As of October 2, local time in the United States, the application for Best International Film for the 96th Academy Awards has come to an end. In terms of Chinese-language films, the selected films from mainland China have not yet been officially announced; and "Lights Out" directed by Eric Tsang and starring Sylvia Chang and Simon Yam, and "That Time a Ghost and I Became Family" directed by Cheng Weihao and starring Xu Guanghan and Lin Bohong Representing Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, China respectively in the competition. In addition, "Burning Winter" directed by Chen Zheyi and starring Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran and Qu Chuxiao represented Singapore.
The films sent from Germany and the UK are all highly praised.
Following 2022, Russia once again voluntarily gave up registration. Last year, a total of 93 countries and regions submitted films for selection, and the total number was the same as in 2021. In the end, five works from Argentina, Ireland, Belgium, Poland and Germany were shortlisted for nomination, and the grand prize was won by the German film "All Quiet on the Western Front".
This year Germany's selection is "The Teachers' Lounge" by Turkish director Ilker Catak. The film premiered in the Panorama section of this year's Berlin Film Festival. In May, it won two awards for Best Director and Screenplay at this year's German Film Awards. It only lost out to "All Quiet on the Western Front" in the Best Film award. There is no controversy about representing Germany at the Oscars, and many analysts believe that he has the potential to make another splash at this year's Oscars.
"Teachers' Lounge" poster
However, in history, since the birth of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film Award, the predecessor of the Best International Film Award, in 1956, there have only been eight instances where works from the same country have won the award for two consecutive years: in 1956 and 1957. Italian director Fellini's "La Strada" and "Nights of Cabiria" won consecutive awards; in 1958 and 1959, the French films "My Uncle" and "Black Ofhir" won consecutive awards; in 1960 and 1961, Swedish director Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" and "In the Mirror" won consecutive awards; in 1963 and 1964, the Italian films "Eight and a Half" and "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" won consecutive awards; in 1970 and 1971, Italian films The films "Investigation of a Citizen Beyond Suspicion" and "The Garden of Fenice" won consecutive awards; in 1972 and 1973, the French films "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and "Day and Night" won consecutive awards; in 1977 and 1978, France The films "Madame Rosa" and "Take Out Your Handkerchief" won consecutive awards; in 1987 and 1988, the Danish films "Bobbitt's Feast" and "Pell the Conqueror" won consecutive awards. It is not difficult to see from this that firstly, there was a time when European countries had a clear advantage in this sector; secondly, in the past thirty years or so, this situation of one country being dominant has never happened again, and the selection of Oscar judges has obviously changed. Diverse tendencies.
"Dead Leaves" poster
Overall, this year’s biggest hits are basically coming from Europe. The first one that bears the brunt is "Fallen Leaves" selected by Finland. This new work by famous director Aki Kaurismäki won the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and was also selected as the best film of 2023 by the International Federation of Film Critics.
"Area of Interest" Poster
Secondly, "The Zone of Interest" (The Zone of Interest), which won the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and was selected by the UK, is also very promising. The director of the film, Jonathan Glazer, and the original author of the novel, Martin Amis, are both British, and most of the investors are from the United Kingdom. The film was shot in Poland, and the main dialogue is in German, so it fully meets the application requirements for Oscar international films. In the past, due to the fact that most of the films produced in the UK were in English, there were not many opportunities to participate in the final competition for foreign language films at the Oscars. Only two Welsh-speaking films have been nominated in history.
France and Poland submit unexpected films
As for France, although the last time a French film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was "Indochina" thirty years ago, as a traditional powerhouse that birthed art films, France will choose which film to send to the Oscars every year. It has always attracted much attention from the outside world.
Last year, France selected "Saint Omer," which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. As a result, the film successfully entered the shortlist for Best International Film, but it ultimately failed to receive a nomination. The year before last, they recommended the film "Titanium" for the Cannes Palme d'Or, but it failed to even make the shortlist. This triggered the reform of the French "Olympic Films" selection committee. The head of the Cannes Film Festival had long controlled the committee. Thierry Frémaux, as well as Cesar Award Chairman Veronique Cayla and French Film Federation (Unifrance) Chairman Serge Toubiana, were all kicked out one after another.
