India and Iceland choose their Oscar horses, but not the ones you'd think
Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 10:36PM by Nathaniel R
India and Iceland have selected their Oscar submissions choosing Last Film Show and Beautiful Beings respectively. Neither title was the highest profile option. India had a much-loved crossover hit in the US this year with RRR (now streaming on Netflix) which brought Bollywood spectacle and ridiculous (in a fun way) action exuberance to the big screen. It grossed nearly $12 million in the US which is more than some English language Oscar winning pictures recenty! India's last nomination was way back in 2001 with Lagaan which, like RRR, was a very mainstream epic with musical numbers...
It's strange that India doesn't play into their populist strengths when it comes to Oscar submissions since not every country makes the kind of films that India is best know for, internationally speaking...
Which is not to say that everything needs to scream "Bollywood!" since Indian cinema is much broader than that but it feels like it's been a long time since they submitted a film that played into what they're most famous for around the world.
Meanwhile Iceland has selected Beautiful Beings (it's on the European Film Awards Long List) when many assumed they'd send Godland which had received strong reviews and centers on a Danish priest living in Iceland. The moral is: you just never know what countries are going to submit!
Seven more titles were also announced...
Lithuania went with Pilgrims
Moldova is sending Carbon
New Zealand chose Muru which stars Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead, Avatar Way of Water)
Palestine went with Mediterranean Fever as we expected
Serbia chose Darkling
Tanzania and Uganda, both planning to submit for the first time, are going with Tug of War and Tembele respectively.
Beautiful Beings, Darkling, Iceland, India, Muru, Pilgrims, RRR, Tembele, Tug of War
Reader Comments (5)
I mean, RRR and Godland were higher profile and I've at least seen them so that's disappointing. That being said, the race does have a way of making films without profile suddenly *get* a profile, so who knows...
I find it intriguing that Netflix has arguably the three highest profile international films in this year’s Oscar race with RRR, Bardo and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Bardo has had wildly disparate critical response, yet seems an early contender for a Best Director nomination for three time winner Alejandro González Iñárritu.
All Quiet on the Western Front appears to have gained front runner status for the Oscar for Best International Film.
Now that India has opted to submit another film for consideration for the International Film Oscar, will Netflix mount an all out campaign for the popular RRR for Best Picture? The three hour epic seems a likely contender for music, screenplay, special effects and costumes. Will the struggling streaming service push for RRR to challenge The Fabelmans on the Best Picture ballot?
@Finbar Netflix is not handling the campaign, Variance Films as the theatrical distributor has decided to mount a full campaign, per Variety. I hope song and screenplay happen.
I wish there would be an option for voters to choose a wild card film not selected by its country. These panels can make some truly boneheaded choices.
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