The Oscar for International Feature has temporary rule changes!

This just in, courtesy of Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter, the rules are changing for this specific Oscar year in terms of the Best International Feature Race. While members are still required to watch a certain number of the nominees in order to vote in the first round as in past years, this year that number is 12, anyone in the Academy can do it which is a change from past years where you had to be part of specific volunteer committees. The concerning part is that the Executive Committee aren't doing their three film "save" this year. Usually they choose 3 of the 10 finalists. We know that process has drastically improved the quality of the nominees; the proof is in the pudding and the nominated shortlists have been delicious ever since. This year instead of the Executive Committee save, they're merely expanding the finalist list so the top 15 vote getting films will advance to the finals (yes, we'll update the prediction chart tomorrow to reflect this) from which the 5 nominees will be chosen.

The Executive Committee is expected to return to their "save" duties next year. Though judging on THR's intel it sounds like the change from 10 to 15 finalists will be permanent so how many of those the EC will be able to pick for 2021/2022 ... who knows?  

Interesting or scary? A little of both. We love the idea of 15 finalists (that's how many documentary gets and we like symmetry) but no executive committee worries us. What do you make of this decision? Sound off in the comments. And make sure to check out our plentiful coverage on this race including the Oscar submission charts, the list of where to see the films, looks at the directors who made them, and note the familiar actors who are starring in them. More reviews and a few interviews are coming soon.

International Oscar Race Pt 3: More than you need to know about the directors!

by Nathaniel R

In past years we've broken the International Feature Oscar category down into lots of different articles but we should probably calm down. So herewith the lists we usually provide in several articles in a more condensed all-in-one format! 93 films are competing for the nomination in this category. Given the field, consider this a year for fresh voices. Only eight countries (Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iran, Italy, Mongolia, North Macedonia, Russia) chose directors who have previously helmed Oscar-nominated or finalist films. Since we've already covered the previously Oscar-honored directors, let's look at the others.

We'll divvy it up into three categories: debuts, female directors, and the rest of the field. 

THE DEBUT DIRECTORS LIST

Amjad Abu Alala (You Will Die at 20 for Sudan)
Sudan's first-ever Oscar submission comes from a first-time director. He previously worked as a producer. 

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International Oscar Race Pt 2: Movie Stars, genres, and stats

by Nathaniel R

We aim to maintain our title of 'the site that gives you the most when it comes to Oscar's Best International Feature Film race.' Nevertheless, even if we aren't that anymore with all the corporate sites and the indies now covering the race, at least we were influential in popularizing the coverage! That's a legacy we're proud of.

Speaking of popular. How many of the films have stars that movie-savvy folks will recognize? Let's look at the international stars with fanbases outside their home countries (and other areas of trivia interest) after the jump...

Submissions with internationally-familiar stars

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International Oscar Race Pt 1: The Contenders List and where to see them

Listen up Oscar fans and international cinema aficioniados. We'd been holding off on this three part deep dive into the list of titles vying for Best International Feature Film until the Academy's announcement. Sadly we hear through the grapevine that they're not actually making this list "official" until very late in January. In other words, less than two weeks after they announce the 90 plus titles, they'll be cutting most of them when the finalist list of ten is announced on February 9th. This is no way to treat the movies, giving them such a tiny window of "official" attention. So we're sharing the list of 93 titles (a record) now and doing our deep dive now... with the caveat that one or two titles might change in late January when the Academy makes this official. If things do change we'll republish the list and the articles then. If they don't, we can just link back. 

NOTES ON THIS LIST: For more details on the films like genre, plot, running time, directors, please see the corresponding Oscar charts linked below. If we've reviewed or written about the movie itself or the country's Oscar history, it's linked below. If the title has a * by it, that means it's got an arguably high profile going into the screenings / voting period (though that's no guarantee of a nomination) by way of either its filmmaking team, noisy campaign, media coverage, or festival heat...

CHART 1  Albania through Greece 

Finland. Denmark. Egypt. Costa Rica

• Albania, Open Door
• Argentina, The Sleepwalkers
• Armenia, Songs of Solomon
• Austria, What We Wanted  (streaming on Netflix)

• Bangladesh, Sincerely Yours Dhaka (streaming on Netflix)
• Belgium, Working Girls (streaming on Amazon Prime)
• Bolivia, Chaco
• Bosnia & Herzegovina, Quo Vadis, Aida?* 
• Brazil, Babenco: Tell Me When I Die  (streaming on MUBI outside the US)
• Bulgaria, The Father

• Cambodia, Fathers
• Cameroon, The Fisherman's Diary
• Canada, 14 Days, 12 Nights 
• Chile, The Mole Agent* (streaming on Hulu)
• China, Leap (streaming on Amazon Prime) 
• Colombia, Forgotten We'll Be / Memories of My Father
• Costa Rica, Land of Ashes (streaming on MUBI outside the US)
• Croatia, Extracurricular
• Cuba, Buscando A Casal
• Czech Republic, Charlatan* 

