More than 50 countries have announced their submissions in the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film, putting that category on track to reach the 85-90 films that have typically qualified in recent years.
The entries with the highest profiles so far include Joachim Trier’s Cannes-winning “Sentimental Value” (Norway), Kleber Mendonca Filho’s “The Secret Agent” (Brazil), Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling” (Germany), Jasmila Zbanic’s “Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny” (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Laszlo Nemes’ “Orphan” (Hungary), the Dardenne brothers’ “Young Mothers” (Belgium), Simon Mesa Soto’s “A Poet” (Colombia), Hiynur Palmason’s “The Love That Remains” (Iceland), Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake” (Iraq), Cherin Dabis’ “All That’s Left of You” (Jordan), Maryam Touzani’s “Calle Malaga” (Morocco), Tamara Kotseva’s “The Tale of Silyan” (North Macedonia), Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine 36” (Palestine), Lav Diaz’s “Magellan” (Portugal), Agnieszka Holland’s “Franz” (Poland), Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” (South Korea), Petra Volpe’s “Late Shift” (Switzerland), Shih-Ching Tsou’s “Left Handed Girl” (Taiwan), Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s “A Useful Ghost” (Thailand) and Kaouther Ben Hania’s “The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia).
Trier, Zbanic, Kotseva, Holland and Ben Hania have made films that have been nominated in the category in the past, while Nemes has won, with 2015’s “Son of Saul.”
France has yet to announce its submission, but its Oscar selection board has narrowed the choice to five films, including Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident” and Richard Linklater’s Godard homage “Nouvelle Vague,” either of which would immediately join “Sentimental Value,” “The Secret Agent,” “No Other Choice” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab” as potential frontrunners.
On Monday, the Academy emailed members encouraging them to participate in the first round of voting in the category and announcing that it will hold in-person screenings of the 15 shortlisted finalists in Los Angeles, New York and London.
As the body of voters grew more international and viewing increasingly moved to the Academy’s members-only viewing portal, in-person screenings of all the eligible films had been discontinued. Screenings of the 15 shortlisted films had remained, but the email warned that members must show up if they want those screenings to continue.
The email from Dilcia Barrera, an AMPAS senior VP of member relations, global outreach and awards administration, said, in part, “Over the last few years, these in-person shortlist screenings have experienced low attendance. We encourage all International Feature Film Award voters to join us for these screenings, as we may not be able to continue them if attendance does not improve.”
This year, Michèle Ohayon and Wanuri Kahiu will serve as the International Feature Film Award Executive Committee Co-Chairs for this Oscar season, marking the first time in the position for either of them. Ohayon is a member of the Documentary Branch whose films include “Colors Straight Up,” “It Was a Wonderful Life” and “Cowboy Del Amor,” while Kahiu is a filmmaker from Kenya who has directed “From a Whisper” and “Rafiki,” among others.
Beginning on Oct. 10, Academy members will be able to opt-in to cast ballots in the initial round of voting, which will narrow the field from the dozens of entries to a 15-film shortlist. By Friday, Oct. 24, those who chose to participate will receive a group assignment and a list of films they must see, which typically numbers 12 or 13.
Also beginning on Oct. 10, submitted films will begin to be placed in a special section on the Academy Screening Room portal, with members required to see all of the films assigned to their group in order for their vote to count. They are also encouraged to see as many films from other groups as they can.
Once the 15-film shortlist is announced on Dec. 16, voting in the nomination round will be open to any Academy member who sees all 15 of the shortlisted films, either in-person or on the viewing portal.
Here is the list of films that have been submitted and announced so far. Inclusion on this list does not mean that the Academy has vetted the film to make sure that it meets AMPAS rules with its release dates and amount of creative input from the submitting country.
Armenia: “My Armenian Phantoms,” Tamara Stepanyan
Austria: “Peacock,” Bernhard Wenger
Azerbaijan: “Taghiyev: Oil,” Zaur Gasimli
Belgium: “Young Mothers,” Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Bosnia and Herezegovina: “Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny,” Jasmila Zbanic
Brazil: “The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonca Filho
Bulgaria: “Tarika,” Milko Lazarov
Cambodia: “Tenement,” Inrasothythep Neth and Sokyou Chea
Canada: “The Things You Kill,” Alireza Khatami
Chile: “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” Diego Cespedes
Colombia: “A Poet,” Simon Mesa Soto
Costa Rica: “The Altar Boy, the Priest and the Gardener,” Juan Manuel Fernandez
Croatia: “Fiume o morte!” Igor Bezinovic
Czech Republic: “I’m Not Everything I Want to Be,” Klara Tasovska
Dominican Republic: “Pepe,” Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias
Ecuador: “Chuzalongo,” Diego Ortuno
Egypt: “Happy Birthday,” Sarah Goher
Estonia: “Rolling Papers,” Meel Paliale
Finland: “100 Litres of Gold,” Teemu Nikki
Georgia: “Panopticon,” George Sikharulidze
Germany: “Sound of Falling,” Mascha Schilinski
Hungary: “Orphan,” Laszlo Nemes
Iceland: “The Love That Remains,” Hiynur Palmason
Indonesia: “Sore: Wife From the Future,” Yandy Laurens
Iran: “Cause of Death: Unknown,” Ali Zarnegar
Iraq: “The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi
Ireland: “Sanatorium,” Gar O’Rourke
Israel: “The Sea,” Shai Carmeli-Pollak
Japan: “Kokuho,” Lee Sang-il
Jordan: “All That’s Left of You,” Cherin Dabis
Latvia: “Dog of God,” Lauris Abele and Raitis Abele
Montenegro: “The Tower of Strength,” Nikola Vukcevic
Morocco: “Calle Malaga,” Maryam Touzani
Netherlands: “Reedland,” Sven Bresser
North Macedonia: “The Tale of Silyan,” Tamara Kotseva
Norway: “Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier
Palestine: “Palestine 36,” Annemarie Jacir
Panama: “Beloved Tropic,” Ana Endara
Papua New Guinea: “Papa Buka,” Bijukumar Damodaran
Paraguay: “Under the Flags, the Sun,” Juanjo Pereira
Peru: “Motherland,” Marco Panatonic
Philippines: “Magellan,” Lav Diaz
Poland: “Franz,” Agnieszka Holland
Portugal: “Banzo, Margarida Cardoso
Romania: “Traffic,” Teodora Mihai
Slovakia: “Father,” Tereza Nvotova
Slovenia: “Little Trouble Girls,” Urška Djukić
South Korea: “No Other Choice,” Park Chan-wook
Sweden: “Eagles of the Republic,” Tarik Saleh
Switzerland: “Late Shift,” Petra Volpe
Taiwan: “Left-Handed Girl,” Shih-Ching Tsou
Thailand: “A Useful Ghost,” Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
Tunisia: “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Kaouther Ben Hania
Turkey: “One of Those Days When Hemme Dies,” Murat Firatoglu
Ukraine: “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” Mstyslav Chernov
Uruguay: “Don’t You Let Me Go,” Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge
