by Nathaniel R
Time to check in again with Oscar submissions as five more countries join the fray. The highest profile new entry is Italy's The Hand of God by Paolo Sorrentino. He triumphed in this category eight years back with The Great Beauty (2013) which ended the longest drought -- seven years -- that Italy has ever had in this particular competition. If The Hand of God snags the nomination, Sorrentino will have performed this feat twice since Italy hasn't been nominated since. Sorrentino joins Iran's Asghar Farhadi (A Hero) as the only International contender this season who has already led a film to victory in this category. The Hand of God is a memoir about Sorrentino's teenage years and a family tragedy. He's been campaigning enthusiastically since Cannes, recently attending the Middleburg Film Festival to receive an International Spotlight prize.
Other new contenders are after the jump...
BOLIVIA
Bolivia will be sending The Great Movement which won a special jury prize in the Horizons section at Venice. It's about a man who falls ill during a protest with his miner friends and begins seeing a witch doctor. Bolivia has yet to be nominated for an Oscar.
PANAMA
They are submitted Plaza Catedral by Abner Benaim which won both acting prizes at the Guadalajara International Film Festival. It's a thriller about a middle-aged woman and a teenager who stumbles, bleeding, into her home.
RUSSIA
Unclenching the Fists from Kira Kovalenko is the choice. The drama about a woman struggling with her family in a mining town won Un Certain Regard at Cannes this summer. This is only the second time Russia has sent a female director (the first was Anna Melkikian for Mermaids, 2008). Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union Russia has been nominated seven times, winning one (Burnt by The Sun, 1994). Lately though they've had bad luck crossing the finish line. They made the finals in four of the last five years but were only nominated in one of those instances (Loveless, 2017).
SINGAPORE
Signapore has chosen the thriller Precious is the Night by Wayne Peng. It's set in the 1960s and revolves around a doctor who makes an ill fated housecall to a mysterious rich family. Extremely Niche Personal Trivia Note: This is the first International Oscar submission ever to star a non-actor who we've been following on Instagram for years (tee hee). Chuando Tan, who is a 55 year old model / social media sensation (who doesnt look a day over 35) makes his feature debut in the leading role.
more articles on this category
the submission charts (freshly updated)
Oscar predictions (freshly updated)
Letterboxd list (you guessed it... freshly updated)