The year’s most anticipated Oscar players are set to debut at Venice, Telluride or Toronto, but there is already high drama in the International Film (formerly known as Foreign Language Film) race. Of course, there is always drama in this category. Landing a nomination means more to the film community and general public of many of these nations than most casual American awards watchers realize. And the news today that Amazon Studios acquired U.S. rights to the celebrated Brazillian drama “The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao” is going to make Brazil’s decision, in particular, that more difficult.
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The winner of the top prize of the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes this year, “Invisible Life” follows two sisters who are separated from each other in their late teens and, unbeknownst to one another, end up spending the rest of their lives only a few miles from each other in the massive city of Rio de Janeiro. Directed by Karim Aïnouz, “Invisible Life” is a tearjerker with impressive performances from Carol Duarte and Julia Stockler in the lead roles. The film was so beloved at Cannes it had many wondering why it wasn’t included in the official competition. One reason might have been because of Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’s “Bacurau,” which made the cut.
The winner of a shared jury prize with France’s “Les Miserables” (more on that in a minute), “Bacurau” is set in a small town in the Brazillian countryside where the residents find themselves at odds with a corrupt local government and some nefarious English-speakers who don’t have their best interests in mind. Part B-movie, part political commentary, “Bacurau” isn’t necessarily an easy watch but critical praise made it a buzzworthy title out of the fest.
But, wait. It gets better.
Recently, Brazil has had a dicey history of unexpected submission picks by its official committee. In 2016, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “Aquarius,” starring international known actress Sonia Braga, was snubbed. “Aquarius” had earned raves at Cannes that May, but the filmmakers and actors staged a political protest at their premiere against the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil at that time. The action earned worldwide coverage and those supporting Rousseff’s ouster were not pleased. Fast forward a few months later and the nation’s Ministry of Culture invites a reporter critical of that action to be on the committee. The Brazillian film community was so enraged that three filmmakers actually withdrew their films from consideration in protest. One of those filmmakers was Anna Muylaert (remember that name). As many feared “Aquarius” was indeed snubbed and Brazil submitted David Schurmann’s “Little Secret” instead. It was no surprise when it didn’t even make the shortlist. In fact, the last Brazilian film nominated in this category was “Central Station” in 1999. The last film to make the shortlist was “The Year My Parents Went On Vacation” in 2007. It’s been a rough go for the Brazillian film community in this regard.
Three years later and the “Bacurau” and “Invisible Life” showdown is intriguing on a number of levels outside of the unexpected showdown between the streaming giants. In a delicious turn of events, Muylaert is the chairwoman of this year’s committee. There should be no concerns over “Bacaru’s” political leanings in the film being chosen as Brazil’s submission even in an increasingly volatile environment. That being said, “Invisible Life” is the sort of film that you’d expect to kill with the first round voters who volunteer for the International Film vetting process. It should easily make the shortlist on a popular vote that now has seven slots to fill after the Academy increased the shortlist from nine to 10 films overall this year. It would hard to see “Bacurau” getting through thanks to the screening committee, but it could potentially make the shortlist with an executive committee save, but that’s a lot to hope for with the exec committee having just three slots to fill. The film also has its share of supporters in the cinephile community. Enough that “Bacaru” will screen at TIFF and the NYFF over the next few months. At the moment, “Invisible Life” is just screening at TIFF. Whether either of the movies show up in Telluride for Oscar members to screen remains to be seen. Having caught both films, however, “Invisible Life” feels as though it has a much better shot at an actual International Film nomination. “Bacurau”? A much tougher sell, but it’s possible.
It’s unclear when Brazil will make its selection, but the 2018 choice wasn’t announced until mid-September. The South American powerhouse has never won this particular Oscar category.
Brazil isn’t the only nation with selection drama this season. France has not two, but three films vying for their prestigious selection. There’s François Ozon’s “By The Grace Of God, which won the Silver Bear at Berlin, Ladj Ly‘s aforementioned Cannes Jury prize-winning “Les Miserables” and Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which took the Best Screenplay and Queer Palme honors at Cannes. “Portrait,” which is rumored to be screening at Telluride and will also play at TIFF and NYFF is currently one of the most acclaimed films of the year with a 95 grade on Metacritic. “Les Miserables,” also an Amazon Studios acquisition, didn’t earn as much critical love and is only set for TIFF, at the moment, but it’s another drama that should play much better with the selection committee than its competitors. And it potentially has an easier path to landing a nomination (it may be set in the contemporary suburbs of Paris but it plays broadly ). The more mannered “Portrait,” a NEON release in the U.S., could find itself needing a committee save just to make the shortlist. Moreover, it’s the sort of film that needs major year-end critical awards from the major critics’ groups to jump into the final five. That may be difficult with Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” the presumed frontrunners.
France revealed its submission for this past Academy Awards, Emmanuel Finkiel’s “Memoir of War,” on Sept 21. It last earned a nomination in 2016 for Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s “Mustang.” Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s “The Intouchables” earned a shortlist berth in 2013. France’s last winner in the category was Régis Wargnier’s “Indocine” in 2013.
No matter what each nation does, there will be detractors on both sides over the selections. Sometimes you really just can’t win.
