Best International Film: China, India, Indonesia

by Cláudio Alves

This journey through the Best International Film Oscar submissions has taken us to Europe and Latin America thus far, leaving some continents sorely underrepresented. In hopes of remedying that, this entry shall focus exclusively on Asian contenders. They are the latest work from a respected auteur who has represented China seven times before. From India, an award-winning feature debut shot on a tiny budget and severe minimalism. Finally, Indonesia brings us a beautiful character study in a hundred shades of purple…

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Review: Israel’s Oscar Submission "Asia"

By Abe Friedtanzer

It's been quite the year for Shira Haas. Known previously to American audiences for her work in Shtisel on Netflix and the Jessica Chastain film The Zookeeper's Wife, she arrived in a big way in 2020 as the star of Unorthodox, which premiered on Netflix in March. Just a few weeks later, she was named Best International Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival, where her film Asia was slated to have its world premiere. After popping up at a number of festivals over the past few months and winning nine of its twelve Ophir (Israel’s Oscar) nominations, Asia is now opening the Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, which begins today…

In her past few roles, Haas, who turned twenty-five in May, has been playing younger than her age. Esty in Unorthodox was nineteen, and in Esau, which debuted on digital and VOD a few weeks ago, she portrays a particularly young teenage love interest...

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