This has been such a strange year! On January 8th, the list of the record 93 films competing for the Oscar International Feature award was finally unofficially announced (AMPAS still hasn’t published an official list). The record was partly a result of the COVID-related loosening of the screening requirements and a longer (15-month) eligibility period.
Online viewing has also made it
easier for people around the world- including me- to see all the nominated films. As of January 26, I have seen 52
and I will have access to about 20 more before the shortlist is announced on or
about February 9. One of the few good things about COVID!
1. Belarus was disqualified for “Persian Lessons” (which would have been a strong Oscar contender) because it was a majority Russian production with a North American director filmed in Belarus, but with no major Belarusian crew.
2. The Wrap reported that Algeria withdrew their film (why???).
3. Uzbekistan was disqualified after AMPAS received the film on time but asked for it to be converted into a different file format....The producers said they were crushed to learn about this the day of the deadline but were never told by the Uzbekistan Selection Committee.
4. Bhutan's "Lunana" was disqualified for unknown reasons, but I’m guessing it’s probably the same as Uzbekistan.
I- THE AMERICAS (19 films)
II- EASTERN EUROPE (21 films)
III- WESTERN EUROPE (17 films)
IV- ASIA (18 films)
V- AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST (18 films)
Last year, films from the Americas got exactly zero
spots on the shortlist and I wasn’t sure they would do better this year. But
the elimination of the elite committee will benefit traditional Oscar bait like
Canada, and films that skew older like Chile.
FRONTRUNNERS
Pros: A real crowd-pleaser and
older voters especially will love it. It’s funny and original but also has a
lot of insights about aging. Like “Honeyland” last year, it is a documentary that tells its story
like a narrative feature. Out of the
American submissions, it’s ranked #1 on IMDB and #2 on Letterboxd (behind
Mexico).-
Cons: It’s a small film and “Collective” (Romania) is expected to take the unofficial documentary “spot” on the shortlist…but maybe that won’t
matter with the expanded list of 15.
In A Nutshell: A Canadian woman travels to Vietnam to scatter the ashes of her adopted daughter.
Pros: A good, old-fashioned family drama. Oscar likes Canada, and the film’s focus on the legacy of the Vietnam War will resonate with American voters. Best known for comedy and her work with Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval is a fantastic dramatic actress.
Cons: Very little buzz, and Oscar tends to ignore films with a strong female lead.
DARK HORSES-
3. GUATEMALA- “La Llorona”
Pros: It’s a good film with a great
ending, about a very topical subject. Lots of buzz, and people are rooting for it. Won
Boston Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film and is one of only three films on the list nominated at the Spirt Awards (along with Bosnia and Ivory Coast).
Cons: Oscar doesn’t like horror
films (although this really isn’t a horror film) and this isn’t generally the
kind of film that gets selected here. The film gets off to a very slow start
and viewers may not stick with it long enough to get hooked. I have a strong feeling that this is going to be one of the surprise snubs when the list is announced.
Pros: Director Fernando Trueba
(“Belle Epoque”) is the only Oscar winner in the entire race. This is old-fashioned
filmmaking of the sort that almost always gets nominated…..
Cons: …..in the 1980s and 1990s. Reviews have been unenthusiastic, nobody is talking about the film, and American voters may not care too much about turbulent Colombian history.
5. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC- “A State of Madness” (Mis 500 locos)
Pros: The few people have seen it say it’s an
extremely well-done period drama….
Cons: No buzz….Nobody knows
anything about it and it’s not been featured in any of the viewing platforms
Pros: The film has some really
passionate fans (not sure why….) and the backing of Netflix. Definitely the
most widely seen film from this region, this year. It's #1 worldwide on Letterboxd (tied with Denmark and Romania).
Cons: It's not that good. This is absolutely not what
AMPAS usually likes- it’s a youth-oriented film filled with hip-hop dance sequences….the
lead character is enigmatic and introspective and you don't learn very much about him….The conflict the
heart of the film is poorly explained. While it's never boring,
UNLIKELY-
7. ECUADOR- “Emptiness” (Vacío)
Pros: Nobody knows about it, but
this Chinese-language film is one of my favorites among the 54 films I’ve seen
in the race. It’s an interesting, well-acted story that skillfully blends
drama, thriller and social commentary that builds to a satisfying conclusion-
something that most films this year fail to do.
