The International Film Oscar race is all about the Cannes Film Festival. This year, eight of the 15 films that made the shortlist debuted at Cannes; those include “A Hero,” “The Worst Person in the World” and “Drive My Car.”
However, this year’s Palme d’Or winner and the French submission, “Titane,” was snubbed. People will now claim that it would have been a better idea to submit Venice winner “Happening,” I’m part of the crowd that believes in that theory. No matter how original and genre-bending “Titane” might be, it is very much a midnight genre film and just doesn’t adhere to the safer tastes of those who choose the Oscar shortlist.
Another disappointing yet unexpected snub was Apichatpong Weersethakul’s “Memoria.” A film that is as arthouse as it gets and couldn’t possibly be accessible to the Academy as it would be to, say, the Lincoln Center crowd.
Academy members will now screen the shortlisted films to determine which five make the final cut. Those nominees will be announced with the rest of the Oscar nominations on Tuesday, February 8. The 2022 Academy Awards nominees will be announced on Tuesday, February 8.
Here is the complete list of the 15 contenders still in the race for the International Film Academy Award:
“A Hero” (Iran)
“Drive My Car” (Japan)
“The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)
“Flee” (Denmark)
“The Hand of God” (Italy)
“Compartment no. 6” (Finland)
“I’m Your Man” (Germany)
“Prayers for the Stolen” (Mexico)
“Lamb” (Iceland)
“Hive” (Kosovo)
“Great Freedom” (Germany)
“Plaza Cathedral”(Panama)
“The Good Boss” (Spain)
“Playground” (Belgium)
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan)
I haven’t seen three of these: “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” “Plaza Catedral” and “The Good Boss.” The latter was picked by Spain over Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers.” So far, it seems like they’ve made the right decision.