International Contenders: Egypt, Lebanon, Thailand, Venezuela, etc..

by Nathaniel R

Time to check in again with the International Oscar submissions as eight more countries join the fray which include teen girl dramas from North Macedonia and Egypt and a Thai horror film that's currently streaming on Shudder...

EGYPT
Bolivia will be sending Souad a drama about young sisters, one of whom has a secret life online.

IRAQ
They're sending a film called Europa by Haider Rashid which is in Arabic, Bulgarian, and English. It's about an Iraqi man trying to escape to Europe at the Turkey-Bulgaria border. It played at Cannes this summer in Director's Fortnight.

LEBANON
Their choice this year is Mounia Aki's Costa Brava Lebanon which is about a couple (the wife is played by Lebanon's most celebrated film director Nadine Labaki) who flees the city to build a utopia home in the mountains.

NORTH MACEDONIA
North Macedonia which was recently nominated for Honeyland (2019) is sending Sisterhood a drama about teenage girls who land in serious trouble due to their actions. It's a debut feature from Dina Duma who has made several shorts and directed a few TV series. 

PORTUGAL
They are submitted The Metamorphosis of Birds which Cláudio was just raving about right here. It's about a father and daughter grieving the loss of their respective mothers. Portugal is the country with the most submissions never to have received a single nomination.

THAILAND
Thailand, which is still waiting on its first nomination, has selected the South Korea produced Thai horror film The Medium by Banjong Pisanthanakun, which was a big success in Thailand and Korea. It is a found footage movie involving shamanism and possession. [Currently streaming on Shudder.]

TURKEY
Commitment Hasan from Semih Kaplanoglu is their choice. This is the third time Turkey has sent a Kaplanoglu film, the most famous of which was Bal / Honey (2010). His most recent submission prior to 2021's entry was called Commitment (2019). His two most recent films are the first two installments of a thematic trilogy that center around the soul searching characters from different classes and walks of life. 

 

VENEZUELA
They've chosen The Inner Glow by twin brothers Andreas Eduardo Rodriguez and Luis Alejandro Rodriguez. It's about a seriously ill single mother who is having trouble caring for her daughter. The Rodriguez brothers were previously submitted for Breach of Silence (2013)

We are now up to 77 contenders with another month and a half to go before the finalist list is announced. Last year the submission list was 93 films long, an all-time record for the category.

more articles on this category 
the submission charts 
Oscar predictions  
Letterboxd list 

Comments

[MrW]

The deadline for submissions was November 1st, though, so unless some countries have been submitting films without notifying the public, 77 should be as many as it gets.

[NATHANIEL R]

MrW -- there are generally some titles that weren't announced ahead of time so I expect we'll get to 90 (since that's usual)

[Kris]

I loved Egypt's "Souad"! Saw it at Berlinale and I'm so happy they chose to send it. Was hooked from the first bus scene and the twists and turns were exciting and unexpected all through the film. It's totally TOP15 material!

MrW, expect China, Dominican Republic etc to come out with their titles also... Every year some names are not published in news etc, so we don't know the final number before the actual Academy list is released. Last year there were about 5 such names added to preknown titles, this year I guess there will be even more.