International Oscar: new submissions and the "english language" problem again
Saturday, November 21, 2020 at 10:00AM We now have a total of 66 submissions for Oscar's Best International Feature competition. Here are the new submissions since our last overview roundup.
- Brazil -Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (Brazil & Oscar)
- Chile -The Mole Agent - now streaming on Hulu
- Colombia -Forgotten We'll Be
- Denmark -Another Round (EFA Nominee | Denmark & Oscar)
- Dominican Republic - A State of Madness
- Finland -Tove
- France -Two of Us (France & Oscar)
- Jordan -200 Meters
- Kyrgyzstan -Running to the Sky
- Latvia -Blizzard of Souls
- Suriname -Wiren (FIRST SUBMISSION!)
- Tunisia - The Man Who Sold His Skin
- Uzbekistan - 2000 Songs of Farida
In addition to the 66 titles already announced we have finalist lists for Italy, Nepal, and Serbia on the respective Oscar charts.
ELSEWHERE
We have begun to hear rumors that Canada's Funny Boy which hits Netflix on December 10th is mostly in the English language so if that's true it might be disqualified from the category (this has happened to several films in the past). Films have to be less than 50% English language in their dialogue to be eligible. The only exception the Academy has made is that they've now approved "Pidgin English" ostensibly to make it easier for certain African countries to submit after Nigeria and Austria's entries, both featuring Nigerians were disqualified last year. But Pidgin English is a broad term so we don't know how lenient they'll start being given this new ruling.Trailers rarely paint the whole truth about a movie but the trailer to Funny Boy is ENTIRELY in what sounds like traditional English.
WHERE TO SEE THE MOVIES?
If you want to get a jump on some of the submissions 12 of the 65 titles are streaming or will be soon. Netflix has six of them: Austria's What We Wanted, Mexico's I'm No Longer Here, Spain's The Endless Trench, Taiwan's A Sun, Turkey's Miracle in Cell No 7, and on December 10th, Canada's Funny Boy. You can also stream Chile's The Mole Agent on Hulu, Guatemala's La Llorona on Amazon, Indonesia's Impetigore is on Shudder or Roku, Lithuania's Nova Lituania on MUBI, and South Korea's Man Standing Next on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. Denmark's Another Round, which feels like a likely nominee or at least finalist arrives in December in both theaters and on VOD. You can follow the list as it grows at our Oscar charts or on our Letterboxd list.
Reader Comments (11)
Purely based on its poster, The Mole Agent apparently is a 1980s made-for-TV murder mystery, and I want to see it right now.
Okay, so now that I read that it actually is a documentary about a private detective who hires an octogenarian to go undercover into a nursery home to investigate claims of abuse, I *definitely* want to see it right now.
The Mole Agent is on Hulu & Hoopla.
Is Portugal's LISTEN more than 50% in English language?
Ed -- LISTEN might have the same trouble as FUNNY BOY, yes. There is reportedly a lot of English in it.
The Lithuanian movie is on Mubi.
It's not good at all.
Ed & Nathaniel -- LISTEN has a lot of English in it, but there's a good portion of British Sign Language and Portuguese too. The matter of language is quite central to the film as you see the levels of assimilation of the family through their accent and ability to speak English. The father doesn't seem fluent, but the mother speaks it well, though with a thick accent. The eldest child has a British accent and has to be reminded by his dad to speak in Portuguese inside the house.
Later on, social services demand the characters speak in English as there are no available interpreters for Portuguese or BSL. It'll be weird if the picture's disqualified when the abundance of English dialogue is, in a way, something that's forcedly imposed on the characters against their wishes.
All that being said, I wish the Portuguese Academy had selected the poetic VITALINA VARELA, as I find it much superior to Ana Rocha's attempt at galvanizing social realism. When asked through facebook they did say they'll submit another of the four finalists if LISTEN is deemed ineligible by AMPAS.
The Mole Agent is absolutely wonderful and I'd wholly recommend it. I'm not sure what the Doc branch will think of it because it's formally quite strange, but I think it could easily be shortlisted in Best International Film because of how emotionally affecting it is.
@Cláudio Alves
VITALINA VARELA is a masterpiece, indeed - and it is my favorite movie from the Portuguese TOP 4 shortlist. VV > LISTEN > MOSQUITO > PATRICK
But I believe the Academy made a smart choice: VV is amazing as a arthouse masterpiece, but LISTEN feels more crowd-pleasing. It's like a brains vs. heart battle, but I believe LISTEN will be able to deliver a big emotional punch if AMPAS members watch it.
The thing is... I think VV would do well with US critics prizes.
I've seen 14 submissions so far
.
The worst (by FAR): Ivory Coast
Bad (like REALLY bad): Denmark and Costa Rica
Mediocre but acceptable: Greece
Better but nothing interesting: Lesotho, Sudan, Slovenia and France
Good: Mexico, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Norway
Very good: Bosnia and Russia
It's amazing to see the diversity of submissions to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film. Each film represents a unique narrative and cinematic perspective from a different country. It is incredibly gratifying to see Suriname's first submission with "Wiren" adding to the global representation. However, one recurring challenge is the "English language" issue, with some non-English language films facing problems gaining recognition and accessibility. As an international student, this problem is very close to my heart. I was supported by this source https://essays.edubirdie.com/english-assignment-help which helped me at the right time to overcome the difficulty of some assignments. I am sure that some education and the use of such services could help foreign filmmakers communicate their narratives more effectively.