International Oscar Race Pt 1: The Contenders List and where to see them
Monday, January 11, 2021 at 6:25PM 
Listen up Oscar fans and international cinema aficioniados. We'd been holding off on this three part deep dive into the list of titles vying for Best International Feature Film until the Academy's announcement. Sadly we hear through the grapevine that they're not actually making this list "official" until very late in January. In other words, less than two weeks after they announce the 90 plus titles, they'll be cutting most of them when the finalist list of ten is announced on February 9th. This is no way to treat the movies, giving them such a tiny window of "official" attention. So we're sharing the list of 93 titles (a record) now and doing our deep dive now... with the caveat that one or two titles might change in late January when the Academy makes this official. If things do change we'll republish the list and the articles then. If they don't, we can just link back.
NOTES ON THIS LIST: For more details on the films like genre, plot, running time, directors, please see the corresponding Oscar charts linked below. If we've reviewed or written about the movie itself or the country's Oscar history, it's linked below. If the title has a * by it, that means it's got an arguably high profile going into the screenings / voting period (though that's no guarantee of a nomination) by way of either its filmmaking team, noisy campaign, media coverage, or festival heat...
CHART 1 Albania through Greece
Finland. Denmark. Egypt. Costa Rica
- Albania, Open Door
- Argentina, The Sleepwalkers
- Armenia, Songs of Solomon
- Austria, What We Wanted (streaming on Netflix)
- Bangladesh, Sincerely Yours Dhaka (streaming on Netflix)
- Belgium, Working Girls (streaming on Amazon Prime)
- Bolivia, Chaco
- Bosnia & Herzegovina, Quo Vadis, Aida?*
- Brazil, Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (streaming on MUBI outside the US)
- Bulgaria, The Father
- Cambodia, Fathers
- Cameroon, The Fisherman's Diary
- Canada, 14 Days, 12 Nights
- Chile, The Mole Agent* (streaming on Hulu)
- China, Leap (streaming on Amazon Prime)
- Colombia, Forgotten We'll Be / Memories of My Father
- Costa Rica, Land of Ashes (streaming on MUBI outside the US)
- Croatia, Extracurricular
- Cuba, Buscando A Casal
- Czech Republic, Charlatan*
- Denmark, Another Round* (available to rent)
- Dominican Republic, A State of Madness
- Ecuador, Emptiness
- Egypt, When We're Born
- Estonia, The Last Ones
- Finland, Tove
- France, Deux/Two of Us
CHART 2 Guatemala through Pakistan
- Guatemala, La Llorona (available to rent)*
- Honduras, Days of Light
- Hong Kong, Better Days (available to rent)
- Hungary, Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time
- Iceland, Agnes Joy
- India, Jallikattu (streaming on Amazon Prime)
- Indonesia, Impetigore (streaming on Shudder)
- Iran, The Sun / Sun Children*
- Ireland, Arracht/ Monster
- Israel, Asia*
- Italy, Notturno *
- Ivory Coast, Night of the Kings *
- Japan, True Mothers
- Jordan, 200 Meters
- Kazakhstan, The Crying Steppe
- Kenya, The Letter
- Kosovo, Exile
- Kyrgyzstan, Running to the Sky
- Latvia, Blizzard of Souls / The Rifleman
- Lebanon, Broken Keys
- Lesotho, This is not a Burial, It's a Ressurection * FIRST SUBMISSION
- Lithuania, Nova Lituania (streaming on MUBI)
- Luxembourg, River Tales
- Malaysia, Roh/Soul
- Mexico, I'm No Longer Here * (streaming on Netflix)
- Mongolia, Veins of the World
- Montenegro, Breasts
- Morocco, The Unknown Saint
- Netherlands, Bulado
- Nigeria, The Milkmaid
- North Macedonia, Willow
- Norway, Hope
- Pakistan, Zindagi Tamasha/Circus of Life
CHART 3 - Palestine through Vietnam
- Palestine, Gaza Mon Amour
- Panama, Operation Just Cause
- Paraguay, Killing the Dead
- Peru, Song Without a Name (available to rent)
- Philippines, Mindanao
- Poland, Never Gonna Snow Again
- Portugal, Vitalina Varela (streaming on Criterion)
- Romania, Collective * (available to rent)
- Russia, Dear Comrades! *
- Saudia Arabia, Scales
- Senegal, Nafi's Father
- Serbia, Dara in Jasenovac
- Singapore, Wet Season
- Slovakia, The Auschwitz Report
- Slovenia, Stories from the Chestnut Woods
- South Africa, Toorbos
- South Korea, The Man Standing Next (available to rent)
- Spain, The Endless Trench (streaming on Netflix)
- Sudan, You Will Die at 20 FIRST SUBMISSION
- Suriname, Wiren FIRST SUBMISSION
- Sweden, Charter
- Switzerland, My Little Sister
- Taiwan, A Sun (streaming on Netflix)
- Thailand, Happy Old Year (streaming on Netflix)
- Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin
- Turkey, Miracle in Cell No 7 (streaming on Netflix)
- Ukraine, Atlantis
- Uruguay, Aleli (streaming on Netflix)
- Venezuela, Once Upon a Time in Venezuela
- Vietnam, Dreamy Eyes
This list is also available on Letterboxd if you'd like to track your viewing.
