The shortlist comes out Monday so let's take a look at the largest (sort of) and most interesting group....the films from the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific countries submitted 22 films (possibly a record?) but five of them somehow ended up disqualified by AMPAS, leaving us with only 17. I saw twelve out of 22, which were mostly very good....
I'd like to take a moment to highlight China and India this year....China and India have enormous film industries that produce a lot of wonderful films but their selection committees are notorious for making ridiculous (often downright laughable) choices. Thank you to both committees for sending strong films for the first time in years! Even if neither film makes the shortlist in this extremely competitive year, both countries will do well in future if they keep sending films like these.
Here are mini-reviews of the twelve films that I've see....This is a good group. The top five could potentially make my own personal shortlist:
BEST OF THE REGION:
KYRGYZSTAN- "Black Red Yellow" "Black Red Yellow", the first Kyrgyz film ever to win Best Film at a Class-A film festival (Shanghai 2025), is a story of star-crossed lovers living in a small conservative village. Told in three somewhat slow-moving chapters, their story forms the basis of a (rather chaste) village soap opera. I've always felt that Kyrgyzstan consistently sends some of the best dramas, which sadly have never been recognized by Oscar. "Black Red Yellow" intertwines Kyrgyz cultural traditions like carpetmaking into its heartbreaking story. But it's so obscure and small.....and also a bit slow-moving. Variety compares the style to Edward Yang and Yasujiro Ozu....two directors whose works are way too slow for me. But I thought "Black Red Yellow" was charming....and I love when a movie's ending so perfectly explains its beginning (no spoilers).
TAJIKISTAN- "Black Rabbit, White Rabbit" Although Tajikistan's "Black Rabbit, White Rabbit" was mysteriously disqualified, this "magical realism" drama focusing on a number of intersecting stories set around a "film-within-a-film" is funny, quirky, original and weird. Conservative Iran and (relatively) liberal Tajikistan largely share the same spoken language (Farsi and Tajik are written in different alphabets but are mostly the same in spoken speech) which means that Iranian directors like Shahram Mokri can go to Tajikistan and make films without Islamic censorship rules and still work in the Persian language. In fact, three of Tajikistan's four Oscar submissions were directed by Iranians. "Black Rabbit, White Rabbit" is difficult to explain. Imagine David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" but set in Tajikistan, with a very playful sense of humor. Scenes and dialogues repeat themselves....The "intersecting stories" have very different tones, careening from comedy to drama to thriller to fantasy. Sometimes you're not sure what's going on. I usually hate that...but with "Black Rabbit" you're happy to just go along for the ride. And, unlike "Mulholland Drive", it sort of makes sense by the end of the film. Charming.
INDIA- "Homebound" With Martin Scorsese as executive producer and now streaming on Netflix, I think "Homebound" is going to make the shortlist. The film festival synopsis implies that "Homebound" is about two friends who are trying to get into the police academy. But that's really just the first 20 minutes (sort of....) This is a film about why modern-day India is the way it is. It's about how Indian youth see their future. It's about dignity, it's about caste, it's about what it's like for religious minorities.....It's about who has what opportunities...And in the second half, we learn the film is actually about something else. I've lived in South Asia and I understand more now after watching "Homebound". A film reviewer once said Iranian films were both interesting and challenging because characters often make decisions that were natural for Iranians but difficult to understand or justify for Western viewers. I frequently thought of this during "Homebound" but it brings home the fact that differences in values systems and attitudes to family, country and societal expectations would naturally lead characters to make different decisions than we would. And isn't that a reason to go to the movies? It's available on Netflix.
MONGOLIA- "Silent City Driver"
AUSTRALIA- "The Wolves Always Come at Night"
Bravo Mongolia. This nation of 3.5 million people had the best Asian film in the competition last year and this year, two beautiful Mongolian-language films are in my Top 5. If only all of these films weren't so sad!
