2026 International Oscar Submissions- The Films from Latin America and Canada (16 films)

Here is a rundown of the 16 films submitted from North and South America. I've managed to see half. 

BEST OF THE REGION:

HAITI- "Kidnapping Inc." Okay, hear me out......Is "Kidnapping  Inc." going to win an Oscar? No. Is it this year's best example of serious "auteur cinematic filmmaking" on the Oscar longlist? No, not at all!  Is it the most entertaining film? Does it have the best cinematic backstory? Yes, definitely. 

Made on a shoestring budget in one of the world's most dangerous countries by a director who clearly loves making movies, "Kidnapping Inc." is a comedy-thriller about two low-level thugs involved in a series of high-level kidnappings. Production on the film was halted several times due to (1)- political instability, (2)- the COVID-19 pandemic, and (3)- the actual real-life kidnapping of several members of the crew. At several points, it seemed certain that the film would never be finished....but first-time director Bruno Mourral somehow persevered and rallied and made a messy, violent and deliriously fun thriller. If it was made in Hollywood, it would doubtlessly be a big commercial success....though Hollywood would probably make it lose the charm and energy of the Haitian actors. "Kidnapping Inc." is not a perfect film. There are so many subplots and tonal shifts that I'm not surprised that a lot of people get turned off. But it's funny, exciting and entertaining and packs a gut-punch of an ending. 

It's available on Amazon and I recommend that everyone give it a try. 

ECUADOR- "Chuzalongo"- Another film that hasn't gotten the best notices but that I personally loved. "Chuzalongo" is a Gothic fairy tale....if the Brothers Grimm took a trip to 19th century Ecuador. Drawing on themes from indigenous Quechua mythology, colonial race relations and good old-fashioned horror movie tropes (especially folk horror and vampires), "Chuzalongo" is the story of a mysterious, mute little boy who suddenly arrives in a drought-stricken village in Ecuador. The boy's arrival seems to have a magical effect on the local crops....but the miracle comes with a heavy price. Apparently a "chuzalongo" is a real mythological creature in South American folklore known for its ugly appearance and mischievous behavior, but the film rewrites the legend to make it childlike...and thus in many ways scarier. I loved the dark atmosphere of the film and the bloody finale.  

And here's the rest: 

ARGENTINA- "Belen" Belen is a solid, well-made film based on the true story of a young woman who went to the hospital with severe stomach pain and ended up unjustly imprisoned for nearly three years after police claimed she was involved in an illegal abortion. It's well-made but felt more "TV movie of the week" than I expected for this supposed frontrunner. The film felt very much like "Argentina 1985" which of course did get an Oscar nomination. It definitely could make the shortlist, especially now that it's on Amazon Prime. 

CANADA- "The Things You Kill"- Some really cool ideas come and go in this confusing Turkish-language thriller representing Canada....It often felt the director was trying to channel the late David Lynch...and like Lynch, there are some really intriguing moments (was his mother's death an accident? a cold-blooded murder?) and others that just do not seem to make any kind of sense. A lot of reviews seem to indicate that they understood more when they rewound the film, or watched it a second time...Well, most of the time that's not an option if you're watching in the cinema so I just found the film a bit  frustrating. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC- "Pepe" Honestly, this ridiculous waste of time is probably the worst film I've ever seen....ever. Blank screens, disembodied voices, random disconnected scenes of people chatting and wildlife footage of hippopotamuses....Awarding this Best Director in Berlin cheapened the whole festival for me. More below. 

PANAMA- "Beloved Tropic" This is a very sweet, very small film about a wealthy Chilean woman with dementia (played by the absolutely brilliant Chilean actress Paulina Garcia from "Gloria") and her caretaker....a Colombian immigrant to Panama who we learn early on is faking a pregnancy. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the film....but it follows a fairly predictable arc and isn't particularly memorable. 

PARAGUAY- "Under the Flags, the Sun" This meticulously researched documentary is an exceptionally difficult film to rate. Are you interesting in modern Paraguayan history? I am. I visited Paraguay in 2023 and I've read what is probably the only travelogue/history/comedy book about Paraguay ("At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay"). The makers of "Under the Flags, the Sun" have delved through hundreds (thousands?) of hours of documentary and news footage from news archives around the world to analyze the Stroessner dictatorship that ruled Paraguay from 1954-1989. It's always interesting (to me) but I think it's a very academic work that won't appeal to those who don't know anything about the country. I liked it. 

PERU- "Kinra" Oh dear....All I'll say is that this movie about a young Quechua youth drifting from his rural community to the city wasn't for me. Long, static shots that make me check and see whether the movie has frozen.....random conversations about growing potatoes and filling out forms on the Internet.....Very little character development.....just cinema verite of (improvised?) scenes with non-professional actors.....What makes things especially difficult is that the film is nearly three hours long and that so little happens. I couldn't get interested in this film at all but it's clear the director had such love and affection for this story and its characters.

