Best International Film: Argentina's "The Delinquents" and Mexico's "Tótem"

by Cláudio Alves

In its long history, the Academy has awarded the Best International Film Oscar to a Latin-American country four times. The first two were from Argentina, 1985's The Official Story and 2009's The Secret in Their Eyes, followed by Chile with 2017's A Fantastic Woman, and Mexico with 2019's Roma. Looking at those dates, it's fair to say AMPAS has become more open to Latin cinema in the 21st century, even though Europe remains the category's continental champion. Hope remains eternal that voters will broaden their horizons. 

I've already reviewed Chile's submission, The Settlers, when at TIFF. So, it's time to consider the films of the other two Latin victors of yesteryear. There's Argentina's newly released The Delinquents, and Mexico's Berlinale prize-winner Tótem…

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TIFF '23: Getting into the Christmas Spirit with ‘El Sabor de la Navidad’

By Abe Friedtanzer

It always feels a little strange to watch a Christmas movie long before the holiday season, but that just means getting into that wintry mindset ahead of time! El Sabor de la Navidad, a Spanish-language comedy from Mexico, is notable because it’s produced by Salma Hayek Pinault and stars Mariana Treviño, who is the best reason to watch last year’s A Man Called Otto. It’s a lighthearted portrait of an extended family and others connected to them trying to get through a holiday that brings far too many conflicting personalities together…

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International Oscar Race - Australia's Choice. Plus Mexican and Swedish submission finalists

by Nathaniel R

"Shayda" will be Australia's Oscar submission

We've already shared some news in our favourite non-acting Oscar category. The most exciting thing at the moment is the Danish finalists which include a film called either Promised Land or Bastard (depending on where its playing). Elisa tells us that its going to be a major contender and could even bag Mads Mikkelsen the Best Actor win in Venice. Other recent Oscar updates for this category involved submissions from Estonia, South Korea and Uruguay and a finalist list from Netherlands, and news from Switzerland, Chile, and Tajikstan. We now have 13 submissions. The charts have been updated. The latest exciting news is the finalist lists from two important countries who historically perform well in this category, Mexico and Sweden... 

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International Oscars: Mexico's finalists and more submission titles

by Nathaniel R

THE HOLE IN THE FENCE

Mexico has chosen their Oscar submission finalist list. We'd do a whole huge post on it but we suspect by the time we did they'd have named their winner and despite divisive reviews thus far we suspect they won't be able to resist sending Iñarritu again. As it stands now they're looking at three films we've already reviewed here at TFE: Alejandro G Iñarritu's Bardo (False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths), Lorenz Vigas' very dark father/son drama The Box, and Joaquin del Paso's allegorical summer camp drama The Hole in the Fence. The other two they're looking at are the sexual drama Nudo Mixteco by Angeles Cruz and the thriller Presencias by Luis Mandoki. Among those filmmakers Inarritu (Biutiful, Amores Perros) and Mandoki (Innocent Voices) have represented Mexico before while Vigas's debut film, the gay drama From Afar, was sent to represent Venezuela in its year.

But that's not all. We now know which films Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Turkey,and Uganda  are submitting. Details after the jump...  

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Sundance: The elegiac poetry of 'Dos Estaciones'

by Cláudio Alves

Director Juan Pablo González comes from a family of tequila makers in the Jalisco highlands of Mexico. Though never outright stated, such biographical details inform in his fiction feature debut. Dos Estaciones is a love letter to the region and the noble artisanship of making tequila de old-fashioned way, from the azure expansions of the agave fields to the shiny glass bottle. However, it's also a eulogy, a cry of mourning for a dying world. Foreign pressures threaten the long history of the land, buying the fields and factories from families who've owned them for generations. A Mexican tradition thus becomes an American commodity, and there's little to do but honor what's lost, show people its value, its intrinsic beauty, resist through art and remembering…

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