Oscars: Read THR’s Reviews of Contenders on the Best International Feature Shortlist

Observe how the Hollywood Reporter critics assessed Films from Brazil, Canada, Senegal, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and the Czech Republic that are still competing for the Academy Award for Best International Feature.

Then there were fifteen. Last Monday, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences selected 15 films to be considered for a nomination out of the 85 countries that submitted pictures for the 97th Academy Awards' Best International Feature Picture Oscar.

Jacques Audiard's Emilia Pérez, which represented France; Magnus von Horn's The Girl With the Needle, a Danish contender; Walter Salles' I'm Still Here, a Brazilian film; and Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a film set in Iran and submitted by co-producing Germany, were among the promising entries that cut.

But there were also a few snubs and shocks. Regarding regional distribution, Europe leads with 10 of the 15 shortlisted films, while the Americas are represented by Salles' I'm Still Here and Matthew Rankin's Canadian contender Universal Language. 

Only one from Africa—the Senegal documentary Dahomey, directed by Mati Diop—is still in the race, while two are from Asia. THR has not yet reviewed the latter, which are From Ground Zero in Palestine and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies in Thailand.

Check out the THR assessments of the 13 international Oscar contenders on the Academy's shortlist here before the final five finalists are announced on January 17. The final Oscar voting will begin on February 11 at 9 a.m. PT and end on February 18 at 5 p.m. PT.

In Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel's Oscar-winning debut picture, a psychological drama set at an elementary school, Renate Reinsve, star of The Worst Person in the World, and Ellen Dorrit Petersen, two mothers, quarrel about a bullying incident involving their young kids.

It is noteworthy that the director is the grandson of Ingmar Bergman, who won the Oscar for best foreign-language film with Fanny and Alexander forty years ago.

"The ambition and risk-taking are mainly impressive," THR's assessment states, and "the reception in Cannes has been largely favourable following its debut in the Un Certain Regard strand, and Armand has racked up some offshore sales."