One of , if not the, most difficult categories to predict for any Oscar year is the recently titled International Feature Film. Earlier in the year, it is almost impossible to predict what films will land with western audiences, not to mention the unpredictability when it comes to countries submitting their films. This has seen the likes of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” miss out as it was not chosen as France’s submission in 2020. Similarly this year, one of the potential winners of this award “All We Imagine as Light” will not be in contention as it was not selected by either France of India, with the former opting for “Emilia Perez” obviously, and the latter choosing “Laapataa Ladies”. This proved to be a mistake for India as their ultimate selection has not made the Academy shortlist, which was announced a couple weeks ago.
Now we have a shortlist of fifteen films, we know what films have a chance of making the five nominations on 17th January. Impressively, my top five has not changed since my last predictions in September, so maybe things are becoming more predictable in this tricky category…at least once submissions are announced anyway.
Full list of International Feature predictions – December 2024:
Strong Contenders
- “Emilia Perez” | France | dir. Jacques Audiard
- “The Seed of a Sacred Fig” | Germany | dir. Mohammad Rasoulof
- “I’m Still Here” | Brazil | dir. Walter Salles
- “The Girl with the Needle”| Denmark | dir. Magnus von Horn
- “Kneecap” | Ireland | dir. Rich Peppiatt
Possible Contenders
- “Vermiglio” | Italy | dir. Maura Delpero
- “Flow”| Latvia | dir. Gints Zilbalodis
- “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” | Thailand | dir. Pat Boonnitipat
- “Universal Language” | Canada | dir. Matthew Rankin
- “Dahomey” | Senegal | dir. Mati Diop
Outsiders
- “From Ground Zero” | Palestine | dir. Various
- “Armand” | Norway | dir. Halfdan Ullmann Tondel
- “Santosh” | United Kingdom | dir. Sandhya Suri
- “Touch” | Iceland | dir. Baltasar Kormakur
- “Waves” | Czech | dir. Jiri Madl
Check out my Movie Reviews and other way-too-early Oscar Predictions via the links below.
Dan Loves Film 
Leave a comment