A handful of favorites aside — we’re looking at you, Emilia Pérez — the race for the 2025 best international feature Oscar is wide open. The qualifying international features for the 97th Academy Awards represent a full range of global cinema, from the political drama of Brazil’s I’m Still Here to to the family-friendly comedy of Thailand’s How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies; from the period horror of Austria’s contender The Devil’s Bath and Denmark’s The Girl With the Needle, to the surreal delights of Canada’s contender Universal Language.
The Academy will announce the longlist of international feature contenders on December 17, with Oscar nominations on January 17.
We know you haven’t had time to check out the full list, so here’s The Hollywood Reporter cheat sheet of all 85 films in contention.
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Albania: ‘Waterdrop’
Robert Budina’s exploration of corruption and misogyny revolves around a city hall manager (Gresa Pallaska) in a small Albanian town who is forced to face her complicity in the system when her teenage son becomes involved in a rape scandal that could see him go to prison. The filmmaker is no stranger to the Oscar race, having previously represented his country with 2013 feature Agon.
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Algeria: ‘Algiers’
Chakib Taleb-Bendiab put a lot of work into his directorial debut, writing, directing, scoring and co-editing this based-on-a-true-story mystery thriller about the kidnapping of a girl. Nabil Asli and Meriem Medjkane star as a police inspector and a psychiatrist who team up to solve the case, only to uncover dark secrets from the country’s civil war.
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Argentina: ‘Kill the Jockey’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival Luis Ortega’s surreal comedy centers on Remo, a legendary jocked played by BPM star Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, who is transformed by a horse racing accident. He discovers his feminine side after vanishing from a hospital and being chased by a mobster boss to whom he is deep in debt. Kill the Jockey bowed in Venice. Benicio Del Toro is one of the film’s executive producers.
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Armenia: ‘Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev’
Mais Sarkisyan, Maksim Vitorgan and Ruzanna Khachatryan star in the comedic drama from Edgar Baghdasaryan, whose 2018 film Lengthy Night was also his country’s Oscar submission. Set after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it follows recently retired factory worker Yasha, whose career highlight was being a delegate of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1976. With his future unclear, he has difficulty accepting the new reality.
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Austria: ‘The Devil’s Bath’
Image Credit: Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion / Heimatfilm Goodnight Mommy directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala dip into the psychological horrors of being a woman in 18th-century rural Austria in this period chiller, inspired by the historical record, about the mental breakdown of a woman who sees no escape from her oppressive social circumstances. It will not end well.
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Bangladesh: ‘The Wrestler’
Image Credit: Applebox Films Director Iqbal H. Chowdhury’s debut feature, The Wrestler explores themes of aging, ambition and mysticism in a remote Bangladeshi fishing village. Set in the late 1990s, the story follows Moju, an elderly fisherman determined to challenge the reigning champion of Boli, a traditional wrestling sport. Despite mockery from villagers and resistance from his son, Moju persists in his solitary training, culminating in a climactic match that reverberates through the community. The film blends local folklore with stunning coastal visuals. It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival in 2023 and won the event’s New Currents Award.
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Belgium: ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’
Image Credit: Nicolas Karakatsanis/Cannes Film Festival The feature debut of director Leonardo Van Dijl, Julie Keeps Quiet casts young tennis ace Tessa Van den Broeck in her first acting role as a promising player at a competitive tennis academy whose own trauma is heightened when a fellow academy member commits suicide. When her coach is placed under investigation, her peers and the institutional powers that be pressure her to speak out against him. The gripping psychological drama was a highlight of Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
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Bolivia: ‘Own Hand (Mano Propia)’
A deep dive into the nasty realities of mob justice in rural Bolivia, director Rodrigo Patino’s Spanish- language thriller follows the fallout from a vicious lynching in a Bolivian town. Based on reporting by investigative journalist Roberto Navia, the film is inspired by real events in which a crowd lynched a group of people wrongly accused of stealing a truck. This is Patino’s second time in the Oscar race: his 2018 feature The Goalkeeper was also submitted by Bolivia as its best international feature contender.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina: ’My Late Summer’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Propeller Film This contender, a charming dramedy from Oscar winner Danis Tanović (No Man’s Land) centers on a woman whose journey to a remote island to settle a family inheritance dispute unexpectedly transforms into a personal investigation of family history and identity. Packed with stunning scenery and a full supply of quirky locals (with a dash of romance), the film has proven a crowd-pleaser since its debut as the opening night film of this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival.
