[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] As the deadline for registration for the "Best International Film" at the 97th Oscars is getting closer, the "Olympic bid films" from various countries and regions have also successively announced their lists. According to statistics, ther

[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] As the deadline for registration for the 97th Oscar "Best International Film" is getting closer, the "Olympic bid films" from various countries and regions have also successively announced their lists. According to statistics, there are now more than Official committees from 50 countries and regions announced the selection of films, including "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" from Hong Kong, China, "Old Fox" from Taiwan, and "Seoul Spring" from South Korea. Although not all of these works from many countries and regions can be shortlisted or win awards, they can give movie fans an opportunity to have an overview of the best works from all over the world this year.

"Old Fox" stills

The registration deadline is less than a week away

According to the requirements of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organizer of the Oscars, the films submitted for the "Best International Film" for this year's Oscars must be feature films produced outside the United States. (Movie length exceeds 40 minutes), the main dialogue (more than 50%) is in non-English, the subject matter and genre are not limited, it can be a drama, documentary or cartoon. Submitted films must be released in local theaters between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, and the deadline for Oscar submissions is October 2, 2024.

There is only about a week until the deadline. The official film selection committees of many countries and regions have already announced the participating films. However, mainland China, France, etc. have not announced yet. Since there is only one quota for each country or region, internal competition is also limited. It is quite intense, and many countries have made decisions at the last minute before the deadline.

As a popular blockbuster film in Hong Kong and the entire Chinese-speaking market this year, the Hong Kong Film Producers Association decided last week to recommend "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" to represent Hong Kong, China, in the competition for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. This action film directed by Cheng Baorui, starring Louis Koo, Raymond Lam3, etc., reproduces the passionate story of brotherhood, the game between good and evil, and the defense of the village in the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong's "Three No Matters Zone" in the 1980s. .

"The Siege of Kowloon Walled City" was shortlisted for the 77th Cannes International Film Festival with its unique creative action design and retro elements. It was well received after its release. The box office in mainland China was 684 million yuan, and the box office in Hong Kong exceeded 1 HK$100 million, ranking second in the local box office list. Such an annual masterpiece is indeed qualified to represent Hong Kong's "Olympic bid". Starring Louis Koo said immediately: "I am honored to be nominated for the Oscar for a Hong Kong film. I hope to bring Hong Kong's martial arts and feelings to the world, and at the same time lead a new generation of actors to International. "This year, Taiwan, China selected "The Old Fox". The film tells the story of a father and son who depend on each other and fall into the trap of the cunning "Old Fox" in the ups and downs of the stock market. They face the choice between wealth and conscience.

Stills from "The Siege of Kowloon Walled City"

However, according to the procedures of the American Film Institute, even if these submitted films are collected, there is no guarantee that they will be shortlisted. They have to conduct a strict preliminary review of their qualifications. In the past few years, they have There is precedent for films being disqualified for various reasons. In 2019, the Nigerian film "Lion Hearted Girl" was disqualified for registration because "the dialogue was mainly in English rather than a foreign language", triggering protests from the main creators.

The 2020 Canadian film "Funny Boy" was also rejected due to "too much English dialogue". Last year's "Dark Lights" was selected in Hong Kong because of suspected "conflict of interest": the film's starring actor Simon Yam voted for this film It violated the principle of fairness in Oscar selection and was therefore disqualified in December. Simon Yam himself also apologized for the operational error.

15 "short list" of films announced at the end of the year

Japan this year selected the thriller and suspense film "Clouds" directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi, and South Korea selected the historical and political film "Seoul Spring", which reproduces the turmoil in South Korea in the late 1970s. A true historical event - the Double Twelve Coup. In addition, India's comedy "The Lost Bride", Iran's "In the Arms of a Tree", Iraq's "Baghdad Messi", Indonesia's "The Woman from Rote", etc., all have the opportunity to be nominated.

According to the schedule officially announced by the Oscars, after all the films submitted for the Oscar for Best International Film have passed the qualification review and internal preliminary selection, a "short list" of 15 films shortlisted for the first round will be announced on December 17. The selection list, which is often referred to as the "5 nominated films" in the industry, will be announced on January 17, 2025, and the awards ceremony will be held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on March 3 next year.

Last year's nominees for the 96th Oscar for Best International Film were Italy's "I Am the Captain", Japan's "Perfect Days", Spain's "Legendary", Germany's "Teachers' Lounge" and the UK's "Zone of Interest" , and finally "Zone of Interest" won the statuette. However, over the years, there have been disputes over which films to submit for the Olympic bid and which awards to apply for. For example, last year's most popular film in France for the Olympic bid, the Palme d'Or winner "" failed to pass the domestic preliminary examination. election, but unexpectedly lost to another film "Fondue" and lost the qualification to represent France in the official Oscar competition for Best International Film. However, the film's creators and producers were not discouraged and still applied for other Oscar categories. As a foreign language film, they received 5 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, and eventually won the "Best Original Screenplay" award. go home.

Downplaying the American Perspective

It can be seen that although signing up for "Best International Film" is the main way for foreign films to compete for the Oscars, it is not the only way, especially in recent years, the Oscars have become more and more open and diversified. Next, as long as foreign films are good enough, they will also have the opportunity to appear in the U.S. and international markets, like the Korean film "Parasite" that historically won the highest honor.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (bbc) commented from the perspective of film history that in 2020, "Parasite" made history by becoming the first non-English film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Director Bong Joon-ho once said: "Once you get over the one-inch-high subtitle barrier, you can see too many wonderful movies." The Oscars accepted Bong Joon-ho's suggestion, and in the past two years, foreign language films have been nominated for Best Picture. More and more.

Among the shortlists for the 96th Academy Award for Best Picture, there are two purely foreign language films ("The Fall" and "Zone of Interest"), and one film that mainly speaks foreign languages ​​(the Korean-English bilingual "The Past"). This has never happened before in the more than 90-year history of the Oscars. Nowadays, foreign language films are becoming more and more popular in the Oscars and the US mainstream market. There are many reasons. The first is the Hollywood racial diversity movement launched in 2015, which has promoted more filmmakers and works of color to be recognized.

As the proportion of ethnic minorities and foreign members in the American Film Academy is getting higher and higher, people are becoming more and more accepting of foreign language films, including changing "Best Foreign Language Film" to "Best International Film" and downplaying American perspective, embodying inclusiveness.

In addition, international streaming media platforms represented by Netflix are also promoting audiences to have more exposure to and acceptance of foreign film and television works. In the context of changing audience preferences, the increasingly open Oscars, and increasingly international platforms, excellent works such as South Korea's "Parasite", Germany's "All Quiet on the Western Front", and Japan's "Drive My Car" are becoming more and more popular. It is becoming more and more recognized by audiences around the world, and the Oscars are expected to truly "overcome the one-inch subtitle barrier" in the future.