The Belgian “Close”, the German “All Quiet on the Western Front”, the South Korean “Decision to Leave” and the Mexican “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” are on the list of 15 finalists in the category for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, the Academy announced Wednesday.
Other movies on the list include films from Argentina, Austria, Cambodia, Denmark, France, India, Ireland, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, and Sweden. The shortlisted films are from five different continents, with Pakistan making the shortlist for the first time for “Joyland”.
Three of the films, Austria’s “Corsage”, France’s “Saint Omer” and Morocco’s “The Blue Caftan”, are directed by women. Mexican Alejandro G. Iñárritu is the only director to have previously appeared on the list or been nominated.
Since the voting takes place under a new system that favors the most well-known films and makes it difficult for the dark horses to get enough votes, the list was made up almost entirely of the films that were favorites in the vote. The omission of Norway’s “War Sailor” was the biggest surprise, while Ukraine’s “Klondike” was another favorite not to make the list.
None of the shortlisted films could be considered surprises or dark horses.
Ninety-two films had been ranked in the category, one short of the record. To vote, the movies were separated into 11 different groups, with voters assigned to one group and forced to watch each of the eight or nine films in that group for their vote to count. They were also allowed to watch any movies outside of their group.
One of the groups ended up with three shortlisted movies, four contained two, four contained one, and two had no movies moving forward.
A second round of voting beginning January 12 will narrow the 15 films down to the final five nominees. Only voters who have seen the 15 shortlisted films will be able to vote.
The films, in alphabetical order by country:
Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”
Austria, Corsage
Belgium, “Close”
Cambodia, “Back to Seoul”
Denmark, “Sacred Spider”
France, “Saint Omer”
Germany, “All quiet on the Western Front”
India, “Last Film Festival”
Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”
Mexico, “Bardo, false chronicle of a handful of truths”
Morocco, “The blue caftan”
Pakistan, “Land of Joy”
Poland, “EO”
South Korea, “Decision to leave”
Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”
The final Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, and the 95th Academy Awards will air on ABC on March 12, 2023.