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Brazil: ‘I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival Twenty-six years after his Central Station earned an Oscar nomination in the international category (then known as best foreign-language film), Walter Salles is back with a family drama that stars Fernanda Torres (also a 1998 Oscar nominee for best actress) as a mother of five children who reinvents herself as a lawyer and activist after suffering a devastating loss at the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
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Bulgaria: ‘Triumph’
The dark comedy from filmmaking duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (The Father) stars Maria Bakalova (The Apprentice, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) opposite Julian Kostov (Shadow and Bone) in a feature inspired by real-life events and set in the chaotic period following the fall of communism, in which a task force comprised of army officers and psychics searches for an alien artifact which could change the course of history.
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Cambodia: ‘Meeting With Pol Pot’
Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rithy Panh (The Missing Picture), Meeting with Pol Pot is a historical thriller inspired by real events, as recounted in Elizabeth Becker’s book When the War Was Over. Set in 1978, the story follows three French journalists invited to Democratic Kampuchea (modern-day Cambodia) for an exclusive interview with Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Initially dazzled by the regime’s carefully constructed façade, their perspective shifts as they uncover the horrifying truths of the genocide and escalating war with Vietnam.
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Cameroon: ‘Kismet’
Also inspired by a true story, Ngang Romanus’ feature tells the story of a Christian woman, portrayed by Nora Lum, who falls in love with a Muslim man, played by Nsoh Piapense. Their blossoming relationship challenges the expectations of their community, which is strictly divided along cultural and religious lines. The director’s previous film, Hidden Dreams was also Cameroon’s international feature submission.
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Canada: ‘Universal Language’
Image Credit: Directors’ Fortnight Matthew Rankin’s absurdist comedy is an offbeat homage to Iranian cinema set in the Canadian cities of Montreal and Winnipeg that imagines a world were French and Farsi are Canada’s official languages. The quirky film played well in Cannes, where it won the first-ever audience prize in the Directors’ Fortnight section.
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Chile: ‘In Her Place (El lugar de la otra)’
Image Credit: Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection Maite Alberdi’s period drama is set in 1955 Chile and around the case of María Carolina Geel, a popular writer who coldly murders her lover in public view. The crime enthralls Mercedes, a meek paralegal working for the judge assigned to defend the accused killer, and she comes to see another truth behind the murder. Veteran filmmaker Alberdi has turned to fiction after her earlier documentaries, 2020’s The Mole Agent and 2023’s The Eternal Memory, earned Oscar nominations.
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Colombia: ‘La Suprema’
Image Credit: Cinando Felipe Holguín Caro’s drama, which bowed in Toronto, is set in a remote Colombian village and centers on Laureana (Elizabeth Martínez), a strong-willed teenager who wants her town to watch her estranged uncle compete in a world championship boxing match. The problem is they lack electricity and a TV set. The young woman gets the help of the local boxing trainer who first discovered her uncle and together they set sail for the big city.
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Costa Rica: ‘Memories of a Burning Body’
Image Credit: Cinando The sophomore feature from Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss won Berlin’s Panorama audience award this year. The drama follows a trio of seventy-something women, who grew up in the repressive 1950s and 60s, discussing their bodies and their sexuality, confronting the taboos and restrictions that have shaped their lives. Sudasassi also represented Costa Rica at the Oscars with her 2019 debut feature The Awakening of the Ants.
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Croatia: ‘Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day’
Image Credit: 4Film Croatia’s Oscar contender is a period drama with an LGBTQ twist, following four queer students, who become Nazi resistance fighters during the war and, afterward, established filmmakers. But under the post-war communist regime, their sexuality makes them politically suspect, and an agent is hired to undermine their careers. The film has sparked controversy at home, with the producers alleging that the promotional funding provided by the Croatian Audiovisual Center to market the movie to Academy voters is far less than that for Croatia’s Oscar contender from last year. The filmmakers believe the film is getting shortchanged due to the its LGBTQ subject matter.
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Czech Republic: ‘Waves’
Image Credit: Martin Žiaran A ticking-time-bomb historical thriller that shines a light on the brave work of the journalist in the International News Office at Czechoslovak Radio, who served as the last bulwark against authoritarianism before the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. A timely reminder of the importance of free speech and professional integrity as its own form of resistance.
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Denmark: ‘The Girl With the Needle’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival An abortion drama set in post-World War I Denmark that follows a factory worker who finds herself unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, and is faced with the choice of a dangerous (and illegal) termination or the services of a dodgy underground adoption agency. Another historical thriller with a scarily timely message.
