Oscars 2023: 92 countries in the running for Best International Film – Film Review

The race for the 2023 Oscars narrowed a little more the day before yesterday with the announcement of the list of official nominees in three categories. While those for Best Documentary and Best Animated Film contain essentially all eligible feature films, 144 and 27 respectively, the candidates for Best International Film faithfully reflect the pre-selection made by the participating countries. They numbered 92 this year, a figure that has been almost stable in recent times. Only one country submitted a film for the first time to the vote of the members of the American Film Academy this year: Uganda.

In addition to having changed its name in 2020 – it was previously called “Best Foreign Film” – the category of Best International Film has also changed its voting rules somewhat. It is therefore no longer special committees that decide on the list of fifteen semi-finalists, communicated in two weeks, on Wednesday, December 21, but all the members of the Academy wishing to participate, subject to having seen a certain number films in the running for the international Oscar. Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, and the ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood six weeks later on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Only two controversies disturbed this first phase of selection of the successor of drive my car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi: the outcry raised in the Indian film industry after the appointment of Last Movie Show of Pan Nalin to the detriment of the social phenomenon RRR of SS Rajamouli, as well as, not far from Bollywood, the controversy surrounding the Pakistani candidate joyland by Saim Sadiq, for a time threatened with not being able to be released in its country of origin because of its inclusive theme.

We are not going to venture here to predict the five final candidates, in this historically unpredictable category. However, after the coronation of Parasite by Bong Joon-ho as Best Short Film at the Oscars before the health crisis in early 2020, the question must be allowed if either of these films could also land a nomination in one of the other categories of Oscars. As drive my car did so earlier this year, thanks to its three additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

To tell the truth, this edition of the Supreme Hollywood Awards seems rather hermetically closed to foreign talents, with the possible exception of Park Chan-wook as Best Director for Decision to leavecostumes from the reinterpretation of the Sissi myth in Bodice of Marie Kreutzer and the technical prowess accomplished by the Germanic candidate In the west, nothing is new by Edward Berger.

The 14 films already released in cinemas in France

Close (Belgium) by Lukas Dhont, with Eden Dabrine and Gustav De Waele
The Cairo Conspiracy (Sweden) by Tarik Saleh, with Tawfeek Barhom and Fares Fares
Decision to leave (South Korea) by Park Chan-wook, with Tang Wei and Park Hae-il
employee boss (Uruguay) by Manuel Nieto Zas, with Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Cristian Borges
Eo (Poland) by Jerzy Skolimowski, with Sandra Drzymalska and Isabelle Huppert
Hawaii (Bangladesh) by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, with Chanchal Chowdhury and Nazifa Tushi
Icarus (Luxembourg) by Carlo Vogele
Memory Box (Lebanon) by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, with Rim Turki and Manal Issa
Our brothers (Algeria) by Rachid Bouchareb, with Reda Kateb and Lyna Khoudri
Nights of Mashhad (Denmark) by Ali Abbasi, with Mehdi Bajestani and Zahra Amir Ebrahimi
Map 75 (Japan) by Chie Hayakawa, with Chieko Baisho and Hayato Isomura
Saint-Omer (France) by Alice Diop, with Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda
under the figs (Tunisia) by Erige Sehiri, with Ameni Fdhili and Fide Fdhili
Utama The Forgotten Land (Bolivia) by Alejandro Loayza Grisi, with José Calcina and Luisa Quispe

The 12 films that will soon be released in France

Alma viva (Portugal) by Cristèle Alves Meira, with Lua Michel and Ana Padrão, French release March 15, 2023
Blanquita (Chile) by Fernando Guzzoni, with Laura Lopez and Alejandro Goic, French release scheduled for June 2023
The blue of the caftan (Morocco) by Maryam Touzani, with Saleh Bakri and Lubna Azabal, French release March 15, 2023
Bodice (Austria) by Marie Kreutzer, with Vicky Krieps and Florian Teichtmeister, French release on December 14
Domingo and the mist (Costa Rica) by Ariel Escalante Meza, with Carlos Ureña and Sylvia Sossa, French release February 15, 2023
Mediterranean fever (Palestine) by Maha Haj, with Amer Hlehel and Ashraf Farah, French release on December 14
The happiest man in the world (North Macedonia) by Teona Strugar Mitevska, with Jelena Kordic Kuret and Adnan Omerovic, French release February 22, 2023
joyland (Pakistan) by Saim Sadiq, with Salmaan Peerzada and Rasti Farooq, French release on December 28
Our suns (Spain) by Carla Simon, with Jordi Pujol Dorcet and Anna Otin, French release on January 18, 2023
Nostalgia (Italy) by Mario Martone, with Pierfrancesco Favino and Sofia Essaidi, French release on January 4, 2023
The Quiet Girl (Ireland) by Colm Bairéad, with Catherine Clinch and Carrie Crowley, French release scheduled for April 5, 2023
Return to Seoul (Cambodia) by Davy Chou, with Park Ji-min and Oh Kwang-rok, French release on January 25, 2023

The 6 films released on online platforms in France

In the west, nothing is new (Germany) by Edward Berger, with Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch [Netflix]
Argentina 1985 (Argentina) by Santiago Mitre, with Ricardo Darin and Peter Lanzani [Amazon Prime]
Bardo False chronicle of some truths (Mexico) by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, with Daniel Gimenez Cacho [Netflix]
Eami The Memory of the Forest (Paraguay) by Paz Encina [arte]
Farha (Jordan) by Darin J. Sallam, with Karam Taher and Ashraf Barhom [Netflix]
Jail Heart (Bulgaria) by Martin Makariev, with Hristo Shopov and Bashar Rahal [MyCanal]