Every year since its creation in 1956, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invites the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue and that was released theatrically in their respective countries between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021. The shortlist of fifteen finalists is scheduled to be announced on 21 December 2021. The final five nominees are scheduled to be announced on 8 February 2022.
Here are the Asian Submissions for Best International Feature Film. There are some excellent movies in this bunch and we have seen and reviewed already some of them.
Armenia
“Should the Wind Drop” by Nora Martirosyan
Azerbaijan
“The Island Within” by Ru Hasanov
Bangladesh
“Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Bhutan
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom...
Here are the Asian Submissions for Best International Feature Film. There are some excellent movies in this bunch and we have seen and reviewed already some of them.
Armenia
“Should the Wind Drop” by Nora Martirosyan
Azerbaijan
“The Island Within” by Ru Hasanov
Bangladesh
“Rehana” by Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Bhutan
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom...
- 11/28/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
These are the submissions for the international film Oscar by country. The deadline for entries was Nov. 1. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced Dec. 21 and the nominations will come out Feb 8. The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre. The Academy has not yet released a final list of entries; Variety compiled this list from individual country’s announcements.
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
Albania
Two Lions Heading to Venice
Dir. Jonid Jorji
Key cast: Vasjan Lami, Alessandra Bonarotta
Logline: A pair of filmmakers heading to the Venice festival are sidetracked from their destination after meeting two adult film actors.
Prodco: Bajo Films
Algeria
Heliopolis
Dir. Djaafar Gacem
Key cast: Souhila Mallem, Mehdi Ramdani, Cesar Duminil
Logline: True story of an uprising in the Algerian town of Guelma that was violently put down by the colonial French rulers.
Prodco: Hewes Pictures
Argentina
The Intruder
Dir. Natalia Meta
Key cast: Guillermo Arengo,...
- 11/11/2021
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2022 Academy Awards
Entries for the 2022 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This is the first time since 2018 that the ceremony will take place in March, having moved to avoid conflicting with the Winter Olympics.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue...
Entries for the 2022 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This is the first time since 2018 that the ceremony will take place in March, having moved to avoid conflicting with the Winter Olympics.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue...
- 11/11/2021
- by Ben Dalton¬Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Of this year’s 49 selections at the Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva, 12 — that is, roughly 25% — of them hail from Asia. The net is as wide as it is expansive: films range from the west reaches of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan to multiple entries from S. Korea. The notable Korean presence only speaks to the increased interest in S. Korean cinema as well, as their four entries include festival hits like Kim Yong-hoon’s “Beasts Clawing at Straws” and Berlinale Silver Bear “The Woman Who Ran” (Hong Sang-soo).
Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva first emerged from a desire to showcase African films. In 1999, the Black Movie expanded to include other members of the Global South — especially focusing on Asia and Latin America. Black Movie is known for its discovery of auteur cinema, including showcases of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Carlos Reygadas, Wang Bing, Takashi Miike, João Pedro Rodrigues in Switzerland.
Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva first emerged from a desire to showcase African films. In 1999, the Black Movie expanded to include other members of the Global South — especially focusing on Asia and Latin America. Black Movie is known for its discovery of auteur cinema, including showcases of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Carlos Reygadas, Wang Bing, Takashi Miike, João Pedro Rodrigues in Switzerland.
- 1/20/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Visar Morina's drama won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature and Cineuropa Award, Ru Hasanov received the Best Director award, and Merry Christmas, Yiwu was crowned Best Documentary. Kosovo-born and Germany-based filmmaker Visar Morina's Sundance and Berlinale title Exile, starring Michel Maticevic and Sandra Hüller, triumphed at the online, 26th edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, winning the Heart of Sarajevo for best feature film as well as the Cineuropa Award. Azerbaijan's Ru Hasanov received the Heart of Sarajevo for best director for his second feature film, The Island Within, which had its world premiere at the festival. Croatia's Marija Škaričić won the Heart of Sarajevo for best actress for her role in Andrea Štaka's Mare, repeating her 2006 success when she triumphed for her role in Fräulein, the first feature film by the same director. Mare also received the Cicae Award. The Heart of Sarajevo for best actor.
After being forced to pivot entirely online last-minute due to a Covid spike, Bosnia’s Sarajevo Film Festival is coming to a close and has unveiled its prize winners for this year’s edition.
A jury chaired by Michel Hazanavicius and featuring Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian, actress Jadranka Đokić, director Srdan Golubović and the Morelia Film Festival’s Andrea Stavenhagen, awarded the festival’s top prize, the Heart of Sarajevo, to Visar Morina’s Exile. The pic stars Misel Maticevic and Sandra Huller in the story of a chemical engineer of foreign origin who plunges into an identity crisis. It debuted at Sundance this year.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director went to Ru Hasanov for The Island Within, while Best Actress went to Marija Škaričić for Mare, and Best Actor went to Vangelis Mourikis for Digger. You can see the list of awards below, as well as the festival’s industry winners.
