Saturday, November 2, 2024

Foreign Language Films Contending For A Best Picture Nomination At The 97th Academy Awards

Before the 91st Academy Awards in 2019, the world of foreign language Best Picture Oscar nominees was a very rarified group consisting of just ten movies. Think of that: Only ten foreign-language Best Picture nominees across 90 Academy Award ceremonies. However, beginning with “Roma” at the 91st Academy Awards, foreign-language features have become a welcome near-annual presence at the Academy Awards. Films including “Drive My Car,” “All Quiet On The Western Front,” “Anatomy Of A Fall,” and “The Zone Of Interest” have expanded the definition of what a Best Picture Oscar nominee “looks like.”

With some luck, this year’s Best Picture roster can find a little room for one (or even multiple, as was the case with last year’s Academy Awards) foreign language Oscar nominee. The question, though, is what foreign language film could grab that esteemed nomination slot this year? Which feature film from 2024’s global cinema scene could follow in the footsteps of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Roma,” “Parasite,” or “The Zone Of Interest” and secure a Best Picture nomination?

Right now, the most likely contender appears to be “Emilia Pérez,” Jacques Audiard’s latest directorial effort that performed like gangbusters at Cannes, going on to win the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Prize for Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Zoe Saldaña. It’s Netflix’s big awards season title this year, and the streamer is looking to push this Spanish-language feature into numerous Oscars categories, including Best Picture. It remains to be seen if “Emilia Pérez’s” fervor can endure throughout the rest of the 2024-2025 awards season. But right now, it’s got the best shot of any foreign language film to receive a Best Picture nomination.

Don’t count out another 2024 Cannes Film Festival title, though, one that received even more universal praise than “Emilia Pérez.” “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” is the latest motion picture from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof. The world-renowned filmmaker has garnered an immense reputation not only because of the quality of his films but also because he had to flee Iran to premiere “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” at Cannes. Now an exile from his home country, he was greeted in France with a hero’s welcome when the film premiered, and it has continued to have a strong festival presence with screenings at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF; Rasoulof has helmed one of the year’s most acclaimed films, and with Germany selecting it for Best International Feature, we cannot ignore the possibility of the Academy possibly placing it in the Best Picture category.

Meanwhile, “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” is also being handled in the U.S. by NEON, who previously brought foreign language films “Parasite” and “Anatomy Of A Fall” to the Academy with Best Picture nominations. This indie film studio could do this again, even while juggling awards season juggernaut and Cannes Palme d’Or winner, “Anora.” The smaller size of “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig,” not to mention the scarcity of Iranian cinema at past Oscar ceremonies, could lead to it getting lost in this year’s awards season shuffle. Still, “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” is one to keep an eye on as a potential Best Picture nominee that could steadily climb up pundits’ predictions, just as NEON’s “Anatomy Of A Fall” did last year.

Filmmaker Walter Salles is no stranger to scoring grand awards recognition. For instance, his 1998 masterpiece “Central Station” received a Best International Feature Oscar nomination and an impressive Best Actress nomination for Fernanda Montenegro. To date, that makes her “Central Station” performance the only Oscar-nominated role performed entirely in Portuguese. That track record and early positive reviews mean the latest Salles movie, “I’m Still Here,” shouldn’t be discounted as a potential Oscar heavyweight. It doesn’t hurt that it has a major distributor behind it in Sony Pictures Classics, pushing its awards season campaign. That label might have the might to push “I’m Still Here” as Brazil’s first-ever Best Picture Oscar nominee.

Then, there’s “All We Imagine As Light,” a Payal Kapadia directorial effort from India told mainly in Malayalam. The filmmaker of “A Night of Knowing Nothing” followed up on that acclaimed documentary with this beautiful narrative feature, which marked the first Indian movie to make it into the main competition section at Cannes in 30 years. Despite that feat and winning the Grand Prix award at Cannes, “All We Imagine As Light” was not selected to represent India in the Best International Feature race for the 97th Academy Awards. That choice, echoing France’s passing over “Anatomy Of A Fall,” has inspired endless discourse and conversation over whether “All We Imagine As Light” will receive a similar push from Janus and Sideshow to climb up the prediction charts and become this year’s critical darling amongst Academy voters.

Though it won’t show up in the Best International Feature race, “All We Imagine As Light” could follow in the footsteps of other movies shunned by their home countries and go on to score major Oscar nominations in separate categories. Janus Films previously handled Best Picture nominee “Drive My Car,” and if “All We Imagine As Light” performs well with NYFCC, LAFCA, and/or NSFC as “Drive My Car” did, a similar path to awards season success might present itself. “All We Imagine As Light” will be released stateside in a mid-November release slot, mimicking “Drive My Car’s” Thanksgiving 2021 North American bow. Unfortunately, the Academy has been frustratingly limited in recognizing Indian cinema in the past. Smaller-scale slow cinema like “All We Imagine As Light” will struggle to challenge those perceptions. Still, Janus Films will undoubtedly give the film a solid promotion, and that historic Cannes win shows that Kapadia’s breathtaking film has some serious critical momentum in its corner. All of this, combined with being one of the few films in the awards season conversation helmed by a female filmmaker this year, could all help propel the film.

Those four films are unquestionably the most prolific foreign language contenders currently vying for Best Picture Oscar nominations. And yet, there could be some other dark horse candidates worth watching. “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” is a fantastic feature, the optimal manifestation of a tearjerker. It has yet to catch on in America, but it was a cultural phenomenon in its home country of Thailand and has also taken off as a box office hit in other territories like Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore. The global Academy voter base could take notice of those trends when deciding on Best Picture nominees.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” received buzz from its Venice International Film Festival premiere and subsequent Toronto International Film Festival screenings. However, it’ll need a domestic distributor to gain momentum for any kind of Oscar talk outside of Best International Feature. Meanwhile, “Kneecap,” “Universal Language,” and “Vermiglio” have all obtained significant buzz, with the latter securing promising Janus Films distribution. And then there is “Flow,” which is contending for both Best International Feature Film and Best Animated Feature Film. However, at the moment, none seem poised to have enough hype to propel them into the Best Picture race.

Certainly, Oscar voters (not to mention voters at all sorts of awards season functions) have a plethora of options for great movies not in English to consider for Best Picture this year. Looking over these films, the various submissions from countries for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, and even just the most acclaimed motion pictures of 2024, it’s enthralling to be reminded of the expansive nature of cinema. There are endless opportunities to discover something new, exciting, and form-breaking all over the world. Hopefully, considering what could be the next foreign language Best Picture Oscar nominee doesn’t just get you, dear reader, thinking about potential 97th Academy Award nominees. Ideally, this exploration should also get one excited about uncovering and exploring all kinds of cinematic storytelling from all over the world!

Which international films do you think will be nominated for Best Picture? Do you see any international films receiving additional Oscar nominations outside of Best International Feature Film? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.

You can follow Lisa and hear more of her thoughts on the Oscars & Film on her portfolio here

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