The grimly beautiful "Silent City Driver" deservedly won the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in 2024 for its story of two sad souls - a hearse driver who has just been released from prison, and a young woman presumably doing sex work. It's one of those films where the less you know, the better but it does have one of the most memorable and shocking endings of the year. "The Wolves Always Come at Night" is a documentary in the style of "The Story of the Weeping Camel" in that the nomadic family really does seem to be part of the filmmaking (the couple is credited as screenwriters) and its always unclear where the line is between fiction and reality. The first half follows a family happily living a nomadic existence, but facing increasingly difficult environmental conditions due to climate change. When most of their livestock is killed, they reluctantly move to the city. The second half, which is somewhat less successful, follows their adjustment to living in "modern" Mongolia, as part of a slum-like gathering of gers. The access the Australian director got is nothing short of incredible. It's available for free on BBC iPlayer if you are in the UK or have a UK VPN.
And here's the rest:
CAMBODIA- "Tenement" A spooky Cambodian-Japanese horror flick set in a decrepit Cambodian apartment building ...and you can clearly see the influences from both J-Horror and Southeast Asian horror (and also - am I wrong? - "Rosemary's Baby"?). In the film, a young Cambodian woman and her Japanese boyfriend visit her distant relatives in Phnom Penh that her mother never mentioned....in what quickly turns out to be a cursed and/or haunted building. There are some moments of horror brilliance ....Without spoilers, there is the traditional Cambodian dancer, dancing alone in her apartment....and the opening possession scene.....If only the film made sense! There's a lot of interesting background story here but very little is explained and one gets the sense that it all really does does have a point deep, deep down.....Anyway it's an enjoyable horror movie that Oscar voters probably would have hated. I'd love to see what the directors come up with next. Now available on Amazon.
HONG KONG- "The Last Dance" I'm shocked that the highest-grossing HK film of all-time is this quiet family drama about Taoist funeral traditions and not some Jackie Chan martial arts movie. But there it is. "The Last Dance" follows three main characters- an aging, conservative Taoist priest who specializes in funeral rites, his daughter (a paramedic) with whom he's always had a contentious relationship because of Taoist attitudes towards women, and a wedding planner who switches to funerals when his business goes bust during COVID-19. This is a good movie! But it sometimes moves awkwardly between its three main characters, and the running time is a bit too long (like most of this year's Asian films....). But it's solid. Now available on AppleTV.
INDONESIA- "Sore, Wife From the Future" Based on a successful web series, this Indonesian film combines "Groundhog Day", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "Sleepless in Seattle" and Korean soap operas for an entertaining romp through Croatian scenery and time travel. Jonathan is an Indonesian photographer living a seemingly happy life in Croatia (why Croatia? well, that's explained later) when he is confronted by Sore, a woman who claims to be his soulmate visiting from the future. The film starts off as a light comedy and gradually veers towards more serious drama. I can see why this film would be a box-office hit at home but it's probably too much of a genre mix for the Oscars. But it's a fun film to watch and think about. Extra points for a rather brilliant editing sequence in the film's finale.
KAZAKHSTAN- "Cadet" This Kazakh horror-drama was disqualified due to a conflict of interest (one of the film's main crew members was also on Kazakhstan's Oscar selection committee). It's an interesting film about a female teacher who gets a job at a strict military school where she tries to enroll her oft-bullied, feminine-looking son...who is also the illegitimate son of a high-ranking military official. The military school is possibly haunted and a number of students and teachers begin to die mysterious and incredibly violent deaths. The film is most successful when it leans into its horror elements.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA- "Papa Buka" First of all, it was a great pleasure to see Papua New Guinea on screen for the first time. This film was PNG's first Oscar submission and it was disqualified for unknown reasons. Directed by an Indian director and starring two Indian actors, it's about two Indian historians who travel to PNG with a local driver/translator and an elderly guide to learn about the forgotten role of Indian soldiers who served with British troops in PNG during World War II. "Papa Buka" was clearly made with love by a debut director...and the film makes good use of PNG's beautiful jungle scenery. But the screenplay is a bit of a mess.
