Latin American happenings in the Oscar submission realm
Monday, September 9, 2019 at 7:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Ema, Gael GarcĂ­a Bernal, Latin American Cinema, Mexico, Oscars (19), The Chambermaid, The Good Girls, Too Late To Die Young

by Nathaniel R

In the heat of festival season we're also getting continued news about the Oscar race for Best International Feature. In terms of South America we'd already heard about submissions from the Dominican Republic (The Projectionist), Ecuador (The Longest Night which is sometimes referred to as Mala Noche), Panama (Everybody Changes), and Uruguay (The Moneychangers). There are three more already announced that will likely have higher profiles due to familiar actors. Colombia has Monos starring Julianne Nicholson, Cuba has A Translator starring Rodrigo Santoro and of course there's Brazil's Un Certain Regard-winning melodrama The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao which feels like a probable finalist / possible nominee. It's very moving and accessible and Fernanda Montenegro (of Central Station fame) adds a last boost of melancholy and nostalgia to it in terms of Brazilian cinema and Oscar affections. To add to that stack of films we've just learned that Bolivia will submit the gay drama Tu Me Manques (I Miss You) which is based on a hit stage play about a father visiting the boyfriend of his dead son in New York City. It recently won the screenwriting award at OutFest. The director Rodrigo Bellott was submitted once before for his artsy college film Sexual Dependency (2003). The film stars Oscar Martinez (Wild Tales) as the estranged father, Fernando Barbosa as his son's boyfriend, and features Rossy de Palma who is, of course, beloved from many Almodóvar pictures.

After the jump the finalists announced for both Chile and Mexico. Which films will they choose we wonder...

CHILE'S FINALISTS

 

Pablo Larraín, one of the two most famous Chilean filmmakers (the other being Sebastian Lelio), has been submitted by the Mexican Academy four times to date, and nominated with No (2012), so we have to think that Ema has the automatic edge (we're seeing it very soon). Andrés Wood has also been chosen once (Violeta, 2011), but the other three directors would be first time submissions.  UPDATE 9/10: They have officially chosen SPIDER this year. 

MEXICO'S FINALISTS

Mexico finally won the Oscar last season with Roma on their 9th nomination. Interestingly, due to different eligibility requirements and release dates, two of Roma's chief competitors for Mexico's own Oscars the Ariels, The Chambermaid (currently in US release) and The Good Girls, could be submitted this year. The other titles are more mysterious to us though.

 

Of these filmmakers only Sebastian del Amo has been submitted before (Catinflas, 2014) though Gael García Bernal, in the director's chair for Chicuarotes, is of course well known to Hollywood and the Academy for his many great performances in front of the camera and starring roles in various Oscar nominated films.  

Oscar charts in foreign film

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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