A jury chaired by Michel Hazanavicius and featuring Berlinale director Carlo Chatrian, actress Jadranka Đokić, director Srdan Golubović and the Morelia Film Festival’s Andrea Stavenhagen, awarded the festival’s top prize, the Heart of Sarajevo, to Visar Morina’s Exile. The pic stars Misel Maticevic and Sandra Huller in the story of a chemical engineer of foreign origin who plunges into an identity crisis. It debuted at Sundance this year.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director went to Ru Hasanov for The Island Within, while Best Actress went to Marija Škaričić for Mare, and Best Actor went to Vangelis Mourikis for Digger. You can see the list of awards below, as well as the festival’s industry winners.
- 8/21/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Ceremony took place remotely, after festival shifted online week before opening.
Psychological thriller Exile has won the best film prize at the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival, which took place online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of winners
In a virtual awards ceremony, streamed on the festival’s VoD platform, Kosovo-born writer-director Visar Morina accepted the Heart of Sarajevo prize via a video message after jury president Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) made the announcement from his own home in France. The award includes a prize of €16,000.
Exile, first seen at Sundance and in the Berlinale’s Panorama strand,...
Psychological thriller Exile has won the best film prize at the 26th Sarajevo Film Festival, which took place online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scroll down for full list of winners
In a virtual awards ceremony, streamed on the festival’s VoD platform, Kosovo-born writer-director Visar Morina accepted the Heart of Sarajevo prize via a video message after jury president Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) made the announcement from his own home in France. The award includes a prize of €16,000.
Exile, first seen at Sundance and in the Berlinale’s Panorama strand,...
- 8/21/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Visar Morina’s “Exile,” a tense psychodrama about a Kosovan pharmacologist in Germany who becomes increasingly paranoid over a series of menacing events, won the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival, earning the Kosovo-born German director the Heart of Sarajevo.
The award ceremony took place online Thursday night, with Morina winning top honors from a jury led by Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) and comprised of Carlo Chatrian, artistic director of the Berlin Intl. Film Festival; Croatian actress Jadranka Đokić; Serbian director Srdan Golubović; and Andrea Stavenhagen, head of industry and training projects at the Morelia Film Festival.
Director Michel Franco and actor Mads Mikkelsen were given honorary Heart of Sarajevo awards.
The timely drama from Morina, who was named one of Variety‘s 10 Europeans to Watch earlier this year, is a poignant study of identity and belonging at a time of ongoing uncertainty in Europe over...
The award ceremony took place online Thursday night, with Morina winning top honors from a jury led by Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”) and comprised of Carlo Chatrian, artistic director of the Berlin Intl. Film Festival; Croatian actress Jadranka Đokić; Serbian director Srdan Golubović; and Andrea Stavenhagen, head of industry and training projects at the Morelia Film Festival.
Director Michel Franco and actor Mads Mikkelsen were given honorary Heart of Sarajevo awards.
The timely drama from Morina, who was named one of Variety‘s 10 Europeans to Watch earlier this year, is a poignant study of identity and belonging at a time of ongoing uncertainty in Europe over...
- 8/20/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Seymour Tahirbekov is a reluctant chess star, a young grandmaster from Azerbaijan whose life is rigidly controlled by his emotionally toxic father and coach. On the eve of his showdown with the defending world champion, Seymour’s nerves began to fray, and he escapes to a remote island populated by wild horses and a solitary old man. Away from the limelight, and with a newfound sense of freedom, he begins to find peace of mind. But with the world championship days away, it’s just a matter of time before the nationwide manhunt for the Awol grandmaster closes in.
“The Island Within” is written and directed by Ru Hasanov, who co-directed the 2013 Locarno player “Chameleon.” Produced by his Baku-based outfit Coyote Cinema and co-produced by France’s Arizona Productions, the film world premiered in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Born and raised in Baku, Hasanov studied in the U.
“The Island Within” is written and directed by Ru Hasanov, who co-directed the 2013 Locarno player “Chameleon.” Produced by his Baku-based outfit Coyote Cinema and co-produced by France’s Arizona Productions, the film world premiered in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Born and raised in Baku, Hasanov studied in the U.
- 8/20/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
For many of the visitors who descended on the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, packing their day planners with meetings at the Gropius Bau and red-carpet premieres at the Berlinale Palast, there was a surreal sense of business as usual. But with coronavirus already ravaging Italy—and soon to be sweeping across the rest of Europe—Sarajevo Film Festival director Mirsad Purivatra knew that he and his team had little time to spare.
“We started immediately to think what to do with our festival,” Purivatra told Variety on the eve of Sarajevo’s 26th edition, which runs Aug. 14-21. Even though the festival’s opening night was still months away, “we had [in mind] the worst-case scenario that it could be a bad situation with the numbers of Covid-19” cases in Bosnia.