SINGAPORE- "Stranger Eyes" I had heard bad things about Singapore's "Stranger Eyes"....but it's actually a fascinating little film with a lot to say about surveillance in modern-day society, including CCTV (a big issue in nanny state Singapore), attention-seeking influencers on social media and the pervasive use of camera phones that can film anyone, anywhere. A young Taiwanese couple in Singapore are desperate to solve the mystery of their missing 1-year old daughter, who vanishes from a playground while her young father was on his cell phone. Soon after, they begin to receive DVDs (remember Michael Haneke's "Cache"?) with recordings of their daily lives....both before and after the disappearance of their child. Unlike "Cache", "Stranger Eyes" actually solves its mysteries and makes you think....though it all goes on way too long. If you want to see the best version of this plot, try Visar Morina's "Exile" which represented Kosovo a few years ago. Now available on Amazon.
TAIWAN- "Left-Handed Girl" A Taiwanese family drama with a Netflix deal that has been lobbying so hard for a shortlist spot that it will probably get it. This is a sweet family drama about a struggling single mom and her two daughters- an aimless 19-year old and a sweet precocious 6-year old - in Taipei. I don't think it's quite good enough for a nomination but it's done well with precursors....and in the end we learn that the film has a twist that matches a previous Oscar submission from Central Europe....though I won't say which one.
Number of Countries Participating this year: 22
Number of Countries That Have Participated in the Past: 28
Number of Debuts: 1 (Papua New Guinea)
Number of Countries That Made It Past AMPAS: 17
Who’s Missing?: The most surprising absence is PAKISTAN since they submit almost every year….but they had a very weak year so it wasn't a big shock. I assume they'll be back next year. NEW ZEALAND has only sent one film since 2018 (they had a very strong contender last year but didn't bother to enter) and AFGHANISTAN hasn't sent a film since the Taliban takeover.
Four more countries- FIJI, LAOS, SRI LANKA and UZBEKISTAN- have only entered once or twice so it was no surprise they aren't here.
FRONTRUNNERS:
1. SOUTH KOREA- "No Other Choice" (Letterboxd: 4.2)
This jet-black comedy by an internationally beloved director and recognizable star has nailed a number of important precursors since its big Venice premiere...and the Best Picture nomination at the Golden Globe (in addition to Best Foreign Film and Best Actor) just locked it for the shortlist. It's almost certain to be one of the five nominees too....and I can't wait to see it.
RUNNER-UPS:
2. INDIA- "Homebound" (4.0)
3. TAIWAN- "Left-Handed Girl" (3.9)
4. THAILAND- "A Useful Ghost" (3.7)
I already discussed "Homebound" and "Left-Handed Girl" in detail above. "Homebound" is the superior film so I'm ranking it slightly higher...but both of them will probably make the shortlist because they have the backing of Scorsese (India) and Netflix (Taiwan). That shouldn't matter but it does.
As for Thailand....I'm sad we'll never know! This Cannes award-winning film about a possessed vacuum cleaner does not look like the sort of film that gets Oscar attention. But everyone who sees it says it's a special and memorable film. Apparently they filled out their documents late and AMPAS disqualified the film instead of asking for whatever was missing...even though Thailand has reliably been sending films for over thirty years and hasn't missed a year since 1999.
DARK HORSES:
5. JAPAN- "Kokuho" (3.9)
6. CHINA- "Dead to Rights" (3.8)
7. PHILIPPINES- "Magellan" (3.7)
These three films are praying for a miracle. They probably won't make the Final 15....but one of them could. But which?
Japan's "Kokuho" is the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film of all time in Japan, and reviews have largely been very, very positive. It's a sumptuous three-hour look at kabuki theatre that would win a slew of tech Oscar nominations if it was in English, and it will definitely come close to the Top 15. Maybe it will even get that 15th spot? But it's very long (the longest of any film on the list this year) and very Japanese and it doesn't seem to have the backers that many of the other top contenders have. Its US distributor (GKids) primarily deals with anime and the film seems to have lost buzz since its Cannes debut but it definitely has a chance.
