Antigone didn't make the cut for the best international feature film category for the 92nd Academy Awards. The Canadian entry didn't have much of a shot at making the Oscars shortlist. The film was the best entry Canada has had in the last 3 years but the world output has sharpened in the category, previously known as best foreign language film.
Here are the best international feature film nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020:
The Painted Bird (Czech Republic)
Truth and Justice (Estonia)
Les Misérables (France)
Those Who Remained (Hungary)
Honeyland (North Macedonia)
Corpus Christi (Poland)
Beanpole (Russia)
Atlantics (Senegal)
Parasite (South Korea)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
I have seen these international Oscars entries: Antigone (Canada); Those Who Remained (Hungary); The Chambermaid (Mexico); Adam (Morocco); Honeyland (North Macedonia); It Must Be Heaven (Palestine); The Whistlers (Romania); Parasite (South Korea); and Pain & Glory (Spain). Those Who Remained and Honeyland are smaller films that left a big impression on your humble narrator.
Lionheart from Nigeria suggests Academy Awards reconsider language for best international feature film
Joy (Austria) was also disqualified for the same reason Lionheart (Nigeria) was disqualified: majority English-language dialogue. There are now 91 entries, down from 93, and now 27 films from female directors, still a record, but down from 29.
Both films are showing on Netflix in the United States.
New changes this year: all eligible Academy members can vote on determining the top 5 list. The previous policy was having a small curated group of filmmakers and actors to watch the semifinalists over the course of a weekend.
The shortlist is at 10 up from 9: the Academy International Feature Film committee will select 7 films from all the entries with 3 saves from the executive committee.
Xavier Dolan film makes top 9 Oscars cut
Canada has only had a single film make the shortlist in the last 7 Oscars seasons: Xavier Dolan's Juste la fin du monde, which was 2 films ago for the French-Canadian director. That film didn't make the Top 5 cut.
2019 WIFF Canadian films in review: French
Canadian film review: Fall of the American Empire
Il pleuvait des oiseaux | And the Birds Rained Down from Louise Archambault would have been a strong contender. Denys Arcand's La chute de l'empire américain and Matthias & Maxime from Xavier Dolan could have been Canada's nominee. Antigone struggled toward the end but had a strong immigrant theme.
Arcand and Dolan have accounted for 7 Canadian entries in the Oscars category. The winning streak of top 5 nominees for Canada from 2013-2015 feels like a distant memory.
Canadian film review: Antigone
Antigone is Canada's entry to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film
The Film Independent Spirit Awards have a similar category called Best International Film. The nominees are:
- Invisible Life (Brazil)
- Les Misérables (France)
- Parasite (South Korea)
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France)
- Retablo (Peru)
- The Souvenir (United Kingdom)
I have seen Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The latter was better than I thought but nowhere near the quality of Parasite.
The Golden Globes nominees for Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language came out last week:
- The Farewell
- Pain and Glory
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Parasite
- Les Misérables
The Farewell is an American film but not in English. Pain and Glory is the latest from the heralded director Pedro Almodóvar (Spain).
| Year | Film title English | Film title French | Director |
| 1998 | August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre | Denis Villeneuve |
| 1999 | Set Me Free | Emporte-moi | Léa Pool |
| 2002 | Soft Shell Man | Un crabe dans la tête | André Turpin |
I have prided myself of seeing the Canadian entries for best international feature film. Of the 23 films nominated since Cosmos (1997), I have now seen all but 3 of them. My consecutive streak goes back to 2003 for The Barbarian Invasions.
Canadian film review: Far Side of the Moon
In 2019, I saw La face cachée de la lune | Far Side of the Moon (2004).
I have seen 7 nominated films that were released before 1997: Mon oncle Antoine (1971); Les Ordres (1975); J.A. Martin photographe (1977); Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986); Jésus de Montréal (1989); Léolo (1992); and Le Sexe des étoiles | The Sex of the Stars (1993).
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The final list of 5 nominations will be revealed on January 13. The 92nd Academy Awards will be handed out on February 9.
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