For Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Nicole Gellman, who has not seen Canada’s nomination, “Incendies,” a win would be an important distinguishing event for a country whose media has been completely hijacked by American television and movies.

“I’ve lived in Windsor, Ontario, Canada all my life, and I’ve grown up with mainstream Hollywood movies,” Gellman said. “Canadian movies and television shows are few and far between. I honestly don’t think that I could name a Canadian movie off the top of my head; I’m certain that I’ve seen more foreign films from France or Spain than I have from Canada.”

For Gellman, Canadian influences in cinema are limited to the actors and actresses with whom Americans are already familiar.

“I know Canadian actors well,” she said. “We have Jim Carrey and Kiefer Sutherland and many other amazing actors, but I don’t differentiate between Canadian and American films. I’m sure that it’s because our media has become so Americanized.”

Nominations like “Incendies” emphasize the obscurity of the guidelines by which countries choose their Oscar film nominations. Though its director and producers are Canadian, its plot centers around two Lebanese siblings returning to the Middle East in search of the truth about their mother’s role in the Lebanese Civil War.

Do countries select the movies that are most popular, or do they focus on the ratings they have received? Should a nomination be a celebration of the culture and people of its home country, or an outstanding presentation highlighting the skills of its directors and producers?

With the swelling popularity of American blockbuster movies made possible by Hollywood’s extravagant budgets, the disparity in foreign cinema between supporters and viewers becomes starkly apparent. Despite the fact that foreign producers and directors receive strong general encouragement for their efforts to expand the influence of non-American cinema, the fact remains that the films they create acquire more moral support than actual audience traffic.

While some hope exists that this trend can be reversed through international exposure from awards like the Oscars, moviegoers’ actions suggest that seeing competitive cultural relevance in foreign films requires a fundamental shift in the public’s perception of modern media — something that a press boost and a golden statuette alone can’t provide.