After the restructuring, the members of the French "Olympic Film" Selection Committee are no longer fixed. The specific candidates each year are nominated by Dominique Boutonnat, chairman of the French Film Council (CNC), and the Ministry of Culture makes the final decision. The basic composition There are two producers, two film practitioners and two international film sales agents, plus one authoritative industry insider.
Last year's committee members included director Jacques Audiard, but this year they were replaced by director Olivier Assayas and director Mania Medou, who won the César Award for Best First Feature for "Papika." Mounia Meddour Gens, soundtrack master Alexandre Desplat, who has been nominated for 11 Oscars and won twice for films such as "The Shape of Water", and producer Patrick who has been in charge of Lionsgate Pictures for many years. ·Patrick Wachsberger, French producer Charles Gillibert, who has served as a producer for Assayas' "Sils Maria" and other films, and a French TV producer Sabine Chemaly, executive vice president of international distribution, and German Tanja Meissner from the French film promotion agency Unifrance, a total of seven people, four men and three women.
On September 13, they pre-selected Sons of Ramses, The Animal Kingdom, On The Wandering Paths, Anatomy of Death a Fall) and "The Taste of Things" (The Taste of Things), and the final results were announced on September 22. The originally highly anticipated "Anatomy of a Death from a Fall" - first of all, it was a freshly minted Cannes Palme d'Or winner, and secondly, Neon Pictures had already acquired its North American distribution rights - failed to be selected. Instead, "Anatomy of a Death" directed by Chen Yingxiong was chosen. French Fondue" stands out.
"Fondue" poster
"Fondue" stars Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel and is adapted from Marcel Rouffe's 1924 novel "The Passionate Epicure", directed by Chen Hero wrote and directed it, winning the Best Director award at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Chen Yingxiong's first feature film "The Taste of Green Papaya" represented Vietnam in the 66th Oscars in 1993. In that year's Oscar competition for Best Foreign Language Film, "The Wedding Banquet" and "Farewell My Concubine" were nominated on behalf of Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, China respectively. Together with "A Taste of Green Papaya", three of the five nominated works were from Asia. It can be described as infinite scenery. "Farewell My Concubine" was the winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes that year, and "A Taste of Green Papaya" was the winner of the Cannes Golden Camera Award (director's debut). Together with the Berlin Golden Bear winner "The Wedding Banquet", they all failed to defeat Spain's "The Lover of Four Thousand Gold" was a huge hit.
"Taste of Green Papaya" is also the first time Vietnam has submitted a film to the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. However, in the past thirty years, no Vietnamese works have been shortlisted. Although Chen Yingxiong was born in My Cuo, Vietnam, he went to France at the age of 12, where he completed his studies and entered the film industry. However, since he officially became a director, three of his seven feature films were in Vietnamese. It was not until 2016's "Eternity" that he began to shoot French films. Now he has works representing both countries in the Oscars. , a rare achievement in film history.
In Poland, Agnieszka Holland's "The Green Border", which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, became the focus of public criticism by senior Polish government officials. Although the film achieved excellent box office results after being released in Poland, the final "Olympic film" submitted by Poland was the new hand-drawn animation "The Peasants" by the director team of "Loving Van Gogh". Therefore, It also caused quite a bit of controversy in the international film community.
"Peasant" poster
The Polish team responsible for selecting "Olympic films" is led by 68-year-old Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska. In recent years, "Sister Ida" and "Cold War" and other works that have become internationally renowned are produced by She serves as executive producer. According to him, the selection process was quite tense, and in the end "Peasant" won with 4 votes to 2. Also participating in the vote were Radoslaw Smigulski, director of the Polish Film Academy, producer Aneta Hickinbotham, and screenwriter Ewa Piaskowska. , Allan Starski, who won the Oscar for Best Art Director for "Schindler's List", and producer Maciej Slesicki, a total of six people.
According to Pushinska, "The Peasant" itself is a very good work and has universal value, so it is well-deserved to be selected. However, Holland, the director of "Green Border", publicly stated after learning that she was defeated that almost every member of the committee had told her that "Green Border" was the best choice. If it were to be sent to the Oscar, the chance of winning would be far greater. "Peasant", but they were all afraid of government retaliation and worried that they would no longer be able to receive various benefits including film production subsidies, so they had no choice but to choose "Peasant". In response to this statement, Eva Pushinska insisted that the committee was completely independent and the members voted purely based on their conscience, and there was no situation as mentioned by the director.