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Dominican Republic: ‘Aire, Just Breathe’
Director Leticia Tonos’ dystopian sci-fi drama portrays a near future where Tania (Sophie Gaëlle), a conservation biologist battling extinction, learns to live on her own alongside her trusted artificial intelligence, voiced by Paz Vega. But her solitary life is shaken by the arrival of an enigmatic traveler, Azarias (Jalsen Santana), with a hidden past. Soon tension in this three-hander becomes as toxic as the world they live in.
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Ecuador: ‘Behind the Mist (Al Otro Lado De La Niebla)’
In this documentary, director and mountaineer Sebastián Cordero follows famous Ecuadorian climber, Iván Vallejo, to the top of Mount Everest. As they climb together and higher, they face equal dangers, including a lack of oxygen, yet differing viewpoints as the mountain challenges their motives and philosophical outlooks.
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Egypt: ‘Flight 404’
A female-empowerment thriller about Ghada, who is desperately trying to raise money for her mother’s emergency surgery while preparing to depart Egypt to perform the Hajj. Her journey forces her to confront people from her past whom she had hoped to never see again.
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Estonia: ‘8 Views of Lake Biwa’
Image Credit: Cinando A romantic drama written and directed by Marko Raat, loosely based on the 1911 novel of the same name by the German Japanophile Max Dauthendy, 8 Views of Lake Biwa explores the consequences of a disaster in a superstitious fishing village.
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Finland: ‘Family Time’
Image Credit: ©Aamu Film The feature directorial debut Tia Kouvo, this The comedy-drama is based on her 2018 short of the same name about an annual family Christmas get-together where the usual tensions arise. Starring Leena Uotila, Ria Kataja, Elina Knihtilä and Tom Wentzel, the film premiered in the Encounters section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.
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France: ‘Emilia Pérez’
Image Credit: PAGE 114 – WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – PATHÉ FILMS – FRANCE 2 CINÉMA – SAINT LAURENT PRODUCTIONS/Shanna Besson; Cannes Film Festival Jacques Audiard’s genre mash-up — it’s a transgender coming-of-age, Mexican crime thriller musical — follows a defense lawyer, played by Zoe Saldana (in her first Spanish-language role) helping a cartel leader fake her death and undergo gender affirmation surgery to live authentically as a woman. The female cast — including Saldana, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and breakout star Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Perez — jointly won the best actress prize in Cannes.
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Georgia: ‘The Antique’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Basis Berlin Postproduktion Georgia’s pick is inspired by the 2006 expulsion of Georgians from Russia. A Georgian woman living in Saint Petersburg moves in with an old Russian man in an effort to fool the authorities seeking to deport her. The film’s world premiere in Venice this year was almost canceled amid a legal dispute, allegedly part of a Russian campaign to block the movie, but a Venice court quickly intervened and the screening went ahead as planned.
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Germany: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival Germany’s entry is an Iranian-set drama from exiled director Mohammad Rasoulof, who escaped Iran by foot shortly before the film’s premiere in Cannes (where it won a special jury prize). What starts as a family drama, about a devout, regime-supporting judge and his family, transforms into a horror movie when the state intensifies its crackdown on its citizens and the judge must choose to support his wife and daughters or side with the Mullahs.
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Greece: ‘Murderess’
Eva Nathena’s film, adapted from Alexandros Papadiamantis’ popular novel, is set on a remote island in Greece, circa 1900. There, Hadoula struggles to survive the dictates of a patriarchal society. In her desperation, she turns to femicide to “release” young girls from their social fate.
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Guatemala: ‘Rita’
Image Credit: AMC/courtesy Everett Collection Writer-director Jayro Bustamante’s fantasy drama Rita follows the titular character, a 13-year-old girl who escapes her abusive home only to land in an all-girls prison. There, her fellow inmates speak of a prophecy of a warrior angel who will free them all from a life of poverty, incarceration and forced prostitution. Fusing magical realism with themes of childhood innocence, Rita was inspired by a horrific real-life event, where 41 young women were burned to death inside a Guatemalan orphanage in 2017 amid a protest about inhumane conditions.
