Oscar Volleys: Best International Film aka “Emilia Pérez” vs. the World

The Oscar Volleys are back for some post-nomination talks. Today, Eric Blume and Nathaniel Rogers discuss Best International Film...

EMILIA PÉREZ | © Netflix

ERIC:  Nathaniel, what fun to have you all to myself to discuss the nominees for Best International Film (which I sometimes still call Best Foreign Film, because that's been in my brain too long).  I think we have five pretty terrific nominees this year.  Before we get into their Oscar-ability, what is your personal take across the five films?  I wouldn't be mad at a ranking!

NATHANIEL:  I share the same nomenclature waffling but we both were Oscar watching since the 1980s so who can blame us?...

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Best International Film: Canada's "Universal Language"

by Cláudio Alves

In the last hours of voting for the Oscar nominations, let's celebrate one of the best films up for Academy consideration. It's none other than the Canadian submission for Best International Film, Matthew Rankin's sophomore feature – Universal Language. If watching the director's debut, The Twentieth Century, felt like witnessing the second coming of fellow Winnipegger Guy Maddin, seeing the wonder of his latest work is akin to re-encountering Jacques Tati in the 21st century. Or perchance a Manitoban Abbas Kiarostami. Rather than evading such comparisons, Rankin runs straight at them, making his latest project into a dialogue between filmic languages and other idioms along the way, reaching for the fantastical, so specific as to be universal…

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Best International Film: UK & Ireland

by Cláudio Alves

This past Sunday, there was a lot to entertain awards obsessives. Among the various votes and ceremonies, one can find the British Independent Film Awards, where two of this year's Best International Film Oscar submissions took home some honors. Well, a lot of them in Kneecap's case. The Irish music biopic is the most nominated film in BIFA history, and its final tally of wins is just as impressive – seven victories total. Then, there is Santosh, the UK's Hindi-language submission, which took home two awards, for Breakthrough Producer and Best Screenplay. Will the Academy be similarly in love with these two projects, both works of openly political cinema? Let's consider…

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Best International Film: India, Thailand, Cambodia

by Cláudio Alves

At The Film Experience, we've always loved following and celebrating the Best International Film Oscar race. This season's no different, so you can expect many reviews in the next week as one counts down to the Academy's much-anticipated shortlists, when the competition will be severely cut down from its original 85 contenders. Voting for the shortlists opens on December 9th and closes on the 13th, with results announced on the 17th. Until then, let's dive deep into the wonders of world cinema, starting with a trip to the South of Asia.

Our journey commences with India's Lost Ladies, selected amid controversy because of All We Imagine As Light's politicized snubbing. Then, Thailand's How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which has become an unlikely blockbuster and worldwide crowd pleaser. And finally, Cambodia's Meeting with Pol Pot, where iconoclast filmmaker Rithy Panh tries his hand at some period drama conventions…

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Which International Feature Films will get into Best Picture?

by Juan Carlos Ojano

96 years of Oscars, 14 international feaure films nominated for Best Picture.

While some awards bodies have already commenced the season, Best Picture is still very much an open race. One of the statistics many predictors consider is the presence of international feature films in the category. Since 2018’s Roma - and save 2020, where Another Round even got into Director - every Best Picture lineup has included one. Last year, history was made, when two international features making it in, with Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest.

Perhaps this is one of the effects of the inclusivity efforts the Academy has initiated post-#OscarsSoWhite, where they included more world artists into their membership. This year, which international feature films will stand a chance of getting into this year’s Best Picture roster? Consider...

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