Index | Pic | Dir | Actress | Actor | Supp Actress | Supp Actor | Foreign |Screenplays | Visual | Aural |Animation
91st Oscars. Oscar Contenders of 2018 (for the 2019 Ceremony) - For prediction, discussion, entertainment purposes
29 of 87 SUBMISSIONS
Part 2 Germany through Norway
Last Update October 23rd, 2018
Afghanistan through Georgia | Germany through Norway | Pakistan through Yemen |
coverage of this Oscar race:
all the trailers | all the debut directors | all 20 female directors
| previously submitted auteurs | Nathaniel's rankings |
12 international hunks | LGBT entries and Trivia |
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Germany NEVER LOOK AWAY 188 minutes The man behind the Oscar winning The Lives of Others returns with a long drama about a relationship between two art students that the father of one of them works to destroy. Not Selected: 3 Days in Quiberon, Balloon, The Captain, In the Aisles, The Invisibles, Mack the Knife, My Brother Simple, The Silent Revolution, Tehran Taboo and Transit (reviewed) were the 10 other finalists. |
Greece POLYXENI A young Greek woman adopted into a wealthy family is unaware that people are trying to sabotage her inheritance. Not selected: A couple of possibilities were Pity about a man addicted to sadness and Her Job about an older woman joining the workforce |
Hong Kong OPERATION RED SEA 142 minutes Already played US theaters A Navy marine corps on a hostage rescue operation in this action thriller. Dante Lam was previously submitted for To the Fore (another action thriller). Though a Hong Kong film hasn't been nominated since the early 1990s, they did make the January shortlist recently with Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster (2013) |
Hungary SUNSET 142 minutes As expected it's the sophomore feature from laslzo Nemes who won Hungary the Oscar with his debut Son of Saul. This one is a drama about a milliner Not Selected: Genezis which is three stories with Biblical themes but about actual events in Hungary. |
Iceland WOMAN AT WAR 101 minutes US Distribution but no date of release yet Iceland made a great choice with this memorable sophomore effort from previously submitted director of Of Horses and Men. Reviewed right here. Not Selected: Other Icelandic films this year were And Breathe Normally about two women, one a refugee, forming a bond, addiction drama Let Me Fall from the previously submitted director of Life is a Fishbowl. |
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India VILLAGE ROCKSTARS 87 minutes A drama about a girl in Northeast India who wants to start a rock band. Not Selected: India's giant film industry has hundreds of options each year though Oscar rarely responds. One movie we had our eye on was the writer biopic Manto.
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Indonesia MALINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS 93 minutes A drama about a woman haunted by the man she killed when he tried to rob her house. Not selected: They skipped the imaginative sibling drama The Seen and Unseen which is an incredible movie (sigh) |
Iran NO DATE, NO SIGNATURE 104 minutes A coroner fears he is responsible for a child's death after an autopsy. This is Jalilvand's second feature and both are multiple prize winners from various festivals. Not Selected: their other finalists were No. 17 Soheila by Mahmoud Ghaffariand, and The Lost Strait by Bahram Tavakkoli. |
Iraq THE JOURNEY 82 minutes A woman considering an "unthinkable act" is given a chance to see the potential consequences of her actions. |
Israel THE CAKEMAKER 113 minutes An LGBT love triangle drama. This is a debut feature from the gay Israeli director. Already had a US theatrical run Not Selected: The other finalists this year were trans high school drama Flawless (also known as The Prom), the coming of age Ethiopian/Israeli war drama Fig Tree (reviewed), the father son drama Laces, and a teen eating disorder drama Noble Savage. |
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Italy DOGMAN 102 minutes Won Best Actor AND the Palm Dog at Cannes. It's about a gentle dog groomer who ends up terrorized by a former boxer. 2019 release from Magnolia Not Selected: Italy released a list of finalists. The other 20 they were considering were: Bloody Richard, Boys Cry, Caina, L'esodo, If Figlio Sospeso, The Girl in the Fog, Happy as Lazzaro, Imperfect Age, Just Like My Son, Like a Cat on a Highway, Little Tito and the Aliens, Manuel, Napoli Velata, Nome di Donna, On my Skin, The Place, Quanto Basta, Una Storia Senza Nome, There's No Place Like Home, and Where I've Never Lived. |