Though they sent some great films in the 1990s and 2000s, China is rarely in the top tier anymore. They haven't sent a great film in years. But they are definitely in the running this year with "Dead to Rights", a film about the 1937 Nanking Massacre perpetrated by Japanese troops in the early days of WWII (before it came to Europe). Though the film probably won't make the shortlist, I'm confident it will place very well.
And then there's the Philippines, still hoping for their first-ever shortlist spot after decades of trying. 16th costume drama "Magellan", about the famous Portuguese explorer who was killed in the Philippines, has starpower, high production values and international backers, and that's what the Philippines is usually lacking. Reviews are good and the film could make it if Gael Garcia Bernal and friends get people to watch it.....However, Laz Diaz is an acquired taste and I suspect the film will miss out in such an incredibly competitive year (there are basically six "locks", with everyone else fighting for the nine other slots). I read that one well-connected critic said that she attended a screening of a 3-hour Asian Oscar submission and everyone was so bored but couldn't leave....Most people suspected it was "Kokuho" but I think it was "Magellan".
In any case, I havent' seen any of these three to judge for myself.
A STRONG FINISH:
8. MONGOLIA- "Silent City Driver" (3.5)
MID-RANKED:
13. HONG KONG- "The Last Dance" (3.6)
14. INDONESIA- "Sore, Wife from the Future" (4.1)
15. BHUTAN- "I, the Song" (3.3)
16. MALAYSIA- "Pavane for an Infant" (3.4)
17. SINGAPORE- "Stranger Eyes" (3.1)
I've discussed Hong Kong (solid but unremarkable), Indonesia (cute and entertaining) and Singapore (overlong with weak reviews even though I liked it) above.
"Pavane for an Infant", the second Chinese-language film in a row to represent Malaysia was the very last film to be announced. In fact, Malaysia's film body FINAS made no official announcement, unlike other countries who proudly have press conferences and social media posts to promote their film. That doesn't bode well. This film about a "baby hatch" center that deals with babies abandoned by their mothers is one of the more obscure entries on the list. Reviews are good but no one is talking about it, and their own country hasn't bothered to promote it.
Bhutan has sent "I, the Song", an intriguing mystery about a Bhutanese teacher who learns that a woman who looks absolutely identical to her is making pornographic videos on the Internet. It's a fascinating concept and Bhutan is one of those little countries whose submissions are always great. But reviews haven't been as strong as "Monk & the Gun" or "Lunana" (both of which were shortlisted) so it's probably not going to make it. But I hope it gets a streaming release soon.
NO CHANCE:
18. VIETNAM- "Red Rain" (3.4)
19. KAZAKHSTAN- "Cadet" (3.2)
20. NEPAL- "Anjila" (2.8)
21. CAMBODIA- "Tenement" (2.9)
22. PAPUA NEW GUINEA- "Papa Buka" (2.6)
I've already gone into the reasons why Cambodia (genre bias/confusing story), Kazakhstan (genre bias/interesting but flawed film) and Papua New Guinea (disastrous screenplay/lack of resources) weren't going to do well....But they got disqualified so it doesn't matter.
Nepal and Vietnam aren't likely to have much more luck. Nepal's sports drama "Anjila" is a biopic of a female football player (Anjila Tumbapo Subba) who inspired the nation (and the athlete plays herself) but the film is supposed to be a crowdpleasing but not necessarily well-made film. It will probably play better in Nepal than it will overseas. "Red Rain" is a patriotic Vietnam War movie directed by a former Vietnamese soldier telling the story of a famous battle from the Vietnamese Communist perspective. I've heard this film is well-made but also extremely nationalistic and (possibly) a bit propaganda-ish? ....I'll need to see the film myself but this sort of film isn't likely to resonate with U.S. audiences....
FUN FACTS:
Genres: One documentary (Australia), two horror films (Cambodia and Kazakhstan), two genre-bending comedies (Korea and Thailand). Four more are dramas that lean heavily on mystery (Bhutan & Singapore) and/or fantasy (Indonesia & Tajikistan) elements.