• Denmark, Another Round*  (available to rent)
• Dominican Republic, A State of Madness

• Ecuador, Emptiness
• Egypt, When We're Born
• Estonia, The Last Ones

• Finland, Tove
• France, Deux/Two of Us

• Georgia, Beginning *
• Germany, And Tomorrow the Entire World
• Greece, Apples

CHART 2 Guatemala through Pakistan

Hong Kong. Nigeria. Latvia. Iceland

• Guatemala, La Llorona (available to rent)*
• Honduras, Days of Light

• Hong Kong, Better Days (available to rent)
• Hungary, Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time

• Iceland, Agnes Joy
• India, Jallikattu (streaming on Amazon Prime)
• Indonesia, Impetigore (streaming on Shudder)
• Iran, The Sun / Sun Children*
• Ireland, Arracht/ Monster
• Israel, Asia*
• Italy, Notturno * 
• Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings *

• Japan, True Mothers
• Jordan, 200 Meters

• Kazakhstan, The Crying Steppe
• Kenya, The Letter
• Kosovo, Exile
• Kyrgyzstan, Running to the Sky

• Latvia, Blizzard of Souls / The Rifleman 
• Lebanon, Broken Keys
• Lesotho, This is not a Burial, It's a Ressurection * FIRST SUBMISSION
• Lithuania, Nova Lituania  (streaming on MUBI)
• Luxembourg, River Tales

• Malaysia, Roh/Soul
• Mexico, I'm No Longer Here * (streaming on Netflix)
• Mongolia, Veins of the World
• Montenegro, Breasts
• Morocco, The Unknown Saint

• Netherlands, Bulado
• Nigeria, The Milkmaid
• North Macedonia, Willow
• Norway, Hope

• Pakistan, Zindagi Tamasha/Circus of Life

CHART 3 - Palestine through Vietnam

Ukraine. Sweden. Poland. Vietnam

• Palestine, Gaza Mon Amour
• Panama, Operation Just Cause 
• Paraguay, Killing the Dead
• Peru, Song Without a Name (available to rent)
• Philippines, Mindanao
• Poland, Never Gonna Snow Again
• Portugal, Vitalina Varela (streaming on Criterion)

• Romania, Collective * (available to rent)
• Russia, Dear Comrades! *

• Saudia Arabia, Scales
• Senegal, Nafi's Father
• Serbia, Dara in Jasenovac
• Singapore, Wet Season
• Slovakia, The Auschwitz Report
• Slovenia, Stories from the Chestnut Woods
• South Africa, Toorbos
• South Korea, The Man Standing Next (available to rent)
• Spain, The Endless Trench (streaming on Netflix)
• Sudan, You Will Die at 20  FIRST SUBMISSION
• Suriname, Wiren   FIRST SUBMISSION
• Sweden, Charter
• Switzerland, My Little Sister

• Taiwan, A Sun (streaming on Netflix)
• Thailand, Happy Old Year (streaming on Netflix)
• Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin
• Turkey, Miracle in Cell No 7 (streaming on Netflix)

• Ukraine, Atlantis
• Uruguay, Aleli (streaming on Netflix)

• Venezuela, Once Upon a Time in Venezuela
• Vietnam, Dreamy Eyes

This list is also available on Letterboxd if you'd like to track your viewing.

INITIALLY ANNOUNCED BUT NOT ON OSCAR'S SCREENING LIST

Algeria's Heliopolis, Belarus's Persian Lesson (disqualified as not Belarusian enough), Canada's Funny Boy (disqualified due to too much English language), Bhutan's Lunana: Yak in the Classroom, Portugal's Listen (disqualified due to too much English language), and Uzbekistan's 2000 Songs of Farida.

Are you planning on seeing any of these films? If you've already seen some which are you rooting for?  

Three Golden Globe "controversies" that shouldn't surprise anyone

Apologies for not addressing this earlier today but of the three Golden Globe rulings that have the internet's collective tongue wagging, only one of them surprised us and only in a very mild kind of way. Perhaps this is why we didn't jump to discuss figuring that people would respond with a shrug. How wrong we were! If you're like 'what the hell are you discussing, Nathaniel?' here's a quick survey.

The three controversial rulings:

1. Minari will not be eligible for Best Picture at the Globes but instead compete for Best Foreign Language Film. Our surprise level: 0%. The Globes have never allowed pictures that weren't in the English language to compete in Best Picture and we just assumed everyone knew this but we were quite wrong. The same exact thing happened as recently as last year (The Farewell, 2019) and as recently, before that, as the year before (Roma, 2018)...

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