Best International Feature: The Man Who Sold His Skin

by Cláudio Alves

For the past few months, I've been trying to watch as many Best International Feature submissions as I possibly can. For The Film Experience, I reviewed 33 of those titles, including nine of the 15 shortlisted films, with most of the remaining finalists being taken care of by other writers. Still, one feature remained unreviewed on Oscar nomination morning, and, as luck would have it, that very same production nabbed a somewhat surprising nod. I wish I could say I was happy about The Man Who Sold His Skin's triumph, but Tunisia's seventh ever submission and first nominee proved to be a disappointment…

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Review: South African Queer War Drama ‘Moffie’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 There is a traditional image of military might that emphasizes strength above all else, to the detriment of individualism and often humanity. We’ve seen this portrayed many times in disturbing fashion in movies and television (not to mention real life), as drill sergeants and other commanding officers work to crush the spirits of their charges and “toughen” them up so that their weaknesses will be rooted out. This can obviously have truly scarring effects, felt both during and after service. A powerful showcase of that phenomenon is on display in director Oliver Hermanus’ new film Moffie, opening Friday.

In the same way that Confederate battalions aren’t fondly remembered in America, white men who fought for South Africa in the 1980s aren’t really on the right side of history...

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Best International Feature: Lesotho, Morocco, Sudan

by Cláudio Alves

Our first voyage through the Best International Feature contenders took us to the films of the latest Oscar champions: South Korea, Mexico, and Chile. Now, we shall turn our attention to nations that haven't been nearly as lucky with AMPAS. The entire African continent, in fact, has been chronically ignored by the Academy ever since the genesis of this award. Shining a light on the African cinema in contention this year, we find the first-ever submissions from Lesotho and Sudan, as well as a deadpan comedy from Morocco…

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International Contenders: Sudan's First Submission, North Macedonia's Follow Up

We now have a total of 53 submissions for Oscar's Best International Feature competition with 7 additional countries like Bangladesh, Belarus, Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, and Uruguay scheduled to announce their submissions within the next week. This year we might see a record number of African films submitted. For instance, we're getting our first submission from Sudan, You Will Die at 20, about a 19 year old who a village holy man had predicted at birth would die at 20. North Macedonia, which was nominated last year for Honeyland, has submitted a drama about three women struggling to control their own fates around pregnancy and motherhood called Willow.

Here are the new submissions since our last overview roundup!

• Israel - Asia (Israel's Oscar stats)
• Lithuania - Nova Lithuania
• Mexico - I'm No Longer Here (other finalists / Ariel Award Winner)
• Montenegro - Breasts
• North Macedonia - Willow 
• Norway - Hope (Norway's Oscar stats)
• Portugal - Listen (other finalists)
• Russia - Dear Comrades! (Russia's Oscar stats)
• South Africa - Toorbos 
• Sudan - You Will Die at 20 

WHERE TO SEE THE MOVIES?
If you want to get a jump on some of the submissions 8 of the 52 titles are currently streaming.  Netflix has five of them: Austria's What We Wanted, Mexico's I'm No Longer Here, Spain's The Endless Trench, Taiwan's A Sun, and Turkey's Miracle in Cell No 7. You can also stream Guatemala's La Llorona on Amazon,  Indonesia's Impetigore is on Shudder or Roku, and South Korea's Man Standing Next on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. You can follow the list as it grows at our Oscar charts or on our Letterboxd list. 

Doc Corner: Three International Feature Oscar Contenders

By Glenn Dunks

Documentaries have been popping up more and more in the line-ups for Best International Feature (née Best Foreign Language Film) since Cambodia snagged a remarkably unlikely nomination for The Missing Picture. Last year’s double-whammy nomination for Honeyland in both the international and documentary categories (from an equally unexpected country, North Macedonia) has no doubt emboldened national selectors to choose non-fiction titles, which I am certainly happy about.

Three such selections are playing DOC NYC, the New York documentary festival that opened its virtual doors yesterday. It may be too early to see what the Best International Feature category delivers us this year (as of right now the number of submissions sits at 43), but the three films here representing Kenya, Romania, and Venezuela are all strong and fine contenders. In fact, there is at least one title here that I reckon could deliver for its home country—one that has been routinely ‘snubbed’ by the category, so much so that they changed the rules. Could this be their year for redemption with one of the best movies of 2020?

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