I’ve Already Seen: I’ve seen twelve of the 22 films- Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and Tajikistan.
Film I’m Most Excited To See: It's a tie between Korea and the disqualified entry from Thailand. I'm pretty sure I will love both.
Number I Predicted Correctly: I'm pretty impressed! I got 11 out of 22 correct (Australia, Bhutan, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand)....plus I predicted "A House Named Shahana" for Bangladesh last year when I thought it was eligible.
Big Four Festivals:
· Berlin- Kazakhstan
· Cannes- India, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand
· Sundance- None
· Venice- Korea, Singapore
Women Directors- 6 out of 22 films (27%) were directed or co-directed by women - Gabrielle Brady (Australia), Sokyou Chea (Cambodia), Đặng Thái Huyền (Vietnam), Leesa Gazi (Bangladesh), Dechen Roder (Bhutan) and Tsou Shih-Ching (Taiwan). Gazi and Roder are the first women ever to represent their countries in the competition.
Languages – We have five films mostly in Chinese. I believe the films from China, Singapore and Taiwan are mostly in Mandarin and the ones from Hong Kong and Malaysia are mostly in Cantonese...but I'm not sure. We also have two (!) entirely in Mongolian (Australia and Mongolia), and one each in Bengali, Dzongkha, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Kyrgyz, Nepali, Tajik, Thai and Vietnamese.
Multi-lingualism is a major plot point in the other two films, from Papua New Guinea (Tok Pisin, Hindi, Bengali and English) and the Philippines (Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog).
How Many Have a Chance at the Shortlist?- Six? It would be seven if Thailand hadn't been kicked out of the race.
Most Likely to Get Nominated/Shortlisted for the First Time- The Philippines....but that's unlikely.
Buzziest Films: Obviously Korea's "No Other Choice".
Letterboxd Ratings (as of December 10, 2025): Best: Korea (4.2), Worst: Papua New Guinea (2.6)
Dumbest Decision: As I said, the Asian countries did an amazing job picking films this year! Almost everyone really did the best job with what they had to choose from. Only tiny Nepal made a highly questionable decision.....and that was reflected in the controversy that resulted when they picked "Anjila". And Indonesia's decision wasn't dumb....but I think they misjudged the tastes of the Academy in a very strong film year for Indonesia.
Controversies and Changes: The biggest "controversy" came from Nepal where an uproar erupted over the selection of "Anjila". I haven't seen "Anjila" or its rivals but it seems like both sides blew the matter out of proportion. Nepal's selection was done in a rushed manner (in previous years they allowed a longer submission period for filmmakers interested in submitting their films) and it happened at a time when the country was facing political turmoil, protests and Internet outages. But the producers of "Anjila" did get their paperwork in on time and Nepal did eventually agree to extend the deadline. Allegations from "Anjila" that rival films were publicly trying to bribe the selection committee were based on sarcastic social media posts that were clearly in jest. In the end, "Anjila" was not the best-reviewed Nepali film of the year but it's what their committee chose.
An attention-seeking Vietnamese-American politician in California called on the Academy to disqualify Vietnam's entry because....er.....he didn't like it? (actually I'm fairly certain he's never seen it). Referring to it as "Communist propaganda", he wrote a letter to AMPAS asking that it be withdrawn (it wasn't).
This may be the first year in history when India's pick was not particularly controversial at home though "India Today" chose to write an editorial about how it was the "wrong pick" (it wasn't) and there was the usual grumbling and complaining from those who were jealous and/or who will never be happy.
Also controversial were the mysterious disqualifications of five of the films. Kazakhstan and Thailand issued statements confirming the disqualifications. Kazakhstan had a crew member of "Cadet" on it selection committee in violation of AMPAS rules, while Thailand apparently didn't get its paperwork in on time due to some unspecified misunderstanding with the film's international distributor. I've heard rumors that Tajikistan had some obscure copyright issue problem. No idea about Cambodia and Papua New Guinea....
