03/12/2020

Four Giornate titles in the running for an Oscar®

The names of the contenders for the Oscar® for Best International Feature Film have been announced. Each country has selected a title that stands a fair chance of making it onto the shortlist, at least, in 2021, at a time when no clear winner seems to be out there, unlike the winners from the last two years, Roma by Alfonso Cuarón and Parasite by Bong Joon-ho.

Italy will be represented by Notturno by Gianfranco Rosi. Hopes that the director of Below Sea Level and Fire at Sea will nab a spot on that shortlist are running high.

As for films tapped for the 2019 and 2020 Giornate, four feature films are currently contending for the Oscar®: 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh (Jordan, 2020), La llorona by Jayro Bustamante (Guatemala, 2019), Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time by Lili Horvát (Hungary, 2020), and You Will Die at 20 by Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan, 2019). Except for Hungary, these titles come from countries whose films don't always get a showing at festivals, yet when they do, they garner critical and popular acclaim and win over jurors as well.

Just to stick with the recent past, at this writing, the films on the 2020 Giornate slate have racked up 36 awards at the various festivals where they have been screened.

"And we fervently hope," say Giornate Delegate Giorgio Gosetti and Artistic Director Gaia Furrer, "that they will go on to win many more, in such a challenging year as this, when films can't get the theatrical releases they normally would. As far as Giornate is concerned, all we can do is roll up our sleeves and get down to the work of finding new talent and films to deliver to audiences the world over."

The full list of Oscar® contenders we're providing below is not just to help us place our bets, however. It serves to highlight the thorough job that festivals do. While Oscar® nominations may usually seem like a private affair between the Berlinale, Cannes and Venice, we invite you to take note of how many of the films on this list have made the rounds of a broad variety of international festivals a testament to the painstaking efforts of programmers and artistic directors.

The list of the films

Albania Open Door by Florenc Papas

Austria What We Wanted by Ulrike Kofler

Belgium Filles de joie by Frédéric Fonteyne, Anne Paulicevich

Bosnia and Herzegovina Quo Vadis, Aïda? by Jasmila Žbanić

Bulgaria The Father by Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov

Costa Rica Ceniza negra by Sofía Quirós Úbeda

Croatia Extracurricular by Ivan-Goran Vitez

Czech Republic Charlatan by Agnieszka Holland

Denmark Another Round by Thomas Vinterberg

Estonia The Last Ones by Veiko Őunpuu

Finland Tove by Zaida Bergroth

France Deux by Filippo Meneghetti

Georgia Beginning by Dea Kulumbegashvili

Germany And Tomorrow the Entire World by Julia von Heinz

Greece Apples by Christos Nikou

Guatemala La llorona by Jayro Bustamante

Hungary Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time by Lili Horvát

Ireland Arracht by Tom Sullivan

Italy Notturno by Gianfranco Rosi

Ivory Coast Night of the Kings by Philippe Lacôte

Jordan 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh

Kosovo Exile by Visar Morina

Latvia Blizzard of Souls by Dzintars Dreibergs

Lesotho This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese

Lithuania Nova Lituania by Karolis Kaupinis

Luxembourg River Tales by Julie Schroell

Montenegro Breasts by Marija Perović

Netherlands Buladó by Eché Janga

North Macedonia Willow by Milcho Manchevski

Norway Hope by Maria Södahl

Palestine Gaza mon amour by Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser

Peru Canción sin nombre by Melina León

Poland Never Gonna Snow Again by Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert

Portugal Listen by Ana Rocha de Sousa

Romania Collective by Alexander Nanau

Slovakia The Report by Peter Bebjak

Slovenia Stories from the Chestnut Woods by Gregor Bozic

Spain La trinchera infinita by Aitor Arregi, Jon Garańo, Jose Mari Goenaga

Sudan You Will Die at 20 by Amjad Abu Alala

Sweden Charter by Amanda Kernell

Switzerland My Little Sister by Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond

Tunisia The Man Who Sold His Skin by Kaouther Ben Hania

Ukraine Atlantis by Valentyn Vasyanovych

Venezuela Once Upon a Time in Venezuela by Anabel Rodríguez Ríos