The First Oscar Eligibility Lists are Here!
Friday, November 22, 2024 at 6:00PM
Cláudio Alves in Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary, Best Documentary Feature, Best International Feature, Best International Film, List Mania, Oscars (24), animated films, documentaries, foreign films

by Cláudio Alves

PIECE BY PIECE is the only film competing in both the ANIMATED and DOCUMENTARY Oscar races.

At long last, AMPAS has started divulging its eligibility lists for the 97th Academy Awards. As is usual, the first categories to be announced are the special feature races – Animated, Documentary, and International Film (click on each category to see their prediction pages). This year, 31 cartoons vie for the Oscar, while 167 docs form the non-fiction race. In Best International Feature Film, this year has 85 official submissions. This state of affairs differs from some of the earlier reports that pointed toward 89 films contending, but we're used to many disqualifications. It's a steep decline from the past few years, and it's the first time since 2018 that the number of total submissions is below 90. We have to go back to 2015, with 82 nations competing, to find a year with even fewer films in contention.

You can read more about such trivia in Nathaniel's extensive two-part overview of the Best International Film race. Still, I added some additional trivia for all three categories in this write-up. Find out more after the jump…

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

 

Seven films are French productions or co-productions, though Japanese is the most spoken language after English. In total, six works of anime are included. 

There are two documentaries on this list - Piece by Piece and Sultana's Dream. Only the Pharrell Williams biopic-like Lego doc is eligible in the Best Documentary Feature race. 

Eight actors appear in two films. They are Eric Bauza, Brian Cox, Laraine Newman, Bill Nighy, Ikue Otani, John Ratzenberger, Ving Rhames, and Gedde Watanabe. 

Composer John Powell is one of the few major creative minds behind two films on this list. He worked on the scores for both That Christmas and Thelma the Unicorn. 

Having had its world premiere at last year's Berlinale, Art College 1994 is the oldest of these films. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is the newest release, opening on December 5th.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is the longest film in contention, at 130 minutes. With only 58 minutes, Look Back is the shortest.

On Letterboxd, Inside Out 2 is the most popular title, while Rocket Club is the most obscure. Look Back is the best-rated of the films, while The Garfield Movie has the lowest score.

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

 

 

 

After Anglophone countries, France is the nation most represented in this list, with 13 productions or co-productions competing. However, Spanish is the most common spoken language after English.

Five directors have two films in contention. Alexis Bloom directed The Bibi Files and Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg. R.J. Cutler directed Elton John: Never Too Late and Martha. Asif Kapadia directed Federer: Twelve Final Days and 2073. Jesse Moss directed Girls State and War Game. Finally, Jeff Zimbalist directed How to Come Alive and Skywalkers: A Love Story.

Looking at the various crews that worked in these films, it's worth pointing out that various cinematographers shot at least two contenders. Martina Radwan, however, shot three – Food and Country, Girls State, and One Person, One Vote.

Greenwich Entertainment is the most represented studio, with ten films in contention. Impact Partners is in second place with six. Regarding major studios or distributors, NEON takes the cake with Bad Actor, Seeking Mavis Bacon and 2073.

Weirdly enough, though the Golden Globes have no Documentary category, Am I Racist? Will vie for the Best Picture – Musical or Comedy prize.

Soundtrack to a Coup d'État is the longest film at 150 minutes, while Jewel of the Desert is the shortest, with a runtime of only 60 minutes.

Frank Miller: American Genius had its world premiere in the festival circuit back on October 22nd, 2021, making it the oldest release contending for the Oscar. Blind Spot, which will have its premiere on November 24th, is the newest contender.

On Letterboxd, Will & Harper is the most popular title, while Resurgo Detroit is the most obscure. In terms of ratings, No Other Land is the most acclaimed, while 2073 has the harshest reviews of all.

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

 

Though this category is meant to honor non-American and non-English-speaking cinema, some American funding and English dialogue can show up. Eight films are American co-productions, while four have substantial dialogue in English. Though, not enough to disqualify the films.

Spanish is the most common language, being represented in 13 films. Arabic comes next, with seven films.

In terms of international co-productions, France is king with 18 contenders. ARTE France Cinéma alone was involved in five films – Brazil's I'm Still Here, Germany's The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Lithuania's Flow, Senegal's Dahomey, and Spain's Saturn Return.

Only one actor appears in more than one official submission. He is Svetozar Cvetković, a Serbian actor who stars in Croatia's Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day and Serbia's Russian Consul.

There are six documentaries in contention. They are Ecuador's Behind the Mist, Palestine's From Ground Zero, Paraguay's The Last Ones, the Philippines' And So it Begins, Senegal's Dahomey, and Sweden's The Last Journey. All of them are also eligible in the Best Documentary Feature race.

Latvia's Flow and Pakistan's The Glassworker are the only animated films submitted this year. They are both eligible in the Best Animated Feature category.

Turkey's Life is the longest contender with 193 minutes, while Senegal's Dahomey is the shortest, with only 68 minutes of run time.

With its world premiere dating back to January last year, Iraq's Baghdad Messi is the oldest contender, while Chile's In Her Place is the newest. The latter had its world premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival on September 22nd.

On Letterboxd, Brazil's I'm Still Here is both the best-reviewed and most popular submission. In contrast, Nigeria's Mai Martaba is the most obscure while Vietnam's Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano has the worst average rating.

 

If you are on Letterboxd, I uploaded all of these eligibility lists – Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best International Feature Film. How many flicks have you watched from each? And what are your favorites?

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