germany / Italy / Japan / USA / UK. So who is dogville foreign too?
Yes, it can get quite complicated, but it might be easier than you think. If you own the movie on any media check the end of the end credits (the small print, Humane Society action and such) it should say something along the lines of "country of first publication" or "all material is protected by copyright laws of (somewhere)". This would be the "country of origin".

But I suppose it's possible that it won't say anything at the end. Older movies, for instance, have smaller credits sequences and would consequently be more difficult (or less, depending on the circumstance). Some modern indie films might not have extensive credits sequences, either.

And IMDb isn't always accurate, JCR. I've seen them make mistakes before.