BY: Amanda Jane Stern

The Oscars are upon us. This year is unlike the last two, where an international feature was a seeming lock for a Best Picture nomination as well. In 2019, Writer/Director Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma nabbed a Best Picture nod. With the help of a campaign by Netflix, Roma also racked up awards for Best Director, Cinematography, and became the first Mexican entrant to win Best Foreign Language Film. And of course, last year South Korea’s Parasite swept the Oscars, becoming the first non-English language film to win Best Picture. That was in addition to its wins in the categories for Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

In 2020 the Academy changed the category name from Best Foreign Language Film to Best International Feature Film.

This year, the possibilities for Best International Feature Film has already been narrowed down to a shortlist of fifteen films. Here are the five foreign films predicted to get a nomination in the category.

 

Quo Vadis, Aida?

This entry from Bosnia and Herzegovina comes from Writer/director Jasmila Žbanić.

A war drama, it tells the story of a United Nations translator trying to save her family before the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Bosnia and Herzegovina won in 2003 for the Bosnian War drama No Man’s Land. So far, that has been their only nomination in this category. 

 

Another Round

Starring Mads Mikkelsen, this Danish entrant concerns a group of 4 teachers in Copenhagen who test if they can improve their lives by maintaining a blood alcohol content of 0.05. Don’t be totally surprised if Mikkelsen also “dances away” with a (much deserved) nomination for Best Actor for his role of Martin, a depressed history teacher.

Denmark last won this category in 2011 for In a Better World. But they have racked up a few nominations over the last decade: for A Royal Affair (2013), A War (2016), and Land of Mine (2017). In addition, Another Round’s Director/Co-Writer Thomas Vinterberg scored a nomination in this category in 2016 with The Hunt (which also starred Mikkelsen).

 

Two of Us

From Director/Co-Writer Filippo Meneghetti, this romantic French drama is about a complication in the love affair between aging pensioners Madeleine and Nina (Barbara Sukowa). France is the foreign county with the most nominations (and most wins) in this category. But they haven’t won since 1993 with the French-Vietnamese film Indochine.

 

La Llorona

A supernatural horror film, this would be the first nomination for the Central American nation of Guatemala. The “La Llorona” legend (Spanish for “The Weeping Woman”) concerns the ghost of a woman who drags children to a watery grave. In this fllm, when an ex-dictator escapes punishment for his role in the 1980s genocide against native Mayans, he returns home but creepy phenomena begins to occur. This ex-dictator is a fictionalization of real Guatemalan president Efraín Ríos Montt. 

Please, don’t confuse this movie with the James Wan produced 2019 The Curse of La Llorona, which was part of The Conjuring franchise.

 

A Sun

This is a crime drama/family drama about an unexpected tragedy. It concerns two sons who (at first) are viewed in diametric opposition by their parents. Taiwan’s last nomination and win in this category was in 2001 for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which also scored a Best Picture nomination). This film has been available for streaming on Netflix throughout the pandemic.