Intl' Oscar Updates: Bulgaria, Chile, Palestine, Philippines, Spain
Monday, August 18, 2025 at 10:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Baby, Best International Feature, Best International Film, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Fares Fares, Gael García Bernal, Oscars (25), Spain, The Philippines, The Secret Agent

by Nathaniel R

Multiple but brief International Oscar updates for you this fine Monday morning. We'd previously discussed the possibilities from Switzerland and three finalists from Czech Republic. Both countries have now made their decisions. Switzerland is going with The Late Shift, a hospital drama starring Leonie Benesch (September 5, Babylon Berlin). Czech Republic refused the recommendation from their Academy (which was trying to steer their votes to a different film) and went with the experimental documentary I'm Not Everything I Want To Be by Klára Tasovská which focuses on a photographer that's considered the 'Czech Nan Goldin.'

But that's not all...

BULGARIA
(36 submissions | 0 nominations | + 1 finalist)
Bulgaria has yet to be nominated. This year they've chosen Tarika from director Milko Lazarov, which is a drama with supernatural / superstititous (?) elements centered around a father and his gifted daughter who is not accepted by their town. (Lazarov was previously submitted in 2019 for Aga.) 

 

PALESTINE
(18 submissions | 2 nominations | + 1 additional finalist)
Palestine has selected a historical drama Palestine '36 , written and directed by Annemarie Jacir (who was the first Palestinian woman to direct a feature film back in the Aughts), which is set for a Gala presentation at TIFF. It's about the inevitable collision of Jewish immigrants, British colonial rule, and Palestinians. This is the fourth time Palestine has submitted a film by Jacir after 2008's Salt of the Sea (her debut), 2012's When I Saw You, and her most celebrated feature to date 2017's Wajib. This makes her Palestine's most frequently submitted director. That honor previously belonged to Hany Abu-Assad with three submissions - he was nominated twice for Paradise Now and Omar)

And now other longlist updates...

CHILE
(29 submissions | 2 nominations | 1 win | + 1 additional finalist) 
They will probably be announcing this month but for now we know that there's a shortlist of six films that the Academia de Cine is choosing between: 

Given its Camera D'Or win in May, we suspect they'll choose Diego Céspedes's The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo. On the other hand sometimes countries opt for directors who have been successful before so it could be Lelio's The Wave, since he won the category for A Fantastic Woman (and should have received another nomination for Gloria, which was also submitted and later remade less successfully in English.  

PHILIPPINES
(34 submissions)
Despite trying once before this was even a regular competitive category (when it was an Honorary Oscar form) and regularly since, they've been unlucky with / unfavored by Oscar voters. We keep hoping it will turn around for them (see also the plight of Portugal). They have a shortlist of seven films they're considering...

Green Bones will be the choice if its multiple Festival wins are indication of general home country enthusiasm. On the other hand, Magellan is from Lav Diaz who is easily the most well known auteur here. He's only been submitted once previously (Norte, The End of History for 2014). Will they try again? Magellan has the campaign advantage (if submitted) of a well-loved familiar face in the titular role. That'd be Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal who is a major star in the annals of this category. Consider...

International Submissions Starring Gael Garcia Bernal
2000 - Amores Perros (Mexico) - NOMINEE, and the actor's feature film debut
2002 - The Crime of Father Amaro (Mexico) - NOMINEE
2010 - Even the Rain (Spain) - finalist
2012 - No (Chile) - NOMINEE
2016 - Neruda (Chile) - not selected
         -Desierto (Mexico) - not selected

Other Nominated Films Starring Gael Garcia Bernal
2002 - Y Tu Mama Tambien - Best Original Screenplay Nominee
2004 - Motorcycle Diaries - Best Original Song Winner / Best Adapted Screenplay Nominee
2006 - Babel - 7 nominations including Best Picture / Best Score Winner
2017 - Coco - Best Animated Feature Winner

Gael Garcia Bernal stars as "MAGELLAN"

Only nine actors have appeared in more than three nominated films in the International Feature category, so if Bernal lands one more he'll be in the top ten. Those actors are: Ricardo Darin (Argentina) Catherine Deneuve (France), Gerard Depardieu (France), Vittoria Gassman (Italy), Isabelle Huppert (France), Mads Mikkelsen (Denmark), Marcello Mastroianni (Italy), Philippe Noiret (France), and Max Von Sydow (Sweden). 

 

SPAIN
(67 submissions | 21 nominations | 4 wins | + 3 additional finalists)

The following list is not a "finalist list" but merely the 23 films that have registered for the Oscar competition to represent Spain. Spain always announces a finalist list of three films before making their official selection but we know those three will come from the following list. It's too many films to discuss in depth so we're just highlighting three films that are either from previously submitted directors OR that already have significant critical buzz... 

My early hunch is Sirat but who knows. Spain's Goya Awards take place in February so they won't give us any clues as we'll already know the submission by the time nominations are announced. Last season the Goya was for best film was a tie between the bus hijacking drama The 47 and the thriller The Undercover but one of the losing nominees, the music drama Saturn Return, was their Oscar submission. 

 

SWEDEN
(64 submissions | 16 nominations | 3 wins | + 4 additional finalists)

Sweden, which was Oscar's favourite Nordic country in the 20th century (largely thanks to three repeatedly nominated filmmakers - Ingmar Bergman, Bo Widerberg, and Jan Troell), has taken a backseat to neighboring Denmark in the 21st century. Sweden was last nominated for Ruben Ostlund's The Square (2017) before that auteur went on to even more Oscar love for his English language satire Triangle of Sadness.  Sweden will choose between the following three pictures for the 98th Oscars:

They will announce their choice late this month. 

BRAZIL
(54 submissions | 5 noms | 1 win | + 1 additional finalist)
Brazil finally won the category, after a long drought, with last year's Best Picture / Best Actress contender I'm Still Here. What will they choose in its afterglow? Brazil will select six finalists (by September 5) and then a submission (by September 15) but sixteen films are eligible. We've highlighted a few of them due to buzz and/or previous Oscar submission adjacency: 

We think the submission is likely to be The Secret Agent given its Cannes success and that Mendonça Filho is a very well regarded auteur.

At this point, though, I have seen just one of these, Baby. It's a true gem for fans of LGBTQ+ cinema and you can rent it in the US. Baby is well structured and economical (107 minutes) and always involving. The titular character is "Wellington", an essentially orphaned 18 year-old, just released from juvenile prison. When he discovers his mother has moved out of the city he takes up with an older male prostitute (a great performance from Ricardo Teodoro) who shows him 'the business' so to speak, and a romantic relationship evolves from there.

 

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