Oscar History:
Six of these directors have been in the Oscar race before. Aktan Arym Kubat, Kyrgyzstan's most accomplish national filmmaker, has been chosen for the sixth time, following "Beshkempir" (1998), "The Chimp" (2001), "The Light Thief" (2010), "Centaur" (2017) and "This is What I Remember" (2023). I've seen all six and I think his movies just keep getting better and better. "Black Red Yellow" is my favorite.
Back for a second time: Lav Diaz ("Norte, the End of History", 2014), Lee Sang-il ("Hula Girls", 2006), Park Chan-wook ("Decision to Leave", 2022), Yeo Siew Hua ("A Land Imagined", 2019) and Adilkhan Yerzhanov ("Yellow Cat", 2021). It's hard to believe Park Chan-wook hasn't been picked more often!
Of the 22 countries competing, three have won the Oscar (Japan, Korea and Taiwan), nine have been nominated (Australia, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Vietnam) and one shortlisted (Thailand). The others are still waiting....though one Mongolian Oscar submission ("The Story of the Weeping Camel") did notably get nominated in Best Documentary Feature.
Most Notable Omissions:
Even though the Asian countries made smart decisions, there were still a number of strong films that didn't go through due to the "one film per country" rule.
"Sunshine", about a pregnant gymnast, took the Philippines to Berlin, got a Netflix deal and had a lot of domestic support....but the race for the Philippines was too competitive this year. Takeshi Miike's twisty courtroom thriller "Sham" was probably the closest the prolific horror director has ever gotten to representing Japan at the Oscars. And China's biggest box-office hit in history- animated sequel "Ne Zha 2" - was predicted by many to represent China...but they made a more serious (and better) choice.
A fourth notable film- "Saba", about a woman caring for her aging mother- got some of the most extensive festival play ever for a Bangladeshi film, including Toronto and Busan...but lost at the last minute when "A House Named Shahana" (another acclaimed film) arranged a last minute release in local cinemas.
Also out: "Blood Brothers: Dragon’s Embers" (Malaysia), "Flat Girls" (Thailand), "Harbin" (Korea), "Living the Land" (China), "Love in the Big City" (Korea), "Mongol" (Mongolia), "Papa" (Hong Kong), "Pooja Sir" (Nepal), "Renoir" (Japan), Jackie Chan's "The Shadow's Edge" (China) and "Yen & Ai-Lee" (Taiwan).
Most Famous Face: The gold medal goes to Gael Garcia Bernal ("Magellan"), the silver goes to Oscar nominee Ken Watanabe ("Kokuho") and the bronze goes to Lee Byung-hun ("No Other Choice").
Last Year’s Race: I saw 17/20 entries last year, failing to see the candidates from China (which was disqualified), Vietnam (which was supposed to be terrible) and Kyrgyzstan (which was supposed to be well-made but too religious for an American audience).
My favorite by far was Mongolia's "If Only I Could Hibernate" (A-), a coming-of-age drama about a bright young teen forced to take care of his siblings at the expense of his education. The Mongolian Academy initially refused to send this to the Oscars and I'm so happy they did. Three films from Southeast Asia were my runner-ups: Philippines, a very topical documentary about the importance of fighting for democracy that I'm sure resonated with American viewers....Malaysia's sad prison drama "Abang Adik", and the shortlisted "How to Make Millions" from Thailand, which I found fairly predictable but still entertaining.
Most of the rest of the Asian submissions last year were "good" but flawed. India ("Lost Ladies") and Singapore ("La Luna") were very entertaining but very lightweight comedies that felt out of place at the Oscars. Kazakhstan ("Bauryna Salu") and Nepal ("Shambhala") were beautifully observed dramas but often very, very slow. Taiwan ("Old Fox") was well-made but forgettable. I give them all a B+.
Cambodia, Japan, Taiwan (B+), Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Tajikistan (B), Indonesia (B-) and South Korea (D-).
