International Oscar race: Lithuania chooses ‘Drowing Dry’

Laurynas Bareiša’s Seses (Drowning Dry), which won the award for best director in the international competition and the award for best performance for the film’s four leads at the Locarno Film Festival on Saturday, has been selected by Lithuania as an Oscar entry.

In the film, Ernesta, her husband Lukas and her son, along with her sister Juste’s family, spend the weekend in a country house after Lukas’ victory in a mixed martial arts tournament. The families swim in a nearby lake, eat and discuss family finances. After an accident, the sisters become single mothers. The film follows the sisters’ lives in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The structurally complex, narratively splintered drama marks a confident step forward for Lithuanian cinematographer and director Bareiša, whose debut ‘Pilgrims’ triumphed in Venice’s 2021 Horizons competition.

The producer is Klementina Remeikaitė for Afterschool Production from Lithuania and the co-producer is Matīss Kaža for Trickster Pictures from Latvia.

International sales are handled by Alpha Violet.

Uruguay: ‘Hay una puerta ahí’

Uruguay has nominated Juan Ponce de León and Facundo Ponce de León’s debut feature Hay una puerta ahí for the best international feature film category of the 97th Academy Awards.

“Hay una puerta ahí” documents the beginning of a friendship between two older men, where one helps the other to die. For nine months, Fernando and Enric recorded every conversation they shared on this topic; conversations that took place entirely via video chat during the pandemic.

With a slight “The Odd Couple” vibe, Fernando logs in for a video chat from a hospital bed, often with a cigarette between his lips, while Enric sits in a well-maintained home office. Fernando’s family makes sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes uplifting cameos as they face the end of their patriarch’s life together.

The film, produced by Mueca Films in Uruguay and A Contracoriente Films in Spain, was shown in San Sebastian’s Made in Spain sidebar and in Malaga’s special documentary selection section in 2023.

Taiwan: ‘Old Fox’

Taiwan has selected the multi-award winning drama film ‘Old Fox’ as its representative in the Best International Feature Film category of the 97th Academy Awards. The island’s Ministry of Culture says it has selected “Old Fox” from 14 candidate films.

Directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, the film tells the morally conflicted story of an 11-year-old boy from a humble background. He is torn between the difficult and money-hungry life of his single father and the allure of a neighborhood landlord who offers riches and lessons in streetwise pragmatism.

The central performances of child star Bai Run-jin (who previously appeared in ‘Dear Tennant’) and writer-actor Akio Chen elevate the love triangle into an award-winning whole. The film premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival before becoming the numerical winner of the prestigious Golden Horse Film Awards in Taiwan the following month. Although “Old Fox” missed out on the Best Picture award, it took home four awards, including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Chen.

Latvia: ‘Flow’

Latvia has selected Gints Zilbalodis’ ‘Flow’ as an entry in the best international feature films category of the 97th Academy Awards. The animated film had its world premiere in the Un sure Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival and won four prizes in Annecy.

Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights to the film from Cannes and are planning a theatrical release this year.

In Annecy, ‘Flow’ won the Audience Award, the Jury Prize, the special prize for original music and the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution. The film will also be shown at the Toronto Film Festival next month.

‘Flow’ follows a courageous cat after his house is destroyed by a major flood. Together with a capybara, a lemur, a bird and a dog, they navigate a boat in search of dry land. They must rely on faith, courage and wits to survive the dangers of a new aquatic planet.

The film was co-written by Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza, with a score by Zilbalodis and Rihards Zalupe. It was produced by Zilbalodis and Kaza, alongside Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman. The international sales agent is Charades.

Zilbalodis’ ‘Away’ won the 2019 Contrechamp Award for Best Film in Annecy.

The Latvian selection was made by the Latvian Selection Committee, a committee of film industry experts established by the National Film Center.

Austria: ‘The devil’s bath’

“The Devil’s Bath,” a historical psychological thriller that competed at the Berlin Film Festival, has been submitted by Austria as its official Oscar entry for the international feature film race. The film received the Silver Bear for best cinematography (for Martin Gschlacht) at the Berlinale.

The film is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy,” which bowed in Venice and also represented Austria in the Oscar race.

Set in rural Austria in 1750, the film revolves around Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, who is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations. Agnes, a pious and very sensitive woman, falls into a deep depression before committing a shocking act of violence that she sees as the only way out of her inner prison.

The film is produced by Shudder in North America. The streamer also picked it up for the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sold worldwide by Playtime.

“The Devil’s Bath” was produced by Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion, in co-production with Heimatfilm and Coop99 Filmproduktion.

“The Devil’s Bath”

Ireland: ‘Kneecap’

Ireland has entered ‘Kneecap’ to represent the country in the international feature film category of the Oscars.

The film became a sensation at Sundance, where it was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, and has garnered critical acclaim at festivals around the world in recent months.

From writer-director Rich Peppiatt, ‘Kneecap’ is a raw semi-autobiographical comedy about the wildly outspoken and partying Northern Irish hip-hop trio of the same name.

“Kneecap” was produced by Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, with Wildcard’s Patrick O’Neill serving as co-producer.