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Hong Kong: ‘Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Well Go USA Directed by Soi Cheang (Mad Fate) and based on the graphic novel City of Darkness by Andy Seto, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is a wildly entertaining martial arts action film set in the chaotic Kowloon Walled City of the 1980s. The film follows a young fighter, Chan Lok-kwan, as he navigates the lawless labyrinth ruled by gangsters and martial arts masters. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Hong Kong staples Raymond Lam, Louis Koo and Sammo Hung, the movie blends high-octane action sequences choreographed by Kenji Tanigaki with a throw-back narrative of survival and redemption.
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Hungary: ‘Semmelweiss’
Image Credit: NFI World Sales Lajos Koltai’s biopic Semmelweis examines the life of Hungarian doctor Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, an early pioneer of antiseptic procedures. Semmelweis became known as “the savior of mothers” for his efforts in fighting deadly infections following childbirth. The film was a commercial hit in its home country — selling more than 350,000 tickets and grossing more than $2 million on its theatrical release — making it the most successful Hungarian movie of the past five years.
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Iceland: ‘Touch’
Image Credit: Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection Iceland’s entry is a romantic drama directed and written by Baltasar Kormákur (who also directed the 2022 survival thriller Beast, starring Idris Elba), co-written by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson and based on Ólafsson’s 2022 novel about a man trying to find his first love, who disappeared 50 years ago.
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India: ‘Lost Ladies (Laapataa Ladies)’
Directed by Kiran Rao and produced by Aamir Khan Productions, Lost Ladies is a poignant comedy-drama set in rural India in 2001. The story follows two young brides who accidentally swap places on the train on the way to their new husbands’ homes, leading to a series of chaotic and humorous happenings. The film delves into themes of self-discovery, individuality, and the constraints of patriarchal traditions. The film premiered to warm reviews at the Toronto Film Festival. The choice of Laapataa over Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light generated controversy in India.
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Indonesia: ‘Women From Rote Island (Perempuan dari Pulau Rote)’
Directed by first-timer Jeremias Nyangoen, Women from Rote Island is a poignant exploration of gender violence and resilience within the unique cultural backdrop of Rote Island, East Nusa Tenggara. The film follows the intertwined lives of three women — Orpa, Martha, and Bertha — as they confront societal stigma and personal trauma tied to sexual violence. Shot entirely on location with local actors to preserve linguistic and cultural authenticity, the film debuted at the Busan International Film Festival in 2023 and earned strong reviews for its frank storytelling and raw performances.
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Italy: ‘Vermiglio’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival Set against the backdrop of World War II, Italy’s Oscar contender follows a Sicilian army deserter who arrives in a remote Alpine village in 1944, dramatically altering the lives of a local teacher and his family. Director Maura Delpero drew inspiration from her own family history for her Venice Silver Lion grand jury prize winner.
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Iran: ’In the Arms of the Tree’
Iran’s official entry premiered in February last year at the Fajr International Film Festival. The feature debut of director Babak Khajehpasha, the film follows a marriage falling apart from the perspective of the children.
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Iraq: ‘Baghdad Messi’
Image Credit: Cinando Directed by Sahim Omar Kalifa, Iraq’s entry tells the story of Hamoudi, an 11-year-old boy who loves soccer and dreams of achieving the success of his idol — you guessed it, Lionel Messi. After an attempted suicide attack blows off his left leg, Hamoudi becomes determined to fight to make his shattered dream come true.
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Ireland: ‘Kneecap’
Image Credit: Publicity The cheeky Belfast-based rap trio have become the talk of the town with their “print the legend” biopic Kneecap, picking up four craft wins at the British Independent Film Awards, the NEXT award at Sundance and rave reviews. The film stars the band members, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, as themselves, with a cameo by Michael Fassbender as an IRA hitman turned yoga instructor. Sony released the film in August in the U.S.
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Israel: ‘Come Closer’
Image Credit: Shai Peleg Israel’s entry is an Israeli-Italian drama written and directed by Tom Nesher in her directorial debut. The film tells the story of a troubled young woman who becomes obsessed with her deceased brother’s girlfriend after his sudden death. Come Closer took best picture at this year’s Ophir Awards, Israeli’s Oscar equivalent.
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Japan: ‘Cloud’
Image Credit: Venice Film Festival Written and directed by veteran genre master Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Cloud is a tense blend of thriller, drama, horror and action. The film follows Yoshii (played by a never-better Masaki Suda), a young man making a living through online resales, who becomes ensnared in a web of eerie and life-threatening events linked to his semi-reputable internet hustle. The film explores themes of isolation and late-capitalist moral ambiguity, presenting a timely narrative underpinned by Kurosawa’s signature atmospheric tension — and capped by a classic action flick shoot-out.