 Number of Countries Participating this year: 16

Number of Countries That Have Participated in the Past: 22

Who’s Missing?: Well, poor PUERTO RICO is no longer invited (though they were invited to the Goyas last year) so the only major country missing is CUBA, though they had a very weak film year and have only sent films to the Oscars two of the past five years.

Also out: GUATEMALA (they formed a committee but probably didn't have films eligible), HONDURAS (last entered in 2020), NICARAGUA (last entered in 2010) and SURINAME (submitted once in 2020). 

FRONTRUNNERS:

1.   BRAZIL- "The Secret Agent" (Letterboxd: 3.9)

2.   ARGENTINA- "Belén" (3.9)

The two South American superpowers- Brazil and Argentina- have potential contenders. Brazil is back as returning champion for the first time ever with "The Secret Agent", a buzzy thriller set during the dictatorship (like last year's winner) that won Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes. The film has excellent reviews but I've heard the film is very cerebral and I think it could be a surprise snub on nomination morning in such a competitive year (though "Zone of Interest" and "Drive My Car") was cerebral). But for the shortlist, it's pretty much a lock. Less so "Belen". As mentioned, this legal drama is a bit "movie of the week" but its Amazon distribution and baity subject matter (abortion) will help. \

DARK HORSES

3.   COLOMBIA- "Un poeta" (A Poet) (4.0)

4.   CHILE- "La misteriosa mirada del flamenco" (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo) (3.8)

5.   MEXICO- "No nos moverán" (We Shall Not Be Moved) (3.7)

Comedy-drama "Un poeta" arguably has the best reviews of this group (I've personally heard better things about "A Poet" than "Secret Agent" and "Belen") but considerably less buzz....It's truly on the bubble for one of the last spots on the 15-film shortlist. This dark comedy is about a misanthropic, talented but unemployed poet who ends up mentoring a teenaged (and possibly more talented?) girl. I haven't seen it yet but if voters were required to see all the eligible films, then "A Poet" should make the finals easily.  

Previous winners CHILE and MEXICO should place well (though we'll never know) but aren't likely to make the Final 15. Mexico picked another black comedy "We Shall Not Be Moved" about a woman investigating the murder of her brother from fifty years before, which she believes was committed by government forces. It has good reviews but it was somewhat of a surprise choice for Mexico and I've heard that the film is divisive.  

Queer AIDS parable "The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo" won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes and it's one of those films that I'm trying not to read about before I see it. Set in a mining town in the 1980s where a mysterious new disease is rumored to be spread by gay men, reviews are generally excellent but the film has lost some of the buzz it earned earlier during the year. 

MIDDLE OF THE PACK

6.   CANADA- "The Things You Kill" (3.5)

7.   URUGUAY- "Agarrame fuerte" (Don't You Let Me Go) (3.6)

8.  PARAGUAY- "Bajo las banderas, el sol" (Under the Flags, the Sun) (3.9)

9.   ECUADOR- "Chuzalongo" (3.2)

10.   BOLIVIA- "La casa del sur" (approx. 3.2)

I've seen CANADA (too confusing), ECUADOR (Oscar doesn't like horror films, even when they are well-done like this one) and PARAGUAY (too niche/specialized) and don't think they are likely to advance. 

URUGUAY's spare 71-minute drama about a woman dealing with grief following the death of her freind is supposed to be very good, but almost certainly too small. It did manage a surprise Goya nomination earlier this year. And BOLIVIA, which was one of the last countries to announce their submission, picked an obscure drama that looks like it was shelved for four years after its 2021 premiere....."La casa del sur" tells the story of a woman who returns to the home she fled during Bolivia's military dictatorship. Absolutely nobody has seen it, it has barely gotten any festival play and its just here to wave the Bolivian flag. I do think it looks good (but very quiet) and I look forward to seeking it out. When I lived in Bolivia, the province this film takes place in (Tarija) was one of my favorite weekend spots. 

NO CHANCE

11.   HAITI- "Kidnapping Inc." (3.3)

12.   PANAMA- "Querido trópico" (Beloved Tropic) (3.6)

13.   COSTA RICA- "El monaguillo, el cura y el jardinero" (The Altar Boy, the Priest and the Gardener) (approx. 3.8)

14.   PERU- "Kinra" (3.5)

15.   VENEZUELA- "Alí Primera" (approx. 2.2)

I've already spoken about the three films that I've seen- HAITI sent a great film but it's too low-budget and lightweight to be considered. PANAMA is more serious but even more lightweight. It's a sweet, simple story that won't be remembered amongst 80+ films. PERU is a challenging watch that is terribly overlong. 

