TIFF '24: A Mohammad Rasoulof Double Feature

by Cláudio Alves

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes.

Much of the period leading up to this year's Cannes Film Festival was consumed with news of Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. Always outspoken against an oppressive regime, his career has been dedicated to political art commenting on present injustices through the prism of fiction. For this, he has been arrested multiple times, and his latest feature, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, proved too much for the Iranian authorities. Police hounded many people involved with the production, Cannes organizers were pressured to drop the official competition title, and Rasoulof himself was put behind bars, convicted to eight years in prison and an additional filmmaking ban. Thankfully, before celebrations started at the Croisette, the cineaste managed an escape to a safe house in Germany, the same country that now takes Sacred Fig to the Oscars as its official submission.

At TIFF, two works with screenplays signed by the Iranian political dissident were screened. There was the eponymous Cannes prize-winner and Seven Days, directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi…

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France submits "Emilia Perez". Spain chooses "Saturn Return". Mexico names finalists

by Nathaniel R

Selena Gomez in "Emilia Perez"

We've already posted two reviews of Emilia Perez here at TFE, from Elisa (pro) and Cláudio (con), and it's been a potential Oscar player since it's premiere at Cannes in May.  Today France announced that the buzzy drug cartel trans musical curiousity would represent them at the Oscars, beating out fellow finalists Misericordia, All We Imagine as Light, and The Count of Monte Cristo. This is the second time France has submitted the often thrilling auteur Jacques Audiard. His previous submission, Un Prophete, was nominated for the prize back in 2009 but surely split the 'critical consensus' vote with Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, allowing Argentina to slip between them for the win for the sleeper success The Secret in Their Eyes.  France hasn't won the Oscar in this category since 1992's Indochine. Could Emilia Perez finally spell gold again for the birthplace of cinema?

But there's lots more International Feature Oscar news after the jump...

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Norwegian Finalists & Updated International Oscar Charts

by Nathaniel R

Norway has narrowed down its Oscar submission choice to three finalists. As expected one of them is the Cannes Camera D'Or winner Armand a contemporary drama that stars Reinata Rensve who is understandably a hot international casting commodity after her breakthrough with The Worst Person in the World. The film is the directorial debut of the grandson of Scandinavian screen legend Liv Ullmann. The Norwegian selection committee is also looking at the World War II era drama Quisling The Final Days (reviewed here at TIFF) by Erik Poppe. Poppe has been submitted twice before with Hawaii Oslo in 2004 and The King's Choice in 2016, the latter of which made the finals. The final submission option is the contemporary drama Sex by Dag Johan Haugerud about two ostensibly straight men who become confused about their desires. Interestingly it's part of a trilogy of films and the final film, Kjaerlighet (Love) just debut at Venice to rave reviews. Norway will announce their choice on September 19th. While Oscar loves World War II dramas, they aren't the sure thing they once were in this category so maybe the heat on Armand at Cannes will still burn bright enough? 

In the past week the official Best International Feature Film competition has more than doubled in size. 19 additional countries have announced their representative title. In other words, with 41 titles announced we're almost halfway to knowing the full list. The three submission charts and finalist prediction chart have all been updated -- yes the general Osar charts will soon follow. The complete list (thus far) and a note about where/when you can see the films if you live in the US, follows after the jump. For brevity's sake we've highlighted one new title from each chart to focus on here on the main page...

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French & Italian Finalists for Oscar Submissions

by Nathaniel R

The selection of France and Italy's contenders in Oscar's Best International Feature Film race are always a big deal; the two countries thoroughly dominated the category in the 20th century and they're still the all-time stat leaders 24 years into the new century. France announced an official finalist list of four films. We also know which films Italy is choosing between though there are no "finalists" per se since they skip that step and go straight to voting. Let's look at the possibilities after the jump...

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TIFF '24: Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivers a new nightmare in "Cloud"

by Cláudio Alves

CLOUD

What if, one day, you realized everyone in the world hates you? What's more, everyone wants you dead. That's the sort of situation you might expect to encounter in the world of dreams and night terrors, one's innermost anxieties synthesized for a restless slumber. It's also the nightmarish scenario Kiyoshi Kurosawa suggests in his latest shocker, a work of stress cinema supreme with many surprises in store, playing like a descent into hell. It's also Japan's official submission for the Best International Film Oscar race, as bizarre as that might seem. It's a bold choice, alright. Maybe not the best from a strategic standpoint, but a true celebration of Japanese film excellence. 

And one thing's for sure – there's no other director like Kiyoshi Kurosawa out there, and no film like Cloud either…

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