Those who keep a close watch on the Academy Awards’ international feature category probably noticed two things this year.
First, the overall number of countries submitting for the award dropped to its lowest number since 2018, the year “Roma” was nominated for best picture. While that number contracts slightly, down from an all-time high of 93, non-English-language movies are making a stronger showing in other categories — including best picture — each year.
Second, Variety reviewed more of the category’s contenders than ever before this year, covering 68 of the 85 submissions — that’s 80% of the eligible films. That record number is part of an ongoing effort by Variety to honor those international films selected to represent their home nations (which, in terms of international co-productions like “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” can sometimes be complicated to identify).
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has long argued that its reason for encouraging as many countries as possible to participate — with each one sending a single film to compete, à la World Cup — is that it brings industry attention to international movies that might otherwise escape notice. To that end, Variety enlisted a team of 15 critics around the world helped to chase down, screen and evaluate as many of the 85 films as possible, with a standing offer to those countries who did not respond or could not be reached to be reviewed.
With any luck, next year, the number of submissions and Variety’s number of reviews will both go up. As for this year’s crop, we have aggregated excerpts from Variety’s reviews of all 15 of the shortlisted films, followed by links to the 52 other contenders we reviewed this season. The final nominees for the 97th Academy Awards will be unveiled on Jan. 23.
(Pictured top: Brazil’s “I’m Still Here” and Germany’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”)
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Brazil: ‘I’m Still Here’
Image Credit: Adrian Teijido/Sony Pictures Classics Walter Salles’ deeply poignant “I’m Still Here” [reps] the Brazilian director’s return to his homeland and to the filmmaking form that yielded his Oscar-nominated “Central Station.” It is Christmastime in 1970 and Brazil is six years deep into the military dictatorship. Its presence is mostly felt only in radio reports of kidnapped diplomats and in the occasional army convoy that trundles down the road separating the beach from [Eunice and Rubens Paiva’s] large, airy home. As much as “I’m Still Here” is the story of this family and the devastating state-sanctioned crime that was inflicted upon them, it is the story of this lovely house [which] gradually falls silent and fearful. — Jessica Kiang
Read the full review. -
Canada: ‘Universal Language’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Best Friend Forever In his gently satirical “Universal Language,” writer-director Matthew Rankin imagines a rather fanciful solution [to Canada’s tug-of-war between French and English]: Farsi is now the region’s dominant tongue. Taking his cues from such Iranian classics as “Children of Heaven” and “The White Balloon,” Rankin mixes the humanism of Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi, et al. with his own peculiar brand of comedy (as seen in the more off-the-wall “The Twentieth Century”), offering a delightful cross-cultural hybrid designed to celebrate our differences. — Peter Debruge
Read the full review. -
Czech Republic: ‘Waves’
In watching a film like Jiří Mádl’s handsomely mounted “Waves,” one cannot help but see in its story, and in the history it’s retelling, an urgent plea about the pressing need for a free press. Led by its stellar ensemble, “Waves” makes for a fleet-footed period drama, the kind whose straightforward narrative is heightened by its stylistic and narrative confidence. [“Waves” excels at] memorializing a historic moment that resonates in 2024, precisely because its central themes have not, in the decades since, become historical ones. If anything they’ve become all the more urgent for it. — Manuel Betancourt
Read the full review. -
Denmark: ‘The Girl with the Needle’
Image Credit: Courtesy of EFA Magnus von Horn’s extraordinary and upsetting film [plays like] an adult fairytale abundantly populated with witches and wretches, but where society is revealed as the true monster. The extremity of suffering on display here makes for difficult viewing, scarcely leavened by the expressionistic beauty of its presentation. But von Horn’s film never plays as empty miserablism, in large part thanks to its grave understanding of the moral and spiritual reasoning behind unimaginable acts of violence. In a startling performance, Dyrholm plays Dagmar [who] sees herself as sparing others a long, slow defeat by a society with no space or concern for them. — Guy Lodge
Read the full review. -