Japan Japanese Opens November 23rd in the US from Magnolia Pictures After its Palme d'Or win it was a natural for Japan to submit though they often make strange choices. This time they stuck with the critical darling about a makeshift family of thieves living on the margins of society who take in a young abused girl whose parents dont even go looking for her. |
Kazakhstan AYKA 100 minutes This film won the Cannes Best Actress award. This is only the director's second narrative feature. His first, Tulpan, was submitted in 2008. |
Kenya SUPA MODO 74 minutes A village rallies to help a young terminally ill girl feel like the superhero she dreams of being. A debut feature. Not Selected: Though the director of the banned lesbian film Rafiki (Reviewed) was able to pressure the government into allowing it to screen to make it eligible, Kenya went with another film anyway. |
Kosovo THE MARRIAGE 97 minutes Romantic drama and gay love triangle (with political content given the Balkans history). A woman is unaware that her fiance is in love with his best friend. It's the first Kosovan film to feature a gay sex scene. The director has previously won a short film jury prize at Sundance. |
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Latvia TO BE CONTINUED 95 minutes A documentary following five children over two years time as they start school. The director is 83 and still working and has received lifetime achievement awards. |
Lebanon CAPERNAUM 120 minutes Opens December 14th in US theaters Nadine Labaki's Cannes sensation at Cannes, is about a child suing his parents. This is her third film submitted by Lebanon after arthouse hits Caramel and Where Do We Go Now? |
Lithuania WONDERFUL LOSERS: A DIFFERENT WORLD Italian, English, Dutch A documentary about the cyclists on professional teams that make up the back of the pack, and have no right to personal victory. |
Luxembourg GUTLAND 107 minutes Currently streaming on Amazon Prime A noir about a German thief discovering a small Luxembourg village has secrets of its own. Starring Vicky Kreips (The Phantom Thread) and Frederic Lau (Victoria). |
Macedonia 104 minutes A dramedy about a man who gives his father a cake made with stolen marijuana to relieve his pain. Soon drug dealers and neighbors are after him. |
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Malawi 145 minutes The first ever submission from Malawi is a lesbian drama about two prostitutes seeking refuge in each other. |
Mexico 135 minutes Opens December 14th in US Theaters. Alfonso Cuaron's gorgeous memoirish drama watches a maid and the family she works for throughout a tumultous year (1970) in Mexico City. Reviewed right here. Not Selected: Mexico's finalists were El Angel en el Reloj, El Buquinista, El Club de los Insomnes, Devil's Freedom, Eternal Feminine , Everything Else, Gaze of the Sea, Las Tinieblas, Museo, Tigers Are Not Afraid, Time Share and El Vigilante . |
Montenegro 81 minutes A retired detective's daughter goes missing. Berkuljan said he wanted to make a thriller because it's a genre often neglected in cinema at home. |
Morocco 112 minutes An ensemble drama about the lives and socioeconomic status of characters in Casablanca |
Nepal 138 minutes Panchayat refers to an old style of local political systems in South Asian countries in which five elders would settle disputes between individuals and villages. Not Selected: The only other Nepalese movie we were aware of this year was Sunkesari which is a horror drama set in an ancient hotel. |
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The Netherlands 123 minutes Available to Stream now on Netflix World War II drama about a banker and his brother who work a banking fraud right under Nazi noses in occupied Netherlands, to fund the resistance. Not Selected: The other 8 finalists were Brothers, Catacombe, Cobain, Craving, Messi & Maud, Life is Wonderful, Rafael, and Redbad |
New Zealand 97 minutes A documentary about the designer Guo Pei who is striving to become part of the world of Haute Couture and gets a big break when Rihanna wears her dress to the Met Gala |
Niger
96 minutes A playful charming movie about Western resistance and influence when a girl educated in the West pines for her college boyfriend when she goes back home to Niger. Gorgeous costumes! |
Norway 106 minutes Already played US theaters A Pakistani Norwegian teenager is kidnapped nd taken to Pakistan (where she has never been) and must learn to adapt to her parent's culture. (Weird trivia note: this was a finalist LAST year for Norway so we thought it was ineligible but apparently it's Norwegian released was pushed back for the new eligibility window.) Not Selected: Surprisingly they passed on Erik Poppe's terrorism drama U-July 22 given its buzz and Poppe's history. |
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