As spring turned to summer, Purivatra and his colleagues were confident that a scaled-down version of the physical festival...
“We started immediately to think what to do with our festival,” Purivatra told Variety on the eve of Sarajevo’s 26th edition, which runs Aug. 14-21. Even though the festival’s opening night was still months away, “we had [in mind] the worst-case scenario that it could be a bad situation with the numbers of Covid-19” cases in Bosnia.
As spring turned to summer, Purivatra and his colleagues were confident that a scaled-down version of the physical festival...
- 8/14/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The 26th Sarajevo Film Festival has revealed a lineup of 49 films which will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards, whose main competition jury is being overseen by The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius. Scroll down for full lineup.
Set to take place from August 14-21, the Balkan event will be the biggest physical festival to take place in Europe since the coronavirus shut down most film and TV gatherings after Berlin in March.
Cinemas in Bosnia re-opened May 28 with numerous protocols including cleaning footwear before entering auditoria. International travel is permitted to the country, though in a limited form and providing travelers are tested for coronavirus. The event traditionally attracts tens of thousands of visitors and a couple of hundred films, but this year’s lineup is reduced and international attendance is likely to be significantly down.
Sarajevo’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will comprise 29 world premieres,...
Set to take place from August 14-21, the Balkan event will be the biggest physical festival to take place in Europe since the coronavirus shut down most film and TV gatherings after Berlin in March.
Cinemas in Bosnia re-opened May 28 with numerous protocols including cleaning footwear before entering auditoria. International travel is permitted to the country, though in a limited form and providing travelers are tested for coronavirus. The event traditionally attracts tens of thousands of visitors and a couple of hundred films, but this year’s lineup is reduced and international attendance is likely to be significantly down.
Sarajevo’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary, short and student film – will comprise 29 world premieres,...
- 7/23/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Festival will world premiere 12 features across its dramatic and documentary competitions.
Eight features have been selected for the main competition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which is taking place as a physical event from August 14-21.
They include the world premieres of More Raça’s Andromeda Galaxy; Fatih Özcan’s Mavzer; Ruxandra Ghițescu’s Otto The Barbarian; and Ru Hasanov’s The Island Within. A further three films played in the Berlinale’s Panorama section earlier this year: Visar Morina’s Exile; Andrea Staka’s Mare; and Georgis Grigorakis’ Digger, which won the strand’s Cicae Award.
Scroll down for...
Eight features have been selected for the main competition of the Sarajevo Film Festival, which is taking place as a physical event from August 14-21.
They include the world premieres of More Raça’s Andromeda Galaxy; Fatih Özcan’s Mavzer; Ruxandra Ghițescu’s Otto The Barbarian; and Ru Hasanov’s The Island Within. A further three films played in the Berlinale’s Panorama section earlier this year: Visar Morina’s Exile; Andrea Staka’s Mare; and Georgis Grigorakis’ Digger, which won the strand’s Cicae Award.
Scroll down for...
- 7/23/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Work in Progress section has become a major venue for filmmakers from Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – this year it saw nearly 70 submissions, the most in the past decade.
The competitive program boasts a large number of projects that have gone on to achieve major success. This year the fest is screening three films that took part in past Work in Progress editions, including Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s documentary “Honeyland,” winner of the grand jury prize at Sundance; Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova’s “Cat in the Wall,” which unspooled at Locarno; and Radu Dragomir’s “Mo.”
Among the 11 projects selected this year were nine features and two documentaries, including Dimitris Bavellas’s Greek drama “In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand,” about two dysfunctional men searching for the love of their life: a 90s porn star who mysteriously...
The competitive program boasts a large number of projects that have gone on to achieve major success. This year the fest is screening three films that took part in past Work in Progress editions, including Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s documentary “Honeyland,” winner of the grand jury prize at Sundance; Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova’s “Cat in the Wall,” which unspooled at Locarno; and Radu Dragomir’s “Mo.”
Among the 11 projects selected this year were nine features and two documentaries, including Dimitris Bavellas’s Greek drama “In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand,” about two dysfunctional men searching for the love of their life: a 90s porn star who mysteriously...
- 8/21/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Producers from Lithuania, Romania, Denmark and Finland were the recipients of five awards presented at the Baltic Event’s Co-Production Market (Nov 26-29).
This year’s Screen International Best Pitch Award went to Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim of Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim who was pitching Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s fourth feature Seneca’s Day which is set to be the first co-production between the three Baltic states.
The €1.48m drama, which also has France’s Philippe Avril attached as a co-producer via his Strasbourg-based company Unlimited, has already received development support from the Lithuanian Film Centre and Media.