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Kazakhstan: ’Bauryna Salu’
Image Credit: Askhat Film Directed by Askhat Kuchincherekov, Bauryna Salu explores the nomadic Kazakh tradition of “bauryna salu,” whereby children are raised by their elder relatives. The film follows Yersultan, a boy who is sent back to live with his biological parents after his grandmother passes away, forcing him to confront unresolved tensions and the pain of abandonment. Featuring a standout performance by young actor Yersultan Yermanov, the film blends narrative and documentary styles with intimate camerawork and no musical score, creating a starkly realistic depiction of rural Kazakh life.
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Kenya: ‘Nawi’
The titular heroine of Kenya’s Oscar contender is a gifted high school student whose dreams of a life beyond the rural Turkana community where she lives are threatened by her father’s plans to marry her off to an older stranger. This educational feature was a joint project backed by Kenyan and German NGOs and saw Munich-based directors Kevin and Tony Schmutzler oversee the production directed by Kenyan helmers Vallentine Chelluget and Apuu Mourine.
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Kyrgyzstan: ‘Paradise at Mother’s Feet (Beyish)’
This gentle road movie directed by Ruslan Akun follows Adil, a 35-year-old man with the mind of an 8-year-old, and his devoted 75-year-old mother, Raikhan. Upon learning from a friend that a pilgrimage to Mecca can secure his mother’s place in Heaven, Adil embarks on an arduous journey on foot to fulfill this dream. The low-budget drama was one of the top-grossing films of the year in Kyrgyzstan, topping Hollywood tentpoles like Dune: Part Two.
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Latvia: ‘Flow’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival An animated delight from Latvia, this feature follows a flood-displaced cat who must navigate treacherous waters by teaming up with a bird, a dog, a lemur and a capybara in a search for survival and a new home. A big winner at the Annecy animated film festival this year, it is also in the running for the animated feature Oscar shortlist.
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Lebanon: ‘Arzé’
Image Credit: Cinando Arzé, a single mother, takes her teenage son on a long and frustrating journey across sectarian Beirut in search of their stolen scooter, their only source of livelihood. The comedy-drama is directed by Mira Shaib, in her feature directorial debut, and stars Diamand Abou Abboud, Betty Taoutel and Bilal Al Hamwi.
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Lithuania: ‘Drowning Dry’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Locarno Film Festival Drowning Dry tells the story of Ernesta and her sister Juste, who gather at a lakeside cabin for a weekend getaway with their husbands and children. But the vacation takes a dark and tragic turn when Juste’s daughter falls into the lake, unable to swim to safety. Details about the accident are revealed in a series of flashbacks as the family attempts to move on. Laurynas Bareiša picked up the best director prize at Locarno, with the cast nabbing the best performance award.
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Malaysia: ‘Abang Adik’
Image Credit: Far East Film Festival Directed by Lay Jin Ong, Abang Adik is an emotional exploration of sibling bonds. It tells the story of two undocumented brothers: the elder Abang (Wu Kang-ren), who is deaf-mute, and the younger Adik (Jack Tan), whose volatile personality often brings trouble. Despite their challenges and strained relationship, their love for each other defines their lives. The film delves into themes of family, identity and survival within marginalized communities. The drama earned seven nominations at the 2023 Golden Horse Awards, with Wu taking best actor for his widely acclaimed performance as the elder brother.
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Malta: ‘Castillo’
Directed by Abigail Mallia, Castillo is pegged as a Maltese drama that intertwines the personal and political in a narrative about family trauma, unresolved grief and revenge. The film centers on Amanda, a young woman who is forced to confront the dark secrets of her family following the death of her father.
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Mexico: ‘Sujo’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ximena Amann/Sundance Institute Coming of age in a crime-ridden Mexico is the focus of Sujo, directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s second feature that earned the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema after bowing in Sundance. The titular Sujo is the son of a small-town cartel boss orphaned after his father was murdered as a traitor. To avoid a similar fate, Sujo hides in the mountains with his aunt and two young cousins. But when he gets older, he joins a local cartel and is forced to deal with the legacy of his father’s violent past.
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Mongolia: ‘If Only I Could Hibernate’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival Zoljargal Purevdash’s feature debut chronicles the struggles of a resourceful Mongolian teenager determined to secure his future while dealing with the harsh realities of poverty in the yurt district of Ulaanbaatar. The story follows the protagonist as he prepares for a crucial physics exam, even as his single mother struggles to provide for him and his siblings during a harsh winter. The film stirringly captures the intersection of ambition and adversity. If Only I Could Hibernate premiered to glowing reviews in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.
