The Film Experience

Three more countries are nearing their decisions: Netherlands, Switzerland, and Israel. The first two have won the category before but Israel remains the most-nominated country that's never taken this Oscar. Let's look at the posisble contenders from each after the jump...

NETHERLANDS (57 submissions | 7 nominations | 3 wins | 3 additional finalists)
The Dutch will select their Oscar submission in early September but they've already revealed the eight finalists for that honor. Their peak, Oscar-wise was from the mid 80s to late 90s (all three wins and their most famous disqualification -- the terrifying thriller The Vanishing -- happened in a 12 year stretch). Only one of the films is from a previously submitted director and he won at the tail end of Netherlands hot streak in 1997. The submission will be one of these films:

Alpha. by Jan-Willem van Ewijk
A father son drama/adventure set in the snow-capped mountains. (Not to be confused with Julia Ducornau's Cannes title of the same name.)
Fabula by Michiel ten Horn
A drama about a small time criminal and a drug deal gone bad
Live for Me by Mark de Cloe
A terminally ill Dutch girl offers his place in the country to his best friend who is to be deported
Our Girls by Mike van Diem
Van Diem won the Oscar for his home country in something of a surprise (at the time) for Character (1997). He has not been a prolific director since. In his new film, chaos ensues between two longtime couples during an Alps vacation.
The Propagandist by Luuk Bouwman
A documentary about a Dutch Nazi filmmaker
Reedland by Sven Bresser
This directorial feature debut (which premiered in the Critics Week competition at Cannes) is about a reedcutter who discovers a girls dead body on his property.
The System by Joris Postema
A documentary about fear and people working for a liveable future
Three Days of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn
A dramedy about a father and son reunion in Rotterdam. It's the most awarded of these eight films (so far) having picked up prizes at multiple festivals.

What's your favourite Dutch film? I admit I am not well versed in their cinema beyond Paul Verhoerven.

SWITZERLAND (52 submissions | 5 nominations | 2 wins | 3 additional finalists)
Switzerland seems to have been inadvertently Oscar-cursed ever since the Academy stupidly disqualified Three Colors: Red back in 1994. In fact, they haven't been nominated since the Oscar-winning Journey of Hope (1990) thirty-five years ago. Will their new selection break the curse? They're deciding between...

Hanami by Denise Fernandes
The dream like drama about an abandoned child on a volcanic isle has been winning Best New Director style prizes at various festivals.
Late Shift by Petra Volpe
A medical drama about a nurse (Leonie Benesch of September 5, The Teacher's Lounge, and Babylon Berlin fame) on an intense shift. It's been praised for its cinematography. Volpe was previously submitted for The Divine Order (2017).
The Safe House by Lionel Baier
This drama is about a 10 year old boy who was hidden at his grandparents house during the events of May 1968. It premiered at Berlinale earlier this year. Baier has been considered by Switzerland for previous films like Continental Drift (South) and Vanity but he's yet to be chosen.

ISRAEL (57 submissions | 10 nominations | 0 wins | 1 additional finalist)
Israel automatically sends their Ophir Award Best Film winner (their Oscar equivalent) unless its ineligible for some reason. Here are their five Best Film nominees which are neatly an even split between female and male directors!

Dead Language (12 Ophir nods) by Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
The directors are husband and wife and were previously Oscar-nominated for the short film Aya (2012). This feature is an expansion on that short about a foreign man who mistakes a woman for being his driver at the airport -- she doesn't rush to correct him. Danish star Ulrich Thomsen (The Celebration) and Sarah Adler as "Aya" reprise their roles from that short. So there's Oscar history already should it win the Ophir and become Israel's submission... though perhaps there's too much English language here? In English and Hebrew.
Nandauri (9 Ophir nods) by Eti Tsicko.
This one is about an Israeli lawyer (Neta Riskin) visiting Georgia with the intention of bringing an 11 year old boy back to Israel. In Georgian, Hebrew, and English.
Oxygen (8 Ophir nods) by Netali Braun
This is about a mother (Dana Ivgy, who has two Best Actress nods this year -- she's already won thrice) going to extreme lengths to prevent her son from being deployed in the war. It won Best Picture at ther Jerusalem film festival earlier this year. In Hebrew.
The Sea (13 Ophir nods) by Shai Carmeli-Pollak
Possibly the frontrunner for the Ophir Awards given that it leads the nominations. The drama is about a 12 year old Palestinian boy (Muhammad Gazawi, up for Best Actor) who sneaks into Israel to visit the beach for the first time. In Arabic and Hebrew.
Yes (8 Ophir nods) by Nadav Lapid
Lapid is the most internationally well known of these five directors with critical successes like The Kindergarten Teacher (2014), Synonyms (2019) and Ahad's Knee (2021) behind him. His latest is a contemporary piece -- said to be a Fellini-esque critique on the Israeli government -- about a musician (Ariel Bronz) and dancer (Efrat Dor) and the composition of a new national anthem after the October 7 attacks. Yes premiered at Cannes this past summer. In Hebrew

None of these directors have won Best Film at the Ophirs so none have been submitted by Israel in the past. Israeli has had two hot streaks in this category, first in the early 1970s (four nominations across 71-77) and then again in the late Aughts (four nominations from 2007-2011) but Oscar voting hasn't gone their way since. What is your favourite Israeli film? I'd go with Late Marriage (2001) or The Band's Visit (2007) the former sadly snubbed by the Oscars, the other disqualified because of the amount of English language in it.

Which films do you think these countries will submit?