COSTA RICA's "The Altar Boy, the Priest and the Gardener" is an expose of a Catholic church scandal that shocked Costa Rica, about an adult victim who launches a legal case against the church who abused him when he was a minor. Word of mouth is good but this is probably the most obscure film on the longlist. There's hardly a single review online and it has no chance of getting noticed. As for VENEZUELA, musician biopic "Ali Primera" is described as pro-Chavez, leftist propaganda. It looks well-made but this sort of jingoistic film about an important national figure that Americans have never heard of won't have any chance of advancing. 

WORST MOVIE EVER MADE? 

16.   DOMINICAN REPUBLIC- "Pepe" (3.3)

Good God.....I had to watch this terrible waste of time in three or four sittings and came so close to giving up. Nearly plotless. "Pepe" is supposedly story of a hippo that escape from drug lord Pablo Escobar's private compound of exotic animals. The hippo speaks in a monotone that sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard (similar to the disembodied voice from last year's "Dahomey") but most of the film is random scenes of village life, wildlife footage of wild hippos with laughable voiceovers and pseudo-philosophical bullshit. It truly may be the worst movie ever made.  

FUN FACTS:

Genres:       Two documentaries (Costa Rica and Paraguay), one horror film (Ecuador), three genre-bending comedies (Colombia, Haiti and Mexico) and two sort of thrillers (Brazil, Canada). And one WTF experimental complete waste of time (Dominican Republic). The rest are straight dramas.

I’ve Already Seen: I’ve seen seven of the sixteen films- Canada, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay and Peru and I plan to see Argentina this month.

Film I’m Most Excited To See: Definitely Colombia’s buzzy “Un poeta”    

Number I Predicted Correctly: More than half….9/16- Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. Only Bolivia and Venezuela took me completely by surprise.

Big Four Festivals: 

·        Berlin-        Dominican Republic (Best Director, 2024), Paraguay

·        Cannes-     Brazil (Best Actor & Director), Chile (Un Certain Regard, Grand Prize), Colombia (Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard)

·        Sundance-  Canada (Best Director, International), Haiti

·        Venice-       None

Women Directors- 4/16 (25%) films were directed or co-directed by women: Ana Endara (Panama), Dolores Fonzi (Argentina), Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge (both Uruguay) and Carina Oroza (Bolivia)

 Oldest and Youngest Directors- I’m not 100% sure but I think the oldest is Ramiro Fierro, 59, the Colombian co-director of La casa del sur (Bolivia).  The youngest is 30-year old Diego Céspedes (Chile).

Languages – As always, Spanish dominates this region. Nine are entirely in Spanish, three more (Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay) are mostly in Spanish and one (Peru) is 50% Quechua and 50% Spanish. The rest are in Haitian Creole/French (Haiti), Portuguese (Brazil) and Turkish (Canada).

How Many Have a Chance at the Shortlist?- Five?  

Most Likely to Get Nominated/Shortlisted for the First Time- Uruguay…But that’s absolutely not going to happen.

Buzziest Films: Definitely “The Secret Agent”

Letterboxd Ratings (as of November 4, 2025):      Best:  Colombia (4.0), Worst: Venezuela (c. 2.3)

Dumbest Decision:  Hmm….I think five countries probably could have made better choices (including Bolivia, Canada and Peru), but I’d only classify DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and VENEZUELA as “dumb”. “Pepe”, as I mentioned earlier, is the worst film I’ve ever seen and “La Bachata de Bionico” was honored at SXSW so that wins for the dumbest move.

Controversies and Changes: None that I know of. The Haitian film was actually submitted last year but Haiti did not have a recognized Oscar selection committee and AMPAS allowed it to enter the following year.  

Oscar History: 

No previous Oscar nominees were submitted this year, although Sebastian Lelio tried to represent Chile and I imagine Philippe Falardeau probably tried to represent Canada.

Three directors have competed here before. Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil) was submitted for the third time (“Neighboring Sounds” and “Pictures of Ghosts”). Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias (Dominican Republic) and Leticia Jorge (Uruguay) are here for the second time, following “Cocote” and “Alelí” respectively.

Of the 16 countries, five have won the Oscar (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Mexico), two others have been nominated (Colombia and Peru), and two shortlisted (Panama and Venezuela). The other seven are waiting for their first trip to the second round, most notably including Uruguay (despite their “Place in the World” debacle).

Most Notable Omissions: 

  

Brazil had an incredibly tough decision where even making the six-film list of finalists was tough. Rural coming-of-age drama “Manas” (Venice), which had many Hollywood backers, was widely considered to be a close runner-up, but futurist sci-fi drama “The Blue Trail” (Berlin) also had quite a few fans.