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Morocco: ‘Everybody Loves Touda’
Image Credit: Cannes Festival Morocco’s Oscar hopeful explores the tradition of Sheikhat, a 19th-century form of women’s performance poetry. A young woman aspiring to revive this art form performs in provincial bars, confronting the gap between her cultural heritage and the social realities for women performers in the region.
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Nepal: ‘Shambhala’
Image Credit: Aditya Basnet / Shooney Films Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, Shambhala was shot in the Upper Dolpo region, one of the highest human settlements on the planet. The meditative drama, set against the breathtaking landscapes of the Nepalese Himalayas, follows a pregnant young woman who goes on a journey of self-discovery when she’s forced to trek out into the mountains in search of her missing husband. The film premiered in competition at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival.
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Netherlands: ‘Memory Lane’
Image Credit: Cinando A couple married for 50 years, one of whom is showing signs of dementia, are jolted out of their everyday existence by a letter from an old friend, which inspires them to recreate a North-to-South European road trip from their youth. This nostalgic crowd-pleaser was a hit at home, earning north of $2 million at the local box office.
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Nigeria: ‘Mai Martaba’
Some may call this Nigeria’s ambitious version of Game of Thrones. After all, a fight for the throne of the ancient kingdom of Jallaba ensues in director and producer Prince Daniel’s historical epic that is told in the West African language of Hausa. The empire’s trade boom threatens to come to a halt amid the conflict among ruling clans that follows the king’s decision to name his daughter his heir.
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Norway: ‘Armand’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival Forty years after Ingmar Bergman last graced the Oscars with Fanny and Alexander, his grandson Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel enters the awards arena with his debut feature, a psychological drama set in an elementary school, where two mothers — The Worst Person in the World star Renate Reinsve and Ellen Dorrit Petersen — face off over an alleged bullying incident involving their young sons.
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Pakistan: ‘The Glassworker’
Pakistan’s first-ever hand-drawn animated feature has the look and feel of a feature by multi-Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki, with director Usman Riaz, under the tutelage of Studio Ghibli producer Geoffrey Wexler, lovingly crafting his anti-war tale of a father and son, who run a glass workshop, before a conflict threatens to upend their lives.
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Palestine: ‘From Ground Zero’
Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi’s Arabic-language anthology series offers local artists and directors in Gaza the opportunity to describe daily life under Israeli rule and bombardment. In all, 22 shorts, each 3 to 5 minutes in length, gives voice to filmmakers facing towering obstacles to their art, including securing post-production facilities and getting their work to a world audience.
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Panama: ‘Wake Up Mom (Despierta mama)’
Arianne Benedetti’s drama looks at a young mother, Ali Galiano — played by the director — who decides to flee to a remote mountain retreat with her daughter, Sofia, after the devastating loss of her husband to cancer. But weeks later, the mother suffers an accident and faces the possibility of losing her daughter once she disappears.
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Paraguay: ‘The Last Ones’
Image Credit: Cinando Sebastián Peña Escobar’s documentary follows three scientists debating the future of the world and its species. A massive forest fire, threatening large-scale deforestation, puts the trio and Paraguay’s natural region of Gran Chaco under serious threat. The film debuted at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in 2023 ahead of a wide run on the festival circuit.
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Peru: ‘Yana-Wara’
This black-and-white fantasy drama centers on an 80-year-old accused of murdering Yana-Wara, his 13-year-old granddaughter. During the trial, it emerges the young girl, a victim of gender violence, was plagued by terrifying visions of the evil spirits that inhabit forbidden regions of the Andes mountains. Shot in the Aymara language, the film was directed by Tito Catacora and the late Óscar Catacora, who died while the movie was still in production.
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The Philippines: ‘And So It Begins’
Image Credit: Cinando Directed by Ramona S. Diaz (A Thousand Cuts), And So It Begins is the Philippines’ first documentary to represent the country in the international Oscar category. The film chronicles the politically charged backdrop of the 2022 Philippine presidential elections, focusing on two influential women: Leni Robredo, a presidential candidate, and Maria Ressa, a Nobel laureate journalist.
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Poland: ‘Under the Volcano’
Director Damian Kocur’s follow-up to his 2022 feature Bread and Salt is a family drama about the trauma and uncertainty of war, focusing on a young Ukrainian family on vacation in the Canary Islands when Russia kicks off its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Stuck in paradise and unable to return to Kyiv, the vacationers become refugees, unsure of where to go or what to do.