France, ‘Emilia Pérez’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix Like a rose blooming amid a minefield, it’s a miracle that Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez” exists: a south-of-the-border pop opera about a most unlikely metamorphosis and the personal redemption it awakens in a stone-cold criminal. Audiard’s dazzling and instantly divisive film emerges as a powerful, unfiltered portrait of someone who challenges several stereotypes at once. That’s a testament to leading lady Karla Sofía Gascón (who plays Manitas/Emilia) and the audacity of Audiard, who had the good sense to incorporate Gascón’s personal experience into the character. — Peter Debruge
Read the full review. -
Germany, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’
Image Credit: Courtesy Films Boutique With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 (during which a wave of protests erupted after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, who was arrested and beaten for wearing an improper hijab) by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. The Jina Revolution marked a historical turning point for women in Iran, and this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie depicts the germination of a new solidarity, which started with students but takes root once average citizens like Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) buy in. — Peter Debruge
Read the full review. -
Iceland: ‘Touch’
Image Credit: Credit: Lilja Jonsdottir / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC The One Who Got Away is a romantic notion that’s been widely propagated by pop culture cinema. And for good reason, as heartfelt drama and compelling conflicts arise authentically from these confrontations with fate. Director-co-writer Baltasar Kormákur’s “Touch” expands on this swoon-worthy idea, elegantly crafting an achingly poignant story centered on an elderly man searching for his true love amidst a time of uncertainty. This gentle, unfussy romance contains a heart-clutching finale that’s as classically restrained as it is emotionally resounding. — Courtney Howard
Read the full review. -
Ireland: ‘Kneecap’
Bursting with unruly energy that practically escapes the confines of the screen, “Kneecap” is a riotous, drug-laced triumph in the name of freedom that bridges political substance and crowd-pleasing entertainment. The three members of the eponymous Irish rap group — Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh — play themselves in this liberally fictionalized reimagining of their origin story set in Belfast, Northern Ireland. As amusing as it is thought-provoking, “Kneecap” concerns the passing of the baton in an ongoing battle for the salvation of the Irish language, and of Irish sovereignty in turn. — Carlos Aguilar
Read the full review. -
Italy: ‘Vermiglio’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Cinedora, Venice Film Festival Italian director Maura Delpero‘s quietly breathtaking “Vermiglio” unfolds from tiny tactile details … into a momentous vision of everyday rural existence in the high Italian Alps. Far away, the Second World War is ending — an earthshaking event felt here only in abstract ways. The remarkable, raw-boned and ravishing “Vermiglio” takes place in the past but operates like a future family secret playing out in the present tense, a perspective that is not quite Godlike, but comes from that which we might as well call God — the spirit of the mothers and the sisters and the daughters who came before and after, and who trusted the imperious mountains to keep their secrets. — Jessica Kiang
Read the full review. -
Latvia: ‘Flow’
Image Credit: “Flow” (Courtesy of Janus Films/Sideshow) In practically every respect, “Flow” could only be animated. And it could only be animated as hynotically as this by Gints Zilbalodis, the one-man world-builder responsible for the 2017 indie marvel “Away.” At his new film’s Cannes premiere, the young Latvian auteur explained how, after a solitary three and a half years dedicated to the making of “Away,” “Flow” represents the supportive coming-together of a team — a notion that becomes increasingly clear as the cat’s survival depends on the other species it encounters along its captivating journey. — Peter Debruge
Read the full review. -
Norway: ‘Armand’
Image Credit: Cannes Film Festival There’s one very good scene in “Armand,” the first movie written and directed by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, who is the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. “Armand” has an interesting premise (a parent being grilled about her son’s behavior as a vehicle for an exploration of social values). But the movie, while elegantly photographed, is mostly a shambles. It keeps throwing things at you in an oblique and random way, and it’s constructed like a puzzle with no solution. Ullmann Tøndel doesn’t know how to follow a scene through. Time and again, he leaves us hanging, and most of what happens is flagrantly unbelievable. — Owen Gleiberman
Read the full review. -
Palestine: ‘From Ground Zero’