Also out: “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake” (Argentina), “The Dog Thief” (Bolivia), “Vitoria” (Brazil), “Two Women” (Canada), “La ola” (Chile), “Bionico’s Bachata” (Dominican Republic), “Nanito” (Peru), “Dogs” (Uruguay), and “Zafari” (considered by both Peru and Venezuela)

Most Famous Face:  No big stars this year….Probably Wagner Moura from “The Secret Agent”

Last Year’s Race: Out of last year’s 16 entries, I managed to see all the films except Bolivia and Panama.  In terms of filmmaking, I can agree that “I’m Still Here” (A-) was beautifully acted and deserved its Oscar win, although it was not my favorite from the group. I really enjoyed “Aire”, the commercial sci-fi film from the Dominican Republic (A-), though I do understand that nobody else did.  I also thought “In Her Place” and “Back to Life” (both B+) were better than most and, though it's a very difficult watch, I was very impressed Jayro Bustamente's exceptional filmmaking of orphanage drama “Rita” (A-). The other nine were flawed: “Memories of a Burning Body” (B+), “Behind the Mist” (B+), “The Door is There” (B; educational but more an academic discussion than a film), “Yana-Wara” (B-), “Los ultimos” (B-),  “Sujo” (B-), “La Suprema” (B-), “Universal Language” (C; overrated) and “El Jockey” (brilliant beginning but gets more and more ridiculous as it goes on; C-)

2026 International Oscar Submissions- The Films from Eastern Europe (20 films)

It’s that time of year again!

The unofficial list is out and there are 86 finalists plus six films that seemingly got disqualified for a total of 92. I’m quite proud of myself because I predicted 42 out of these 92 countries correctly….and I am giving myself "extra credit" for three others because I predicting them in different years.  That’s almost 50%...my best record yet.

I’ve seen 34 of this year’s films and the overall quality is much better than last year. Since I’ve seen so many of the films, I’m going to try and do more “review”-style reporting, which is also a good way to thank the films that I’ve been sent as screeners.

Today we'll look at the films from Eastern Europe because I was fortunate to see the majority (12 of 20) of them this year. Here is a rundown of the 20 films submitted from the Eastern European region.

Let’s start with my two favorites….They’ll almost certainly be on my own personal “shortlist”:

BEST OF THE REGION: 

MONTENEGRO- “Tower of Strength” Despite it’s awkward English-language title (the Montenegrin title “Obraz” roughly translates as “honor”), “Tower of Strength” was definitely my favorite of the twelve films I’ve seen from the Eastern Euro region and - so far - of the 34 entries I've seen from around the world.  The first-ever Albanian-language film to represent Montenegro, “Tower of Strength” is about a family facing a heartbreaking moral dilemma...and nobody does these kinds of films better than Balkan filmmakers (my personal favorite, “Trap”, got Serbia to the shortlist way back in 2007). “Tower of Strength” is set during WWII in a rural area along the Yugoslavia (Montenegro)-Albania border, populated mostly by ethnic Albanian communities. A Nazi-allied Albanian militia is ethnically cleansing the area of Slavic Christians but one little boy manages to escape after his family is killed, and begs for asylum at the home of a highly respected Albanian family who has maintained neutrality during the war. The Fascist militia gives the family patriarch a choice – hand over the Christian boy, or his entire family will be brutally killed. Knowing a little bit of Albanian culture and Balkan history helps, though it’s not necessary to understand the high stakes in the film. Good and evil is universal. In some ways, "Obraz" is actually a very old-fashioned film and I think it might have been nominated in the 80s and 90s. While I generally don’t like “old-fashioned” films….“Tower of Strength” skillfully uses its old-school filmmaking to beautifully capture the lives of this Old World family (unlike, say, a film like Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan” which just comes across as dusty) with beautiful shots showing how people lived inside dark, traditional family homes. "Obraz" also does what the best International Feature submissions should do – it exposes us to a new culture and to that country's traditions, in this case the Albanian Kanun, a series of codified laws that define justice and honor. And while I certainly won't reveal how the film ends, I will say this....In a year where some wonderful films do not know how to finish their screenplays (Canada, Slovakia etc.), "Tower of Strength" provides a satisfying conclusion to its story. 

Do I think Montenegro has a chance at making the shortlist? No, sadly, I do not. ☹ With the new rules, only those films that can get voters to watch outside their assigned group will ever make the shortlist. But hopefully it will be seen by those who can appreciate it. And if any Oscar voters are reading, I hope you’ll give tiny Montenegro a chance! This is one of the films I can't stop thinking about and it deserves some Oscar love! 