Cons: It’s a small indie that absolutely nobody has seen.
8. ARGENTINA- “The Sleepwalkers” (Los sonámbulos)
Pros: Strong acting performances from an Oscar-winning country
Cons: It’s a very slow film, the characters aren't particularly likable or interesting, and not much happens until the big finale. Relationships between the characters are often vague or difficult to understand. Oscar rarely goes for female-centric pictures
9. PERU- “Song Without A Name” (Canción sin nombre)
Pros: Has gotten some strong reviews from auteur critics.
Cons: The film moves in fits and starts….far too slowly to make an impact here.
Outlook: A respectable finish, but no chance at an award.
NO CHANCE-
In A Nutshell: Not a Honduran film at all but rather six short films by
six directors from six Central American countries, revolving around a blackout
that affects the entire region.
Outlook: I’m so sad I missed seeing this one at the 2019 Latin American Film Festival!….Like most anthologies, people say that some of the shorts are better than others, though most also comment that the producers did a really excellent job of building the film around a common framework….They feel like they are all part of the same film. Ultimately, six Central American shorts are unlikely to score here but I’m excited to see it. Trivia: the film includes the first-ever Salvadoran director in the Foreign Oscar competition (the other five countries all compete separately).
12. VENEZUELA- “Once Upon A Time in Venezuela” (Érase una vez en Venezuela, Congo Mirador)
Outlook: The director does a really excellent job at staying neutral
(in her interviews, she is passionately pro-opposition) and telling the human
stories of the town. But not all the supporting stories are compelling and ultimately, this is one of those films that is more educational
than an Oscar nominee.
Outlook: This Netflix dramedy is a good but mostly forgettable film. I
personally felt they didn’t do enough with these four interesting
characters…..but Oscar rarely likes comedies anyway.
Outlook: Welcome,
Suriname! This is a respectable debut for Suriname (population: 590,000), the
second-smallest country in the competition this year....but this is very clearly a
debut film by a debut director with non-professional actors and crew from an emergin filmmaking country, and it
will have trouble competing with films from more developed countries. The trailer looks a bit "Afterschool Special".
15. BRAZIL- “Babenco: Tell Me When I Die”
Outlook: Oh dear. It’s difficult to criticize a film that is so clearly a labor of love…..But this abstract, poetic and above all incomprehensible documentary is painful to watch and seems far longer than its 75-minute running time. And if you haven’t seen Babenco’s films (I’ve seen one), forget about understanding anything they’re talking about. Even for those who like the film, Chile and Romania will be seen as the superior documentaries this year.
16.
Outlook: Although many Americans may remember this brief war to overthrow Manuel Noriega, this film is clearly a story aimed at local viewers, and it’s gotten fairly tepid reviews. As of January 26, it’s ranked dead-last on IMDB (third-to-last globally) and Letterboxd among the American submissions.
Outlook: This film falls under the category of “educational”. It’s a really slow and difficult film to watch, but it really does make you think about how much of wartime is spent waiting for things to happen...as well as the daily struggle to make sure troops have food, water and hygiene to stay alive. Other than Panama, this is the only other Latin American film in IMDB’s Bottom Ten.
Outlook: The most obscure film on the list (I had to add it to IMDB myself) and about a historical figure Americans will know absolutely nothing about. The trailer looks like a cross between a 1970s Soviet historical drama and a staged theatre play.
Outlook: This is a slow-moving
drama with lots of lingering shots of nature and very little character
development. Out of its league.
Now the statistics:
Genres: 1 Comedy (Uruguay), 11 Dramas,
3 Documentaries, 3 Thrillers and 1 Omnibus Anthology.
Number of countries who have participated in the past: 21.
Number of countries participating this year: A record 19.
Number of debuts: One, SURINAME.
Who’s Not Here?: Wow. Basically, everyone submitted this year. The only real absence is Haiti, which submitted a film just once in 2017.