Previous winners of the Screen International award, which follows the winning project editorially from development into production and subsequent distribution, includes Petri Kotwica’s Rat King, Alexei German Jr.’s Under Electric Clouds and Jaak Kilmi’s The Hoppers.
Cannes Producers Network
Cannes’ Producers Network gave two free accreditations for its 2014 edition to two promising young producers, the Baltic...
This year’s Screen International Best Pitch Award went to Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim of Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim who was pitching Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s fourth feature Seneca’s Day which is set to be the first co-production between the three Baltic states.
The €1.48m drama, which also has France’s Philippe Avril attached as a co-producer via his Strasbourg-based company Unlimited, has already received development support from the Lithuanian Film Centre and Media.
Previous winners of the Screen International award, which follows the winning project editorially from development into production and subsequent distribution, includes Petri Kotwica’s Rat King, Alexei German Jr.’s Under Electric Clouds and Jaak Kilmi’s The Hoppers.
Cannes Producers Network
Cannes’ Producers Network gave two free accreditations for its 2014 edition to two promising young producers, the Baltic...
- 12/2/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
New projects from Pakalnina, Louhimies and Kilmi at Tallinn market.
New films from Laila Pakalnina (Dawn), Aku Louhimies (True) and Jaak Kilmi (Heroes from the East) are among 12 projects from 11 countries selected for this year’s Baltic Event co-production market which will be held in Tallinn from November 27-29.
Local Estonian film-maker Kilmi will be at the Baltic Event for the second year in a row after presenting another feature project, The Hoppers, which won the Screen International Best Pitch Award last year.
As the Baltic Event’s organisers point out, the 2013 line-up has a large number of feature debutants – six in total – ranging from Romania’s Botond-Csaba Püsök (Miracle in Cluj) through Ukraine’s Marysia Nikitiuk (When The Trees Are Falling) to Finland’s Jussi Hiltunen (Law of the Land).
In addition, Julietta Sichel, the former programme director of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is coming to Tallinn with her company 8Heads Production and Stanislav Babic of Croatia...
New films from Laila Pakalnina (Dawn), Aku Louhimies (True) and Jaak Kilmi (Heroes from the East) are among 12 projects from 11 countries selected for this year’s Baltic Event co-production market which will be held in Tallinn from November 27-29.
Local Estonian film-maker Kilmi will be at the Baltic Event for the second year in a row after presenting another feature project, The Hoppers, which won the Screen International Best Pitch Award last year.
As the Baltic Event’s organisers point out, the 2013 line-up has a large number of feature debutants – six in total – ranging from Romania’s Botond-Csaba Püsök (Miracle in Cluj) through Ukraine’s Marysia Nikitiuk (When The Trees Are Falling) to Finland’s Jussi Hiltunen (Law of the Land).
In addition, Julietta Sichel, the former programme director of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is coming to Tallinn with her company 8Heads Production and Stanislav Babic of Croatia...
- 11/12/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The recently created Saint-Petersburg-based Point Of View (Pov) Development Fund has backed three film projects a total of $86,000 (€65,000).
An international expert group of producers that selected the projects included Sergei Selyanov (Ctb Film Company), Artem Vasiliev (Metrafilms), Riina Sildos (Amrion), Konstantinos Kontovrakis (Heretic) and Berlin-based sales agent Jean-Christophe Simon of Films Boutique.
The films they selected each have the fate of a woman at their centre:
The Woman From Ingria, to be produced by Pavel Odynin, is based on the biography of a simple woman in the north-western corner of Russia during the 20th century (€25,000);
Svetlana follows the real love story between Stalin’s daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva and the Indian raj Brajesh Singh in the mid-1960s. It will be produced by Anastasia Perova, Olga Kolegaeva and Konstantin Nafikov with Karsten Stöter of Germany’s Rohfilm,which was a co-producer of Ritesh Batra’s Cannes hit The Lunchbox (€25,000);
Manifestation, the feature debut by Georgian-born film-maker Anna Sarukhanova...
An international expert group of producers that selected the projects included Sergei Selyanov (Ctb Film Company), Artem Vasiliev (Metrafilms), Riina Sildos (Amrion), Konstantinos Kontovrakis (Heretic) and Berlin-based sales agent Jean-Christophe Simon of Films Boutique.
The films they selected each have the fate of a woman at their centre:
The Woman From Ingria, to be produced by Pavel Odynin, is based on the biography of a simple woman in the north-western corner of Russia during the 20th century (€25,000);
Svetlana follows the real love story between Stalin’s daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva and the Indian raj Brajesh Singh in the mid-1960s. It will be produced by Anastasia Perova, Olga Kolegaeva and Konstantin Nafikov with Karsten Stöter of Germany’s Rohfilm,which was a co-producer of Ritesh Batra’s Cannes hit The Lunchbox (€25,000);
Manifestation, the feature debut by Georgian-born film-maker Anna Sarukhanova...
- 9/2/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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