GEORGIA- “Panopticon”- Another film that could use a better title….in English, this sounds like some of sci-fi drama when it’s actually a coming-of-age drama about toxic masculinity. Sandro is an 18-year old Georgian struggling with issues of faith, nationalism and sexuality in modern-day Georgia’s politically charged environment. He’s occasionally sympathetic….occasionally creepy…. and occasionally alarming….and having been to Georgia many times, probably a very realistic character. Some reviewers call Sandro an ‘incel’, but that’s inaccurate because he has a girlfriend who wants him to take her virginity…but his complicated feelings about religion seem to prevent him from taking action. This is a surprisingly sweet and well-acted story despite its tough subject matter, and one of the best character studies in this year’s competition. I would love to see this low-budget drama advance but I think it’s way too small to get voters’ attention. I would love to be wrong.

 And now let’s take a look at the others, in alphabetical order:

ARMENIA- “My Armenian Phantoms” A love letter to Armenian cinema, made by Tamara Stepanyan, the daughter of one of Armenia’s leading actors who passed away in 2021. You can feel the emotion and the pride that Stepanyan has for her father and his work. And if you have any interest in Armenian/Soviet cinema or culture, you’ll find this look through Armenian film archives fascinating (I recognized “Colour of Pomegranates”). However, this is kind of a niche subject that will probably go over the heads of most viewers.

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA- “Blum, Masters of Their Own Destiny” Emerik Blum was an innovative Yugoslavian industrialist who worked within the Communist economic system to create the most dynamic and productive company in the entire Eastern Bloc. While Mr. Blum was certainly an inspiring character, this documentary is really just a bunch of “talking heads” telling us how smart and wonderful he was. I agree that he was. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the film. But I expected more from Oscar nominee and Golden Berlin Bear winner Jasmila Zbanic, especially when Bosnia also had jet-black nursing home comedy “Pavilion”. 

BULGARIA- “Tarika” Bulgaria had a strong film year and many were surprised when “Tarika” was picked over some higher-profile films. “Tarika” is a “magical realism” story about a man whose superstitious fellow villagers believe his quiet, young daughter carries bad luck that is cursing the entire community. Year before, the girl’s mother either died, disappeared or “flew away”, depending on which rumors you choose to believe. “Tarika” is a slow film that works best when delving into its fantasy elements, and I wish it had leaned more into its folktale mythology. But it’s a sweet film that makes you think and I can see why it is was picked. 

CROATIA- “Fiume o Morte!” The oddest and most original of this year’s twelve documentaries, “Fiume o morte!” consists of a series of historical re-enactments using real residents of the town of Rijeka (in Croatia)/Fiume (in Italian), of an absurd but true incident from 1919 when an Italian poet/aristocrat briefly became the dictator of an independent city-state centered on the town. The film is very funny, very informative, and slightly too long…..and at the end has quite a lot to say about ethnic identity, big dreams, nationalism and the futility of war. And what I’ve read online, it definitely has its fans.

CZECH REPUBLIC- “I'm Not Everything I Want to Be” The Czech Republic deserves some kind of editing Oscar for this documentary, which is composed entirely of still photographs to tell its story. 73-year old photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková narrates her own story, which begins in Communist Czechoslovakia, and details the Prague Spring, the country’s underground LGBT movement, a fascinating look at 1960s Japan, emigration to Germany and the fall of Communism. Having said that, Jarcovjáková is a grouchy and sullen protagonist and while the historical context is interesting, it’s hard to get into her life story. But, the photo collages are so well integrated that it almost seems like you’re watching a regular documentary

ESTONIA- “Rolling Papers” Richard Linklater goes to Estonia…”Rolling Papers” is a slacker comedy-drama about a young man trying to find his purpose. Director Meel Paliale made the film at age 26, making him the youngest director in the competition this year. Many of us can remember a time when we were like the 20-something main character…unsure of what we wanted to accomplish in life and with an exaggerated sense of self-importance….The film actually starts off looking like a buddy comedy, as our protagonist’s new best friend convinces him to leave his shift at the convenience store and go skinny dipping in the lake nearby. The friend is a far more interesting character and maybe I would have liked it more if it focused on the more free-wheeling Silo rather than the moody Sebastian. This is a cute film and I recommend seeing it…but sometimes the 20-something angst eventually grates just like a real 20-something does.

LATVIA- “Dog of God” Last year, Latvia got their first two Oscar nominations, winning one (Best Animated Film) for the gentle, wordless “Flow”. This year they picked another animated film but the two couldn’t be more different. “Dog of God” is a phantasmagorical, scatological acid trip of a movie, set in a Latvian village and animated using rotoscope. A wholly originally mix of Brother’s Grimm, Eastern European humor and Japanese horror-anime, mixing class conflict with werewolves and witchcraft…and a rather odd ending, this is one of the most fun films on the list. International Oscar voters will probably hate it, especially if they’re looking for another family-friendly “Flow”….but I really enjoyed this one.

