Academy members who are voting in the Best International Feature Film category have been given 85 different films to consider, according to emails sent to voters on Friday and obtained by TheWrap.
The 85 films make up the smallest field in the category in nine years. Last year saw 88 qualifying films, after the total number of eligible films had topped 90 in five of the previous six years. The record was 93, set in 2000.
In late September, all prospective voters in the category received emails inviting them to vote in the international category and telling them that those who opted in would receive emails with their assigned viewing on Friday, Nov. 1. But those emails came a week early, going to prospective voters on Friday afternoon, Oct. 25, and separating the members into seven separate groups.
Each group was given a list of 12 or 13 films to view, either in the Academy’s members-only screening platform devoted to the category or in theaters. Voters must see every film in the group for their vote to count, but they are also encouraged to see as many films as they want outside their group.
Films were not separated randomly into the groups but were chosen to create a mixture of regions, genres and running times. Group 1, for instance, is the only group with 13 entries and contains five films from Europe (Albania, Estonia, Norway, Italy and Switzerland), three from South and Central America (Bolivia, Paraguay and Costa Rica), one from Africa (Algeria), three from Asia (Armenia, Cambodia and Malaysia) and one from the Middle East (Iraq).
The list of films that were assigned to voters is not necessarily the same as the final list of qualifying films, which the Academy will release at a later date. Occasionally, an assigned film will later be determined to be ineligible under the category’s rules, though in most cases there is no difference between the list of assigned films and the final list.
Four films that were publicized as being their country’s submissions are missing from the list of assigned films. Three of those were documentaries: China’s “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru,” Jordan’s “My Sweet Land” and Uruguay’s “The Door Is There.” Haiti’s “Kidnapping Inc.” was the fourth film announced as its country’s submission but that did not end up on any assignment lists.
First-round voting will take place from Dec. 9-13, with a shortlist of 15 films announced on Dec. 17. A second round of voting will narrow the 15 down to the final five nominees.
All of the eligible films will be placed in the Academy Screening Room devoted to the category, with new additions made every Friday. At the time the group assignments were made, 41 of the 85 titles were available in the screening room, though it did not contain such high-profile films as France’s “Emilia Perez,” Brazil’s “I’m Still Here,” Germany’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Italy’s “Vermiglio,” Mexico’s “Sujo,” Norway’s “Armand,” Portugal’s “Grand Tour,” Senegal’s “Dahomey” and the United Kingdom’s “Santosh.”
The highest-profile films that are available for voters to stream include Austria’s “The Devil’s Bath,” Belgium’s “Julie Keeps Quiet,” Bosnia and Herzegovina’s “My Late Summer,” Cambodia’s “Meeting With Pol Pot,” Canada’s “Universal Language,” Denmark’s “The Girl With the Needle,” Iceland’s “Touch,” Ireland’s “Kneecap,” Japan’s “Cloud,” Morocco’s “Everybody Loves Touda,” Latvia’s animated “Flow” and Palestine’s “From Ground Zero,” which is made up of 22 short films by directors who live in Gaza.
The available films are spread unevenly among the seven groups. Voters in Group 6, for example, only have two films available to them in the screening room, while voters in Group 3 and 4 have eight.
This year’s international race has fewer obvious favorites than in other recent years. Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” is the highest-profile entry and the default frontrunner, followed by “I’m Still Here” from director Walter Salles and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Mohammad Rasoulof.
