by Nathaniel R
The incredible Tang Wei stars in Park Chan-wook's "Decision to Leave"
Finally some news on the Best International Feature Film Oscar race. It's the most exciting for us to track since you really have to play along to be in the know. Earlier today we told you about the possibilities from Israel (they always select the winner of the Ophir) and we also have our first three official submissions. They are...
🇧🇱 DECISION TO LEAVE
South Korea (1 nomination, 1 win, and 1 additional finalist from 34 submissions)
In this noir, a detective (Park Hae-Il) investigating a case meets and falls for the dead man's mysterious wife (Tang Wei of Lust Caution fame). Lots of festival raves and comparisons to Hitchcock. Despite international fame and a very memorable filmography (The Handmaiden, Oldboy, Thirst, Joint Security Area, etc...) this is the first time South Korea has selected Park Chan-wook to represent them at the Oscars.
Oscar refused to acknowledge the existence of South Korean cinema until the whole world was obsessed with South Korean everything from K-Pop to hit TV series to multiple internationally famous Korean auteurs who had been killing it for years on end. But then their biggest blind spot has always been Asian cinema with the exception of their fascination with Japan in the mid 20th century. Now that they are paying attention, this mystery noir from Park Chan-wook looks like a strong early bet for a nomination. The only real drawback at this writing, given the acclaim and South Korea's popularity at this very moment, is that none of the Oscar-savvy indie distributors (like NEON, SPC, A24) are handling it despite its breakout potential. MUBI will distribute and they'll need to launch a mighty Oscar campaign for the first time. But will they?
🇮🇪 THE QUIET GIRL (Colm Bairéad)
Ireland (1 finalist from 9 submissions. Waiting on that first nomination)
This narrative feature debut from Balréad, who has previously made TV and docs, is set in the early 80s in rural Ireland. It concerns a neglected girl who is sent to live with foster parents. She blooms in her new home until discovering a secret. The Quiet Girl has been quite well received thus far, winning 2 prizes in youth cinema divisions at Berlinale, 7 prizes at the Irish Film and Television Awards, and a couple audience awards elsewhere for good measure, too. Could be a sleeper contender. Ireland came close to a nomination once with the unusual case of a Cuban film from an Irish director centered on a young drag queen called Viva (2015). Viva is currently streaming on Hulu, Tubi, and Pluto and worth checking out if you haven't yet seen it.
🇨🇠A PIECE OF SKY (Michael Koch)
SWITZERLAND (5 nominations, 2 wins, and 3 finalists from 50 submissions)
A Piece of Sky is a romantic drama set in a remote mountain village. The film competed at Berlinale earlier this year receiving a "Special Mention" from the jury. Michael Koch is a stage actor turned director and this is his second feature. Ever since their last win (Journey of Hope, 1990), Switzerland has had a kind of 'almost there' curse going on with 3 finalists that didn't make the shortlist plus a probable winner that was disqualified (Three Colors: Red in 1994) before Oscar fixed their 'what qualifies as being [insert country here] enough?" rules to better reflect how international the cinema had now become with multiple countries often involved on any given film. (Three Colors: Red is currently streaming on HBOMax and Criterion Channel and is unmissable. But watch the other two films, Three Colors: Blue, Three Colors: White, first for maximum effect; the films are thematically related rather than a continuing story but trust that you should see Red last)
OTHER NEWS
Expect the selections to start flooding in by early September as the Oscar deadline for submission this year is October 3rd. Some countries have already named finalists like Bulgaria, Israel, The Netherlands, and Uruguay which you can also see on the charts.
Updated Oscar Charts
Pg 1 - Albania through Greece
Pg 2 - Haiti through Norway
Pg 3 - Palestine through Vietnam
Current Predictions