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Portugal: ’Grand Tour’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival One of the most experimental offerings in this season’s race, Miguel Gomes’ Cannes best director winner is a black-and-white period odyssey about a British civil servant fleeing an arranged marriage in 1918 Burma. The movie boldly shifts between past and present, as well as documentary and fiction.
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Romani: ‘Three Kilometers to the End of the World’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival A homophobic attack ends up shattering the life of the 17-year-old victim when he is forced to reveal his sexuality to his conservative family and the seeming tranquility of village life begins to unravel. The film premiered in Cannes, where it won the Queer Palm.
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Senegal: ‘Dahomey’
Image Credit: Les Films du Bal – Fanta Sy Actress-turned-director Mati Diop follows up her cross-over debut Atlantics with a documentary essay on colonialism and cultural history, following the return of 26 royal artifacts plundered by French colonial troops in 1892. Winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear for best film, it is a major contender both for the international feature and best documentary race.
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Serbia: ‘Consul’
Miroslav Lekic’s anti-war drama is set in 1973 and captures the start of the Kosovo crisis between Serbs and Albanians in the regional province. The film stars the late Žarko Laušević, who died in Nov. 2023, as a Serbian doctor sent to a hospital in Kosovo after the death of a patient. There he meets a former history professor who claims to represent Imperial Russia, just as local Albanian separatists stand up against oppression.
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Singapore: ‘La Luna’
Image Credit: Clover Films M. Raihan Halim’s Malay-language comedy-drama, a co-production between Singapore and Malaysia, tells the story of a woman who opens a lingerie shop in a conservative Malaysian village, tackling themes of tradition versus modernity with a light touch. The movie was shot in the remote Malaysian town of Kuala Kangsar, near Ipoh in the northwest of the country. La Luna is Raihan’s second feature film after Banting (2014), which was Singapore’s first Malay film since the 1970s. Singapore has submitted films for the Academy Awards since 2005, but the country has never been nominated.
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Slovakia: ‘The Hungarian Dressmaker’
Image Credit: ‘The Hungarian Dressmaker’ Director and writer Iveta Grofova portrays a Hungarian widow dressmaker who shelters a Jewish boy in her home on the Slovak-Hungarian border. Adapted from Peter Kristufek’s book Emma and the Death’s Head, the drama takes place in a Nazi-aligned Slovak state and forces Slovakians to confront a dark era of their past many would prefer to forget.
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Slovenia: ‘Family Therapy’
In this modern-day take on Pier Paolo Pasolini’s classic Teorema, the third feature from Slovenian director-writer Sonja Prosencan looks at an unpleasant, nouveau riche family (living in a literal glass house) that gets severely disrupted by the arrival of a handsome young stranger.
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South Africa: ‘Old Righteous Blues’
Image Credit: The Ergo Company Two choirs, one man, one mission. That is the set-up for Muneera Sallies’ Oscar hopeful, set in South Africa’s Western Cape region. The script from Carol Shore, who also produced, focuses on Hantjie (Ayden Croy), a member of a Christmas choir, who develops feelings for Risi (Megan Saayman), the daughter of a rival choir leader. He ends up having to try to heal tensions between the choirs and in the local community.
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South Korea: ‘12.12: The Day’
Kim Sung-soo’s 12.12: The Day dramatizes the infamous December 12, 1979 coup in South Korea that reshaped the nation’s political history. The film offers a tense, minute-by-minute account of the power struggle between the military and the civilian government as General Chun Doo-hwan seizes control. Told through multiple perspectives, including journalists, political figures and everyday citizens, the movie captures the chaos and intrigue of that pivotal night. The film earned over $97 million against a budget of about $17 million, making it the highest-grossing Korean film of 2023 and the fourth-highest-grossing Korean film of all time.
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Spain: ‘Saturn Return’
Image Credit: Courtesy-of-Latido-films This 1990s-set drama from Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez is a biopic of the popular indie rock band Los Planetas, focusing on the band’s origin story in the late 1990s when they were facing a crisis during the making of an album that would transform them, and the Spanish music scene, forever. Daniel Ibáñez, Cristalino, Stéphanie Magnin, Mafo, Chesco Ruiz and Edu Rejón star.
