1983 Flashback: The Best International feature race

by Cláudio Alves

Have you ever seen a film so good it makes you happy to be alive? For me, Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander is one of those films. 

After I guested on the 2001 episode of The One-Inch Barrier, a podcast about the Best International Film category, the amazing Juan Carlos Ojano asked me to choose another year to do and I immediately knew I wanted to talk to him about 1983. Since last summer, I'm happy to say Juan Carlos and I have become friends, and there are few things I like to do more than sharing the movies I love with the people I love and there are few things I love more than Fanny & Alexander. I'd be even more joyful if you, lovely readers, could share in this lovefest for cinema. Join us as we travel back to the early 80s and talk about Bergman's legacy, World War II movies, the magic of dance on the big screen, and much more. Take a listen:

What do you think of this Oscar lineup? Are you as in love with Fanny & Alexander as I am or do you have another favorite from '83?

366 films eligible for Best Picture at the 93rd Oscars

It's here. The annual "reminder list" from the Oscars about what Academy members can vote for this year for Best Picture (and other categories). Of course this list does not apply to all categories as some movies have already been eliminated in the specialized categories that use bakeoffs or finalists systems or that have extra additional eligibility requirements like...

• Animated Feature (27 finalists)
• Documentary Feature (15 finalists)
• International Feature (15 finalists)
• Makeup and Hairstyling (10 finalists)
• Original Score (15 finalists)
• Original Song (15 finalists)
• Visual Effects (10 finalists)
• ...and all three Short Film categories (but feature films aren't eligible there anyway)

But if the movie is on this overall reminder list it's still eligible in any other category. A lot more notes after the jump...

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Giulietta Masina @ 100: Cabiria's perfect ending

by Cláudio Alves

Born 100 years ago in San Giorno di Piano, Giulietta Masina is one of the most indelible faces of Italian cinema. She started her career as a theatre and radio actress but, by the time her husband Federico Fellini made the transition from screenwriter to film director, Masina was ready to follow him on the journey to the big screen. Despite having worked for other such notable auteurs as Rossellini and Wertmüller, Masina's legacy is defined by her husband's pictures. He immortalized her in more ways than one, both creating film monuments to her humanity, and using their marital strife to create many a celluloid drama...

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Best International Feature: Denmark, Hong Kong, Norway

by Cláudio Alves

With the shortlists announced, we now know which of the 93 Best International Feature submissions still have a chance to contend for Oscar gold. AMPAS has selected 15 finalists, a third of which will be honored with an Academy Award nomination come March 15th. Here at The Film Experience, the team has reviewed most of the shortlisted titles. However, four still haven't been analyzed. To start correcting that, here's another trio of capsule reviews. It's time to explore the pictures submitted by Denmark, Hong Kong, and Norway… 

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The Academy Shortlists Have Arrived

As most of you reading probably know, there are nine Oscar categories that go through rounds of voting rather than just one ballot for the nominations. So each year the Academy narrows the field in these nine categories a few weeks to a month before the final nominations. Anything not listed below is no longer possible as a nominee in that specific category, since the ballots will only include these choices. (Curiously they don't do this winnowing process with one of the specialized categories, Best Animated Feature, so all 27 eligible films in that category are still possible as nominees.) The Academy will vote on the actual nominations between March 5th and March 10th and the Oscar nominatitons will be announced on March 15th, 2021. Then we'll have an unusually long wait for Oscar night on April 25th, 2021.

Here are the shortlists... 

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