#EternalSpring For Your Consideration in 3 Categories for the Oscars: Best International, Best Documentary, and Best Animated Film. The first Canadian film EVER to qualify for these categories simultaneously. #oscars2023 pic.twitter.com/ut3st1AGeI
— Eternal Spring (長春) 🇨🇦's Choice for 2023 Oscars (@loftyskydocs) December 12, 2022
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 15-film shortlist for Best International Feature Film. Let's take a look at the titles.
| 2023 Academy Awards shortlist for Best International Feature Film | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Film | ||||||||||||||||
| Argentina | Argentina, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||
| Austria | Corsage | ||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | Close | ||||||||||||||||
| Cambodia | Return to Seoul | ||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | Holy Spider | ||||||||||||||||
| France | Saint Omer | ||||||||||||||||
| Germany | All Quiet on the Western Front | ||||||||||||||||
| India | Last Film Show | ||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | The Quiet Girl | ||||||||||||||||
| Mexico | Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths | ||||||||||||||||
| Morocco | The Blue Caftan | ||||||||||||||||
| Pakistan | Joyland | ||||||||||||||||
| Poland | EO | ||||||||||||||||
| South Korea | Decision to Leave | ||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | Cairo Conspiracy | ||||||||||||||||
Your humble narrator has seen a number of films from other countries in the Academy Awards category (thanks in part to the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival).
Austria (Corsage) Marie Kreutzer
Belgium (Close) Lukas Dhont
Canada (Eternal Spring) Jason Loftus
Finland (Girl Picture) Alli Haapasalo
Poland (EO) Jerzy Skolimowski
Spain (Alcarràs) Carla Simón
The Austria, Belgium, and Poland entries are on the shortlist. Now that we know the frontrunners, finding some of them will be relatively easy.
For the first time in 4 years, there is not an entry for Best Documentary Feature in the running for Best International Feature Film. Flee (Denmark), Collective (Romania), and Honeyland (North Macedonia) were the only 3 films to be on both shortlists.
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, not a Canadian film, and Fire of Love, a Canada co-production, did make the documentary shortlist.
Close and EO were outstanding. Corsage was unusual but good in its way.
Variety reported on the voting changes this year in the Academy Awards category. The significant change is a 1-15 voting scale instead of a 7-10 voting scale. This might have made a dark horse candidate, such as Eternal Spring, less likely to crack the Top 15.
Eternal Spring was in more discussions than any recent Canadian entry. Canada has only had a single entry on the shortlist in the last decade: Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World made the shortlist in the movie year 2016.
Saying this was the best film Canada has submitted in some time is not saying a whole lot. The hope was that a shortlist would draw more eyes to the Jason Loftus film.
Looking back at the last 20 Canada Oscars entries for international films
Canadian film review: Eternal Spring
Eternal Spring gets the nod from Canada for Best International Feature Film
The Independent Spirit Awards announced its 5 nominees for Best International Film. They have more leeway since they aren't limited to the film each country submits to the Academy Awards.
Corsage (Austria/Luxembourg/France/Belgium/Italy/England) Marie Kreutzer
Joyland (Pakistan/USA) Saim Sadiq
Leonor Will Never Die (Philippines) Martika Ramirez Escobar
Return to Seoul (South Korea/France/Belgium/Romania) Davy Chou
Saint Omer (France) Alice Diop
The 2023 Golden Globes are back on television on January 10. Here are their nominees for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Close (Belgium)
Decision to Leave (South Korea)
RRR (India)
The Critics Choice Awards airs January 15 on the CW network in the United States. Here are their nominees for Best Foreign Language Film:
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico)
Close (Belgium)
Decision to Leave (South Korea)
RRR (India)
The Critics Choice Awards list is the same as the Golden Globes with the addition of Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. Both that film and All Quiet on the Western Front are available on Netflix (at least in the United States).
Malta submits a Canadian film for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars
While Malta did submit Carmen, a Canada co-production, for the Best International Feature Film Oscars category, the film is not eligible to participate in the category. Variety reported that the film likely "failed to meet its required seven-day theatrical run by Nov. 30."
There are nuanced rules and a theatrical run is definitely necessary to be in the running.
Jason Loftus interview with Tom Power on Q (CBC Radio One)
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
The Oscars shortlist of 15 films will be reduced to the list of 5 official nominees on January 24, 2023. The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 12, 2023.
Twitter capture: @loftyskydocs
video and photo credit: Eternal Spring
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