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Sweden: ‘The Last Journey’
Sweden’s Oscar entry is this funny, heartbreaking documentary about a devoted son — played by director Filip Hammar — who tries to rekindle his 80-year-old father’s lust for life by organizing a road trip to the French coastal town where they used to spend their holidays. In the end, it’s the son who must come to grips with the inevitability of aging and death, but the film, a local box office hit, is truly life-affirming.
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Switzerland: ‘Queens’
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Klaudia Reynicke’s Oscar contender is a family drama set against the backdrop of social unrest and economic crisis in Peru in 1992 when the national currency collapsed and insurgent Shining Path guerrillas carry out brazen attacks. Two teenage sisters are preparing to leave their country forever when they unexpectedly reconnect with their absent father. Queens premiered at Sundance before winning the Grand Prix for the best film in the Generation Kplus section in Berlin.
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Taiwan: ‘Old Fox’
Directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, this poignant drama is set against the backdrop of Taiwan’s transformative late 1980s, after the lifting of martial law. The film follows Liao Tai-lai, a struggling father determined to provide stability for his 11-year-old son, Liao Jie, by buying a home despite Taiwan’s soaring housing prices. Central to their story is their landlord, nicknamed “Old Fox,” a shrewd and enigmatic character who embodies the era’s opportunistic real estate market. Rooted in Hsiao’s personal experiences, the film captures the struggles of Taiwan’s working class and won the best director at the 60th Golden Horse Awards.
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Tajikistan: ‘Melody’
Image Credit: Cinando Written, directed, produced and edited by Behrouz Sebt Rasoul, Melody unfolds in a children’s cancer care center where a music teacher, Melody, inspires her students by embarking on a heartfelt project: composing a musical piece using the sounds of 30 different birds. When Melody and her mute housekeeper, Mango, manage to locate only 20 birds, they seek the help of an elderly villager who holds the key to finding more.
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Thailand: ‘How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies’
Image Credit: Courtesy of GDH Directed and co-written by first-time Thai filmmaker Pat Boonnitipat, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies stars pop star Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul — in his debut film role — as a university dropout low on cash who volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother Mengju (Usha “Taew” Seamkhum), in the hope of pocketing an inheritance. Produced by the hitmaking Bangkok-based studio GDH, the heartwarming comedy-drama struck a chord with its irreverent take on contemporary Thai family dynamics, earning more than $50 million at the worldwide box office.
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Tunisia: ‘Take My Breath’
Image Credit: Mad Solutions A 23-year-old seamstress sees their life unravel when their intersex identity is exposed in this Oscar hopeful from Tunisia. After years of snubs, the country is on a bit of an awards run. Last year’s entry, Kaouther Ben Hania’s documentary Four Daughters made the best international feature shortlist and picked up the best documentary nod. And Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin was an international feature nominee in 2021.
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Turkey: ‘Life’
Turkish auteur Zeki Demirkubuz wrote and directed this take on toxic masculinity. His tale is about a young woman, played by Miray Daner, who tries to avoid an arranged marriage by going into hiding while her fiance travels to Istanbul to track her down.
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Ukraine: ‘La Palisiada’
Philip Sotnychenko’s debut feature is a crime drama that chronicles two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, who investigate the murder of their colleague in western Ukraine in 1996, just before the country signs the European Convention on Human Rights.
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United Kingdom: ‘Santosh’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival Sandhya Suri’s narrative feature debut is a police procedural set in India revolving around the gruesome murder of a teenager. Shahana Goswami stars as the titular Santosh, a driven young Hindu widow who inherits her husband’s job as a police constable thanks to a government scheme. She finds herself caught up in institutional corruption even as she warms to working with rough-edged veteran detective Inspector Sharma (Sunita Rajwar) on a brutal murder case involving a teenage girl from the lower caste Dalit community.
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Venezuela: ‘Back to Life (Vuelve a la Vida)’
Image Credit: Cinando In 1996, Ricardo returns to Caracas after a year away in New York City. While traveling along the coasts of Venezuela, and seeing his friends on a fun-filled road trip, he is diagnosed with cancer, which transforms his life and leaves his family facing an unexpected and possibly life-changing event. Based on a true story, the coming-of-age tale is directed by Luis Carlos Hueck and Alfredo Hueck.
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Vietnam: ‘Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano’
A romantic war drama supported by the Vietnamese state, Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano is directed by local screen veteran Phi Tien Son. Little seen outside its home country, the film tells the story of two young lovers who decide to stay in Hanoi despite the danger during Vietnam’s 1946 war against French colonial forces.
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Source: Hollywoodreporter