LITHUANIA- “Southern Chronicles” This is apparently the highest-grossing film in Lithuanian history and it’s numbers (e.g. 4.1 on Letterboxd) show that it must really resonate with local audiences. I didn’t like it at all. This is a film set in the early days of Lithuanian independence about a guy trying to figure out what to do with his life in the early 1990s. (it feels a lot like the Estonian film, though Lithuania’s entry is far more blue-collar). I thought the film was pretty ugly to look at; that may have been on purpose to capture the era of financial difficulties. Maybe something got lost in the translation? I found the characters unlikable and the film was neither funny nor dramatically interesting.

SERBIA- “Sun Never Again” This slim 72-minute film starts off with a charming look at a village celebration. Told from a young boy’s point of view, it focuses on a small Serbian town faced with industrial mining. The day after watching it, I could barely remember seeing it.

SLOVAKIA- “Father” Hmmm….The less you know about this film, the better it will be. All I will say is that it’s about how a happy middle-class family deals with an unexpected tragedy. While it occasionally veers into soap opera territory, it’s still a very powerful film with a great performance by Milan Ondrik (as the titular “father”). There are some odd moments….like when Ondrik runs completely naked in an oddly gratuitous scene….and some great moments…..at the birthday party at the end of the film….and unfortunately an ending that makes me wish the film ended just two minutes before the credits.

I haven’t been able to see Albania, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Ukraine but would love to see all of them. 

 Number of Countries Participating this year: 20

Number of Countries That Have Participated in the Past: All 24

Who’s Missing?:        RUSSIA continues to boycott the Oscars due to their own invasion of a peaceful neighboring country…..But Russia is represented by a documentary from Denmark which we’ll take a look at in a later entry.

KOSOVO announced a call for submissions after controversially failing to do so last year; they received one entry (they didn’t name the film) but decided not to send it, leaving them absent for the third year in a row. Local filmmakers, including Isa Qojsa who directed their first-ever submission, criticized the selection committee and noted the important of Kosovo being represented, even if they had no chance at a nomination. I agree.

Also absent: the tiny film industries of BELARUS and MOLDOVA, which last nominated films in 2020 and 2023 respectively.

FRONTRUNNERS:

 

1.    UKRAINE- “2000 Meters to Andriivka” (Letterboxd: 4.2)

2.   SLOVENIA- “Little Trouble Girls” (3.6)

So, even though Eastern Europe sent a big group of films, I don’t think they’ll get more than one or two spots on the shortlist.  The most likely is documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka”, which won Best International Documentary at Sundance (just as “20 Days in Mariupol” did in 2023). Sympathy is still sky high for the brave soldiers in Ukraine, and “Andriivka” is in some ways a more daring effort, trading a city under siege for a platoon travelling across enemy territory. And although I probably won’t be able to see it until its December 1^st streaming date, it’s also supposed to be very, very good.

Slovenia’s sexually charged choir drama “Little Trouble Girls” could be Slovenia’s best-ever chance at the shortlist. While I don’t actually think it will make it, it recently made the shortlist for the British Independent Film Awards, got a U.S. distributor via Kino Lorber and an online release in the UK. Sadly, these distribution tallies count more than the quality of the film. “Little Trouble Girls”, about two high-school girls and their choirmaster, just got a 5-star review from The Guardian and is gunning for one of the last spots on the shortlist. I couldn’t get a screener so I don’t know how “Oscary” it is.

DARK HORSES:

 

These two countries are praying for a miracle.

3.   MACEDONIA- “Tale of Silyan” (3.6)

4.   POLAND- “Franz” (3.2)

Does anyone think Agnieszka’s biopic of Franz Kafka deserves to make the Oscar shortlist. Hell, no. Reviews have been tepid and the film mostly called “a mess”. But Holland is a talented director that Oscar likes, she knows how to campaign and “Charlatan” wasn’t that good either. So, “Franz” is hoping for that “Bardo” slot (I liked “Bardo”! But it wasn’t a Top 15 film, and it was also a mess).  As for “Tale of Silyan”, a Macedonian documentary about a man, a stork and local folklore, I’m ranking it high for three reasons- (1)- it won a small award at Venice, (2)- it got a National Geographic distributor, and (3)- the same director got a surprise Oscar nomination for “Honeyland”. But while “Silyan” is supposed to be very good, it’s also supposed to be a bit slow so I expect it won’t quite make the cut

UNLIKELY BUT WILL PLACE WELL:

  

5.   CROATIA- “Fiume o Morte!” (4.0)

6.   SLOVAKIA- “Father” (3.5)

7.   MONTENEGRO- “The Tower of Strength” 

8.   CZECH REPUBLIC- “I’m Not Everything I Want To Be” (4.1)

I already discussed these four films above. My favorite, MONTENEGRO, is too small with zero buzz….and not everyone seems to love the film as much as I do. CZECH REPUBLIC is a critical darling but it’s a tough watch and I’m not sure it will do well with mainstream voters (I simply could not get into it….). CROATIA, another historical documentary, is probably too odd…but it will probably place well. The same goes for the family drama from SLOVAKIA...I expect it will do well, but not make the Top 15.  