Here is the list of films that have been assigned to voters in the Best International Feature Film category:
- Albania: “Waterdrop,” Robert Budina
- Algeria: “Algiers,” Chakib Taleb-Bendiab
- Argentina: “Kill the Jockey,” Luis Ortega
- Armenia: “Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev,” Edgar Baghdasaryan
- Austria: “The Devil’s Bath,” Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala
- Bangladesh: “The Wrestler,” Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury
- Belgium: “Julie Keeps Quiet,” Leonardo Van Dijl
- Bolivia: “Own Hand,” Rodrigo Gory Patino
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: “My Late Summer,” Danis Tanovic
- Brazil: “I’m Still Here,” Walter Salles
- Bulgaria: “Triumph,” Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
- Cambodia: “Meeting With Pol Pot,” Rithy Panh
- Cameroon: “Kismet,” Ngang Romanus
- Canada: “Universal Language,” Matthew Rankin
- Chile: “In Her Place,” Maite Alberdi
- Colombia: “La Suprema,” Felipe Holguin Caro
- Costa Rica: “Memories of a Burning Body,” Antonella Sudasassi
- Croatia: “Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day,” Ivona Juka
- Czech Republic: “Waves,” Jiri Madl
- Denmark: “The Girl with the Needle,” Magnus von Horn
- Dominican Republic: “Aire: Just Breathe,” Letitia Tonos
- Ecuador: “Behind the Mist,” Sebastian Cordero
- Egypt: “Flight 404,” Hani Khalifa
- Estonia: “8 Views of Lake Biwa,” Marko Raat
- Finland: “Family Time,” Tia Kouvo
- France: “Emilia Perez,” Jacques Audiard
- Georgia: “The Antique,” Rusudan Glurjidze
- Germany: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof
- Greece: “Murderess,” Eva Nathena
- Guatemala: “Rita,” Jayro Bustamante
- Hong Kong: “Twight of the Warriors: Walled In,” Soi Cheang
- Hungary: “Semmelweis,” Lajos Koltai
- Iceland: “Touch,” Baltasar Kormakur
- India: “Lost Ladies,” Kiran Rao
- Indonesia: “Women From Rote Island,” Jeremias Nyangoen
- Iran: “In the Arms of the Tree,” Babak Lotfi Khajepasha
- Iraq: “Baghdad Messi,” Sahim Omar Kalifa
- Ireland: “Kneecap,” Rich Peppiatt
- Israel: “Come Closer,” Tom Nesher
- Italy: “Vermiglio,” Maura Delpero
- Japan: “Cloud,” Kurosawa Kiyoshi
- Kazakhstan: “Bauryna Salu,” Askhat Kuchinchirekov
- Kenya: “Nawi,” Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin & Toby Schmutzler
- Kyrgyzstan: “Paradise at Mother’s Feet,” Rusian Akun
- Latvia: “Flow,” Gints Zilbalodis
- Lebanon: “Arze,” Mira Shaib
- Lithuania: “Drowning Dry,” Laurynas Bareisa
- Malaysia: “Abang Adik,” Jin Ong
- Malta: “Castillo,” Abigail Mallia
- Mexico: “Sujo,” Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez
- Mongolia: “If Only I Could Hibernate,” Zoljargal Purvedash
- Montenegro: “Supermarket,” Nemanja Becanovic
- Morocco: “Everybody Loves Touda,” Nabil Ayouch
- Nepal: “Shambhakam,” Min Bahadur Bham
- Netherlands: “Memory Lane,” Jelle de Jonge
- Nigeria: “Mai Martaba”
- Norway: “Armand,” Halfdan Ullman Tondel
- Pakistan: “The Glassworker,” Usman Riaz
- Palestine: “From Ground Zero,” Aws Al-Banna…
- Panama: “Wake Up Mom,” Arianne Benedetti
- Paraguay: “The Last,” Sebastian Pena Escobar
- Peru: “Yana-Wara,” Oscar Catacora and Tito Catacora
- Philippines: “And So It Begins,” Ramona S. Diaz
- Poland: “Under the Volcano,” Damian Kocur
- Portugal: “Grand Tour,” Miguel Gomes
- Romania : “Three Kilometres to the End of the World,” Emanuel Parvu
- Senegal: “Dahomey,” Mati Diop
- Serbia: “Russian Consul,” Miroslav Lekic
- Singapore: “La Luna,” M. Raihan Halim
- Slovakia: “The Hungarian Dressmaker,” Iveta Grofova
- Slovenia: “Family Therapy,” Sonja Prosenc
- South Africa: “Old Righteous Blues,” Muneera Sallies
- South Korea: “12.12: The Day,” Kim Sung-su
- Spain: “Saturn Return,” Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodriguez
- Sweden: “The Last Journey,” Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson
- Switzerland: “Queens,” Klaudia Reynicke
- Taiwan: “Old Fox,” Hsiao Ya-chuan
- Tajikistan: “Melody,” Behrous Sebt Rasoul
- Thailand: “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies,” Pat Boonnitipat
- Tunisia: “Take My Breath,” Nada Mezni Hafaiedh
- Turkey: “Life,” Zeki Demirkubuz
- Ukraine: “La Palisiada,” Philip Sotnychenko
- United Kingdom: “Santosh,” Sandhya Suri
- Venezuela: “Back to Life,” Luis Carlo Hueck and Alfredo Hueck
- Vietnam: “Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano,” Phi Tien Son
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