INITIALLY ANNOUNCED BUT NOT ON OSCAR'S SCREENING LIST
Algeria's Heliopolis, Belarus's Persian Lesson (disqualified as not Belarusian enough), Canada's Funny Boy (disqualified due to too much English language), Bhutan's Lunana: Yak in the Classroom, Portugal's Listen (disqualified due to too much English language), and Uzbekistan's 2000 Songs of Farida.
Are you planning on seeing any of these films? If you've already seen some which are you rooting for?
Reader Comments (14)
Whoa! Thanks for including a letterboxd link with all the films. Now I can more easily track and see which ones are avail in streaming (I mean apart from the awesome list you posted here).
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die is available on MUBI, also Land of Ashes. =)
Thanks for the list...Miracle in Cell No 7 (Turkey) is a remake of the popular Korean tearjerker. The latter was an enormous hit years ago.
Usually at this time of year, I have seen around 20 of the submissions, mainly due to the Melbourne International Film Festival. Unfortunately, that didn't happen live this year (and I couldn't generate enough enthusiasm to watch anything virtual, since the social aspect is the best part of MIFF usually).
So far, I have seen 3: the entries from Czech Republic, France and Spain. All are worthy of a nomination.
I'm particularly interested in Collective, Vitalina Varela and Once Upon a Time in Venezuela,
The pandemic has probably affected my viewing of foreign language films more than anything else. It's just so much easier to focus in on subtitles in a theater away from distractions.
I've seen three of the submissions so far:
La Llorona -- excellent film merging real life political horrors with ghostly ones
A Sun -- very good film about how hard it is to leave the past behind
Babenco -- beautiful, but a narrative mess
Agnieszka Holland, Pedro Costa, Andrei Konchalovsky, Majid Majidi... Could be a strong line up. I hope LA LLORONA gets in, not that it would likely take the win.
LA LLORONA is also on Shudder in the US for those who have it. It's highly recommended and not just for this category (I'm considering it for cinematography, sound and supporting actress categories).
I'd love VITALINA VERELA to make the long-list. I had my issues with it, but it's a bold work of cinema and it'd be nice to see Portugal get up there for the first time with a nomination for such an uncompromising work that was initially rejected by its country. It'd be on par with DOGTOOTH as a whoa nomination, but not undeserved.
I am really rooting for "Collective" to sweep awards - even thought I don't think it will happen
I just wanted to say that a small film from Lithuania (Nova Lituania) was one of the best I have seen--maybe because it is about imagined territories that bring to mind excellent film examples like Goodbye, Lenin! and The Map Against the World. I hope Nova Lituania will make it although I am almost sure it won't.
This list of international films is an embarrassment of riches I am only too happy to indulge in. Huzzah!
Just FYI: Brazil and Costa Rica are on MUBI, but aren't currently streaming in the US. Only Lithuania is streaming in the US on the service.
"Working Girls" is now on Amazon Prime!
So far, I have seen 24 of the submissions plus 2 that were disqualified (Funny Boy and Listen).
Here is my list in order of preference.
1. Miracle in Cell No. 7
2. Deux (Two of Us)
3. 14 jours, 12 nuits
4. The Endless Trench
5. A Sun
6. Another Round (Druk)
7. Hope
8. Babenco: Tell Me When I Die
9. Filles de joie (Working Girls)
10. Song Without a Name
11. Never Gonna Snow Again
12. The Mole Agent
13. Impetigore
14. You Will Die at 20
15. Collective
16. La nuit des rois
17. Blizzard of Souls
18. The Unknown Saint
19. What We Wanted
20. Jallikattu
21. I'm No Longer Here
22. Stories from the Chestnut Woods
23. The Father (Bashtata)
24. La Llorona