MIDDLE OF THE PACK: 

9.   GEORGIA- “Panopticon” (3.4)

10.   ROMANIA- “Traffic” (3.4)

11.   AZERBAIJAN- “Taghiyev: Oil” (3.6)

12.   HUNGARY- “Orphan” (3.1)

Not much to say about this group....”Panopticon” from GEORGIA is one of my favorites but it’s a small low-budget drama that nobody is talking about. HUNGARY's "Orphan" comes from the Oscar-winning director of "Son of Saul" and it's a baity period drama about a boy looking for his absent father. But reviews have been poor and it's got some of the worst numbers from critics sites. I live in AZERBAIJAN and historical drama "Taghiyev: Oil", an expensive biopic and first film in a trilogy about one of the country's most beloved philanthropists, has gotten excellent reviews. It's also produced by the daughter of the President. But it's probably a story that's of greater interest to those who know Taghiyev's story. And finally, we have migration drama "Traffic", produced by Cristian Mungiu, about a group of exploited Romanian workers living in the Netherlands. It should finish in the middle of the pack. 

  

BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR:

13.   LATVIA- “Dog of God” (3.2)

14.   ALBANIA- “Luna Park”

15.   BULGARIA- “Tarika” (3.2)

16.   ESTONIA- “Rolling Papers” (3.7)

From LATVIA, we have nightmarish animated film “Dog of God” which is a lot of fun….but will likely freak out most voters while neighboring ESTONIA’s philosophical slacker movie just doesn’t seem like the kind of movie honored her. BULGARIA’s “Tarika” is interesting but probably too small and too slow to get many votes.

I haven’t seen “Luna Park” from ALBANIA, a well-reviewed coming-of-age drama about a mother and son living through economic turmoil in 1997 when a series of pyramid schemes collapsed. It looks very good…but it’s one of the most obscure entries on the list and has the fewest votes of any country in this group on Letterboxd (2^nd to last on IMDB). Even if it gets high scores, it likely won’t be able to make an impact.

BOTTOM TIER

 

17.   BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA- “Blum: Masters of Their Own Destiny”

18.   LITHUANIA- “Southern Chronicles” (4.1)

19.   ARMENIA- “My Armenian Phantoms”

20.   SERBIA- “Sun Never Again”

I’ve already discussed these four also-rans. I enjoyed seeing all four (well….maybe not Lithuania) but they aren’t good enough to compete here. ARMENIA is a lovely documentary but requires a strong interest in the subject matter (Armenian/Soviet cinema) and while BOSNIA is well-done, it’s really just a well-researched bunch of talking heads talking about an admittedly great man. LITHUANIA is clearly intended for a local audience and didn’t seem like a “good” film to me, while SERBIA is slight and forgettable.

FUN FACTS:

Genres:       We have five documentaries (that’s 25%!), two comedy-dramas (Estonia and Lithuania) plus one bizarre horror-animation film (Latvia). The other 12 are straight dramas.

I’ve Already Seen: I’ve seen twelve of the twenty films (See above)

Film I’m Most Excited To See: Definitely Ukraine’s “3000 Meters to Andriivka”, mostly because it’s the favorite.

Number I Predicted Correctly: 7/20- Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Big Four Festivals: 

·        Berlin-        Armenia (Forum), Czech Republic (Panorama), Slovenia (14+)

·        Cannes-     N/A

·        Sundance-  Ukraine (World Documentaries)

·        Venice-       Hungary, Macedonia, Slovakia

“Orphan” was the only film to play in the Main Competition of a major festival.

Women Directors- 8/20….That’s 40%! A possible record- Urska Djukic (Slovenia), Agnieszka Holland (Poland), Tamara Kotevska (Macedonia), Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania), Tereza Nvotova (Slovakia), Tamara Stepanyan (Armenia), Klara Tasovska (Czech Rep.) and Jasmila Zbanic (Bosnia)

 

Oldest and Youngest Directors- Worldwide, 76- year old Agnieszka Holland (Poland) is the oldest director competing this year and 27-year old Meel Paliale (Estonia) is the youngest.

Languages – We have two films in Albanian (Albania, Montenegro) and two in Serbo-Croatian (Bosnia and Serbia), plus one each in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Georgian, German (Poland), Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene and Ukrainian….. and a dialect of Italian (Croatia). The Bosnian film is fairly multi-lingual (Bosnian + German and English). 

How Many Have a Chance at the Shortlist?-  Hmmm….Not many… Maybe four?