Also absent are Puerto Rico (which is no longer invited) and Nicaragua which doesn’t have an active committee and probably didn’t have any films eligible. Ironically, Nicaragua has two co-productions in the race- “River Tales” (Luxembourg) was shot entirely in Nicaragua, and Central American anthology “Days of Light” (representing Honduras) has a segment made by a Nicaraguan director.
Number I predicted correctly- Well, I didn’t really do my full predictions but I did pretty badly, predicting only Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Peru….plus I predicted “14 Days, 12 Nights” for Canada last year and planned to predict it again this year until they announced “Funny Boy” early on.
Already Seen: I’ve actually seen most of these
movies- 11 out of 19- but I was only impressed by two- “Vacio” (A-) from
Ecuador, and “La Llorona” (A-) from Guatemala. “The Mole Agent” (B+) from Chile
was also well-done, although I don’t think I’m the target audience. The films
from Peru (B-) and Uruguay (B-) were fine, though not particularly memorable.
The ones from Argentina and Mexico (C+), Bolivia (C) and Venezuela (C+) all had strengths and weaknesses outlined
above….I didn’t like the films from Costa Rica (D) and Brazil
(F).
Film I'm most looking forward to seeing: I saw most of the films
I wanted to see, but I like shorts so I’m looking forward to seeing “Days of
Light”, which consists of six short films from six Central American countries. I’m
also looking forward to seeing “14 Days, 12 Nights” (I love Anne Dorval) and
“Wiren”.
Number of Female Directors: It was looking like this group would have a rare female majority….But when Arami Ullon wasn’t selected to represent Paraguay and Deepa Mehta was disqualified from representing Canada, that number fell to 47%....9 of the 19 films are helmed or co-helmed by women- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, plus one of the six directors for “Days of Light” (who is from Nicaragua). That’s still probably the highest rate ever.
Oldest and Youngest Directors: Spanish director Fernando Trueba (who is representing Colombia) is 65 and Costa Rican director Sofia Quiros Ubeda is 31.
Number of Languages Represented: Of course, Spanish is the dominant language in twelve films (it can be heard in four more). But indigenous languages are strongly represented this year with three films primarily in local languages- Guarani (Paraguay), Sranantongo (Suriname) and a mix of Quechua & Aymara (Bolivia). Two more have a large minority (Peru in Quechua; Guatemala in Kaqchikel Mayan). We also have French (Canada) and Portuguese (Brazil).
Number of countries with a realistic chance at making the shortlist: Not too many….Perhaps 4 or 5?
Who Benefits from the New Rules? Canada probably wouldn’t have made the Top 7 with the larger committee, but they have a very good chance at making the Top 15.
Who is Hurt? Peru, whose slim chances were dependent on a save.
Most Likely to Advance for the First Time: Definitely Guatemala.
Buzziest film: Chile’s “The Mole Agent”, with Guatemala and Mexico as runner-ups.
Controversies and Changes: Canada originally selected LGBT drama “Funny Boy”. When the film was released on Netflix a few weeks later, there was a lot of Internet chatter about how much of the film was in English. AMPAS agreed and disqualified the film….but Canada knew that was a strong possibility. It seems they had secretly sent a second film (“14 Days, 12 Nights”) along with “Funny Boy” in case it was disqualified.
Oscar History: Fernando Trueba won this award for Spain (“Belle Epoque”) way back in 1993, but is now representing Colombia.
Three directors have been selected before: Leticia Tonos (Dominican Republic) is in the race for the third time after “Love Child” and “Cristo Rey”, while Jayro Bustamente (Guatemala) directed his country’s last submission- “Ixcanul”- back in 2015. Lastly, we have Jorge Luis Sánchez (Cuba) who directed “El Benny”.
Deepa Mehta was disqualified this year but she previously got an Oscar nomination for Canada with “Water” and represented India with “Earth”.
I was really hoping that LGBT drama “End of the Century” would represent Argentina, and “The Night of the Moons” (by the same director of the wonderful “My Straight Son”) would represent Venezuela…..but that didn’t happen.
