by Nathaniel R
As you read this yours truly is in Italy (visiting with Elisa probably!) but before I hopped on the plane I updated the Best International Feature Film Submission Charts and Prediction/ Overflowing Stats Chart. As of yesterday 74 films have been announced as intended submissions from their home countries. The list usually tops out at 93 films (about 19 to go!) and there's usually one unexpected switcheroo or omission from what was previously announced so we'll see. But here are a handful of highlights from recent announcements...
DENMARK - The Promised Land (or Bastarden)
This is the second submission for Nikolaj Arcel and the first, A Royal Affair (2012), was nominated. Watch out for this one because the Academy is really into Danish cinema lately. Plus it never hurts to have an international star like Mads Mikkelsen headlining your submission for a profile boost. Both Elisa and Cláudio have already talked about this one but they were split, opinion-wise.
INDIA - 2018
India got a lot of attention last year for not choosing RRR (which went on to win Best Original Song). This year they've gone with a disaster epic about a tragic flood in, you guessed it, 2018. This is the fourth time India has sent a Malayalam film. Despite having multiple big film industries (the most famous being Bollywood) India has struggled catching Oscar's fancy with only three nominations - two epic musicals, Lagaan (2001) and Mother India (1957) and won breakthrough drama, Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988) -- all of them are very much worth seeing.
JORDAN - Inshallah A Boy
Cláudio loved this one at TIFF. It's a feature debut from the director Amjad Al Rasheed and the first Jordanian film to screen at Cannes.
SINGAPORE - The Breaking Ice
This is the third Singaporean submission from 39 old director Anthony Chen who could be a movie star himself but stays behind the camera instead and is about a "blossoming relationship" between three twentysomethings. He's made three films in his home country Ilo Ilo (2013), Wet Season (2019), and The Breaking Ice (2023) and they've all been submitted. That arguably puts him in first place essentially for Singapore (Eric Khoo was submitted four times but one was disqualified and another was an omnibus film with several directors). Chen also recently directed his first English language feature, Drift starring Cynthia Erivo.
SUDAN - Goodbye Julia
This is only the second time Sudan has submitted but we're seeing far more regular submissions from African countries in the past decade than we did before. This debut feature from Mohamed Kordofani sounds intriguing. It premiered at Cannes this past summer.
VIETNAM - Glorious Ashes
This drama about three women and their men in a rural village won big at Vietnam's Kite Awards, taking the Golden Kite for Best Movie, as well as Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Cinematography.