Most Likely to Get Nominated/Shortlisted for the First Time- Nominated? Ukraine. Shortlisted? Slovakia….But neither one is especially likely to happen.

Buzziest Films: Probably Franz Kafka biopic “Franz”….but that’s mostly because of Holland’s name.

Letterboxd Ratings (as of November 1, 2025):      Best: Ukraine (4.3)….Worst: Montenegro (approximately 2.8), which seems absolutely impossible (and unfair!) since it’s probably the best film I’ve seen on the list so far.

Dumbest Decision:  Hmmm….I think some of these countries made mistakes though I’m not sure anyone made a “dumb” decision. Macedonia certainly had a tough pick between critical darling “DJ Ahmed” and documentary “Tale of Silyan” and I think “DJ” would have had a better chance of getting nominated….but Tamara Kotevska has gotten to the shortlist before. And I loved "Pavilion" but it's hard to call BOSNIA "dumb" for picking a solid (though ordinary) documentary from a former Oscar nominee. So I'm voting for LITHUANIA for picking a commercial hit over Locarno winner "Toxic". 

Controversies and Changes:  The Czech Republic had a controversy when the Czech Academy sent voters a three-film shortlist with a “recommendation” to select “Broken Voices”, since they said it had the best chance with American Oscar voters. One of the rival films – “Caravan” - said it was ridiculous to “recommend” a film to voters, that it showed favoritism and that the process should be restarted. In the end, Czech voters selected the third film on the list – documentary “I’m Not Everything I Want To Be”- possibly due to backlash.

In Serbia, the selection system is reportedly considered so corrupt that just two obscure films were submitted. Ironically, that led to the first arthouse film being selected in years. Here’s a good article in Serbia here: https://www.danas.rs/kultura/dimitri...dat-za-oskara/

Oscar History: Lots of big names here. Five directors have already made it to the nomination stage.

László Nemes (Hungary) and Mstyslav Chernov (Ukraine) already won Oscars, for Best International Feature (“Son of Saul”) and Best Documentary Feature (“20 Days in Mariupol”) respectively. Agnieszka Holland (Poland) has three nominees under her belt (Best Screenplay for “Europa Europa”, and Best International Feature for “Angry Harvest” and “In Darkness”). Jasmila Žbanić (“Quo Vadis, Aida?”) and Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”) have one Oscar nomination apiece.

Agnieszka Holland is in the International Oscar race for the fifth time – three times for Poland and once each for West Germany and the Czech Republic. Jasmila Žbanić is representing Bosnia and László Nemes is representing Hungary for the third time. Here for the second time: Mstyslav Chernov (Ukraine; “20 Days in Mariupol”), Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria; “Aga”), Tamara Kotevska (Macedonia; “Honeyland”), Florenc Papas (Albania, “Open Door”) and Nikola Vukčević (Montenegro; “The Kids From Marx & Engels Street”).

Of the 20 eligible countries, four have won the Oscar (Bosnia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland), five others have been nominated (Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Macedonia and Romania), and four shortlisted (Armenia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine). The other seven are waiting for their first trip to the second round, the most surprising of which is Slovakia.

Most Notable Omissions: 

  

The most notable omission this year is Sundance Film Festival Audience Award winner “DJ Ahmet”, a feel-good movie that many were saying was a dark horse for an Oscar nomination. The other two major absences are Locarno Golden Leopard winner “Toxic” (Lithuania) and Radu Jude’s Berlin Best Screenplay winner “Kontinental 25” (Romania).

Also out: “Broken Voices” (Czech Republic), “Frka” (Croatia), “Grey Bees” (Ukraine), ““Growing Down” (Hungary), “Pavilion” (Bosnia-Herzegovina) and “Windless” (Bulgaria)

Most Famous Face: Hmmm….No huge international stars in this group (especially because 25% of these films are documentaries) but Ivan Trojan (Czech Republic), Milan Ondrík (Slovakia) and Nik Xhelilaj (Albania) will likely be familiar to those who follow this category year after year.

Last Year’s Race: I saw 16/18 films last year and the Eastern European group was pretty great. Three films-  “Flow” (A-), “Three Kilometers to the End of the World” (A) and “Waterdrop” (A-) would have made my shortlist….and maybe “Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev” (B+) would have too. Also good: “Drowning Dry” (B+)….”The Antique”, “Family Therapy”, “My Late Summer”, “Semmelweis” and “Waves” (B). Also seen “Hungarian Dressmaker” and “Under the Volcano” (B-),  “Supermarket” (C+), “Triumph” (C), “8 Views of Lake Biwa” (D) and “La Palisiada” (F). I failed to see the films from Croatia (“Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day”, which I really wanted to see) and Serbia (“Russian Consul”, which I didn’t).