Image Credit: Ahmed Hassouna In “From Ground Zero,” 22 directors present cinematic diaries from Gaza, shot in between (and sometimes, during) IDF bombing raids to weave a portrait of life under siege. Each short is unique in its conception, and yet, is bound by a common resilience, and a need to document the violent interruption of life and routine. The shorts range from a couple of minutes in length to nearly 10. Some are charming and wistful. Others use the rubble of collapsed buildings to stage intense fictitious scenes drawn from reality. It’s hard to ignore just how much “From Ground Zero” feels like history unfolding, and tragedy being memorialized, right before our eyes. — Siddhant Adlakha
Read the full review. -
Senegal: ‘Dahomey’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Berlin Film Festival In November 2021, 61 years after Benin gained independence from the French empire, 26 of the many thousands of plundered national antiquities were returned by France to their African home. Inserting an inquisitive, imaginative intelligence into this key moment in the troubled timeline of post-imperial cultural politics, French-Senegalese director Mati Diop fashions her superb, short but potent hybrid doc “Dahomey” as a slim lever that cracks open the sealed crate of colonial history. “Dahomey” is a striking, stirring example of the poetry that can result when the dead and the dispossessed speak to and through the living. — Jessica Kiang
Read the full review. -
Thailand: ‘How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies’
Thai blockbuster “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” is a sentimental comedy-drama that mixes filial piety and avaricious schemes all the way to a multi-hankie finale. Filled with family complications, it follows a young adult slacker who leaves his not exactly booming game-casting career to care for his terminally ill granny. The smoothly crafted, leisurely paced crowd-pleaser has set box office records at home and throughout Southeast Asia. With an engaging cast led by dimpled actor and pop singer Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul and 78-year-old Usha “Taew” Seamkhum, it renders universal the central message of cherishing those we love while there is still time. — Alissa Simon
Read the full review. -
United Kingdom: ‘Santosh’
Image Credit: ©Taha Ahmad While often more intellectually stimulating than emotionally engaging, “Santosh” lays bare the dark heart of communal divisions in modern India. Sandhya Suri‘s narrative debut follows a driven young Hindu widow who inherits her husband’s job as police constable thanks to a government scheme. While the movie speaks the language of a fiercely feminist empowerment saga, it also zeroes in on what power actually means in a highly stratified society when a murky crime leads to the incendiary unfurling of dimensions of religion and caste. While the films lacks ambiguity about the case, it remains firm in its commitment to capturing the ugly allure of power through the perspective of those who wield it. — Siddhant Adlakha
Read the full review. -
Reviews of the Other Countries’ Submissions
Albania: “Waterdrop” — Review
Algeria: “Algiers” — Review
Argentina: “Kill the Jockey” — Review
Austria: “The Devil’s Bath” — Review
Bangladesh: “The Wrestler” — Review
Belgium: “Julie Keeps Quiet” — Review
Bosnia and Herzegovina: “My Late Summer” — Review
Bulgaria: “Triumph” — Review
Cambodia: “Meeting with Pol Pot” — Review
Chile: “In Her Place” — Review
Colombia: “La Suprema” — Review
Costa Rica: “Memories of a Burning Body” — Review
Dominican Republic: “Aire: Just Breathe” — Review
Ecuador: “Behind the Mist” — Review
Egypt: “Flight 404” — Review
Estonia: “8 Views of Lake Biwa” — Review
Finland: “Family Time” — Review
Georgia: “The Antique” — Review
Greece: “Murderess” — Review
Guatemala: “Rita” — Review
Hong Kong: “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” — Review
Hungary: “Semmelweis” — Review
India: “Laapataa Ladies” — Review
Iraq: “Baghdad Messi” — Review
Israel: “Come Closer” — Review
Japan: “Cloud” — Review
Kazakhstan: “Bauryna Salu” — Review
Kenya: “Nawi” — Review
Kyrgyzstan: “Paradise at Mother’s Feet” — Review
Lebanon: “Arzé” — Review
Lithuania: “Drowning Dry” — Review
Malaysia: “Abang Adik” — Review
Mexico: “Sujo” — Review
Mongolia: “If Only I Could Hibernate” — Review
Morocco: “Everybody Loves Touda” — Review
Nepal: “Shambhala” — Review
Netherlands: “Memory Lane” — Review
Pakistan: “The Glassworker” — Review
Peru: “Yana-Wara” — Review
Philippines: “And So It Begins” — Review
Poland: “Under the Volcano” — Review
Portugal: “Grand Tour” — Review
Romania: “Three Kilometres to the End of the World” — Review
Slovakia: “The Hungarian Dressmaker” — Review
Slovenia: “Family Therapy” — Review
South Korea: “12.12: The Day” — Review
Spain: “Saturn Return” — Review
Sweden: “The Last Journey” — Review
Switzerland: “Reinas” — Review
Taiwan: “Old Fox” — Review
Tunisia: “Take My Breath” — Review
Turkey: ”Life” — Review
Ukraine: “La Palisiada” — Review