The four major film festivals are still the source of output for “Olympic films”
Overall, as in the past, the Cannes Film Festival is still the largest output source of "Olympic films". In addition to the films mentioned above, "Perfect Day" directed by Wim Wenders and winning the Best Actor Award, and "Withered Grass" directed by Nuri Big Ceylan and winning the Best Actress Award ", representing Japan and Turkey respectively; "Olepha's Daughters", "Winter", "The Settlers" and "Macho Man" are participating in the Palme d'Or or "Un Certain Regard", "Directors' Fortnight" and other categories. and "Ghost Portrait" also represented Tunisia, Singapore, Chile, Colombia and Brazil in the competition respectively; and "The Land of Creation" submitted by Iceland was an entry in the "Un Certain Regard" section of last year's Cannes Film Festival.
"Burning Winter" poster
In comparison, the number of films from various places participating in this year's Venice Film Festival that can qualify for the Olympics is far less than that in Cannes. The Golden Lion Award winner "Poor Things" is in English and is not eligible for registration; "Evil Does Not Exist" and "The Green Border" won the Grand Jury Prize and Special Prize (equivalent to second and third place), and won the Best Screenplay The "Vampire Count" that won the award failed to represent Japan, Poland, and Chile. Only the Best Director winner "I Am the Captain" is left to represent Italy in the Oscar race.
In addition, there are also the Golden Lion Award entry film "The Villain" and "His Autobiography" (Autobiography), "Janain Mualaqa" (Hanging Garden) and "Housekeeping Beginners" appearing in other sections, representing Denmark, Indonesia, Iraq and North Macedonia is on its way to Austria. "Extremis", distributed by Netflix, will appear as the closing film in Venice this year and will represent Spain in the competition this time. Last year, the country selected "Alcaraz", which won the Berlin Golden Bear, but failed to even pass the first hurdle. I'm afraid it was partly because it was too highbrow. This year's film "Covenant" tells the true story of the Andes plane crash in 1972. I believe that with the help of Netflix, the chances of being shortlisted will be much higher.
"Extremis Covenant" poster
As for the remaining Berlin Film Festival among the three major film festivals in Europe, the Golden Bear winner and the documentary "Journey of Perseverance" completely failed to enter the eyes of the French "Olympic Film" selection committee. Only "The Journey" won the Silver Bear from the jury. Barely Living" will represent Portugal. "Totem", which was shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival and then won a big win at this year's Beijing International Film Festival, was selected as Mexico's "Olympic Film".
The above-mentioned three major European film festivals have their own differences in film selection, but the relationship between the shortlisted films and the "Olympic films" may also reflect part of their film selection tendencies from the side. Of course, whether you have been gold-plated in the "Big Three" does not necessarily equate to whether you can "win the Olympics". Looking back at the past ten Oscar winners for Best International Film, one went to Berlin ("Ordinary Women"), one won the Venice Golden Lion ("Roma"), and five went to Cannes ("Drive My Car", "Rome") "Parasite", "The Salesman", "Son of Saul" and "The Beautiful City"), and the remaining three films were all chosen to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada ("Sister Ida", "The Alcohol Plan" and "All Quiet on the Western Front") , which somewhat illustrates some problems.
In other words, today, when the importance of publicity is becoming more and more obvious, without the above-mentioned four major film festivals as a springboard, it may be a bit unrealistic to hope for a sudden success at the Oscars. At this year's Toronto Film Festival, the German film "Teachers' Lounge", the Polish film "Peasants", the Romanian film "Don't Expect the End of the World" and other films have received a lot of media attention, and may also hope to "win at the Olympics" in the future. make a difference in the journey.
On December 21, local time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organizer of the Academy Awards, will take the lead in announcing the short list of 15 shortlisted films; the final list of nominations will be announced on January 23, 2024; and the next Oscar Awards Ceremony Scheduled to be held on March 10, 2024.
