Academy Announces 288 Eligible Titles for Animated, Documentary and International Feature Oscar Races

On Sandra Hüller’s wall is the first piece of art she ever owned: a photograph she bought from a shop in Munich. “I won’t say its name,” she says archly, “because that would be advertising.” It’s a dynamic, joyous image showing the ensemble cast of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring as staged by Pina Bausch, the German choreographer famous for saying, “Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.” “I just love it,” Hüller says admiringly, turning her head for another look. “These people are all making the same movement, as you can see. But everybody is doing it completely differently. They have the same task, but you can see each personality in the way they’re doing it. I love it so much. It’s like they’re almost flying.” It explains a lot about Hüller and her craft.

The shortlist of 15 films set to vie for a Best International Feature FiOscar nomination has now been revealed, with only a few surprises in the mix. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the shortlists for the 2024 Oscars this morning and there were few surprises in the usually competitive International Film category. Despite some top-tier candidates, the overall field was generally considered weaker than usual.

Cuckoo (above) from filmmaker Tilman Singer and Johan Renck’s Spaceman with Adam Sandler, a Netflix film for which a trailer just dropped.The seven films are as follows.Cuckooby Tilman Singer | with Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, Jan Bluthardt Germany 2024Berlinale Special Gala | World premiereDostoevskij (Dostoevsky)by Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo | with Filippo Timi, Gabriel Montesi, Carlotta Gamba, Federico Vanni Italy 2024Berlinale Special | World premiere | SeriesSasquatch Sunsetby David & Nathan Zellner | with Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, Christophe Zajac-Denek USA 2024Berlinale Special | International premiereSeven Veilsby Atom Egoyan | with Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Ambur Braid, Michael Kupfer-Radecky Canada 2023Berlinale Special Gala | International premiereSpacemanby Johan Renck | with Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, Paul Dano USA 2024Berlinale Special Gala | World premiereTreasureby Julia von Heinz | with Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski Germany / France 2024Berlinale Special Gala | World premiereWu Suo Zhu (Abiding Nowhere)by Tsai Ming-liangTaiwan / USA 2024Berlinale Special | World premiere | Documentary FormArtistic Director Carlo Chatrian announced seven films in all for next year’s festival with the remaining line-up due in mid-January.“It is with special pleasure and pride that we welcome back directors who have presented their work at the festival in the past. Berlinale Special will be home for new films by Julia von Heinz (Treasure) and Tilman Singer (Cuckoo), both with projects involving American stars, for the irreverent comedy by the Zellner brothers (Sasquatch Sunset) and the dark

Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre, an upcoming documentary about October 7’s Hamas attack on Israeli music festival Supernova Sukkot Gathering, is being planned for release in the UK and other parts of the world.Per a report from Variety, the hour-long documentary has been acquired by a “major” broadcaster in the UK, and has been picked up by the BBC World Service, ZDF in Germany, SVT in Sweden, DR in Denmark, RAI in Italy, VRT in Belgium, CNews in France and Record TV in Brazil.Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre – co-directed by Duki Dror (Netflix‘s Inside The Mossad) and Yossi Bloch (Netflix‘s The Devil Next Door) – is set to premiere in Israel on December 23.In the documentary, survivors of the attack and first-responders share their testimonies and open up about the horrific events that transpired at the music festival in October at the hands of Hamas terrorists.Producer Reinhardt Beetz said in a statement to Variety that “the full details of this coordinated terror attack are only now coming together, providing a comprehensive story that will undoubtedly resonate for years to come.”Co-drector Duki Dror added: “The scenes and testimonies we have documented are almost inconceivable and unprecedented.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Johan Renck’s Netflix sci-fi drama “Spaceman,” starring Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano, and German filmmaker Julia von Heinz’s “Treasure” – formerly titled “Iron Box” – with Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry, are among high-profile titles set to launch from the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. The 74th Berlinale – which will unveil its competition lineup on Jan.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Berlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian is in an upbeat mood as he puts the finishing touches on assembling his fourth and final edition. It appears to be shaping up nicely with a rich mix comprising prestige star-driven titles, such as the world premiere of Netflix’s “Spaceman” in which Adam Sandler plays an imperiled astronaut, and films with “political elements” that are intrinsic to the fest’s DNA. The day before revealing his Berlin Special lineup that includes several star-studded galas – the main lineup will be announced on Jan.

The Berlinale has announced the first seven productions, including one series, to be invited to the Berlinale Specials strand of its 74th edition running February 15 to 25, 2024.

Holly Jones Paris-based outfit Luxbox – one of Europe’s biggest sales agents and sometimes producers – of higher-profile Spanish-language art house fare, has swooped on international rights to “Reas,” a prison musical in which female and trans ex-cons process their experiences, which was confirmed last week as one of the first eight films selected for Berlin’s Forum section. The second film by Argentine playwright and writer Lola Arias (“Theater of War”), and winner of the HEAD Pitchings du Réel Award at Visions du Réel in 2020, “Reas” was also selected by San Sebastian Film Festival for its 2023 WIP Latam.

Laura Anderson and her ex-partner Gary Lucy reunited to make special memories with their daughter with a trip to see Santa.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Next Step, a program organized by Cannes Critics’ Week whose recent alumni include Molly Manning Walker (“How to Have Sex”), has unveiled the participants of its milestone 10th edition. Spearheaded by Thomas Rosso, a producer turned artistic director, the workshop selects emerging directors who have had their short films play at Cannes’ parallel section, Critics’ Week, and helps to develop their feature debuts.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Discovery-owned Eurosport has acquired streaming rights in 54 countries to Olympic refugee documentary “We Dare to Dream” by Waad Al-Kateab, the Oscar-nominated Syrian director of “For Sama.” “We Dare to Dream” is the story of the refugee Olympic team that competed at the 2020 games in Tokyo, which featured stateless athletes from Iran, Syria, South Sudan and Cameroon who swim, run and fight their way to safety in host nations across the world. It’s told through the personal prism of Al-Kateab while she is coming to terms with the reality that she can never return to Aleppo, where she shot “For Sama.” The doc premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June and had an Oscar-qualifying theatrical run at New York City’s IFC Center in October.

Movistar Plus+ has struck deals for the Max and SkyShowtime streamers in Spain.

The official German Oscar entry for Best International Feature is an insular, pulse-pounding thriller set within the confines of a school that, for cinematic purposes, doubles as a microcosm of society in general circa 2023 where facts don’t matter, misinformation is rampant, suspicions run hot, divisions run deep, racism still rears its ugly head, and no one can be quite sure where, and even if they want to, fit in.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European Film Promotion has revealed the 10 emerging actors who will take part in the 27th edition of European Shooting Stars program, which promotes European acting talent. Past Shooting Stars have included Carey Mulligan, Alicia Vikander, Maisie Williams and Riz Ahmed. From Feb.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Edoardo De Angelis’ anti-war epic “Comandante” – the opener of this year’s Venice Film Festival – has secured North American distribution via Uncork’d Entertainment, which will release the film theatrically in tandem with partner company Dark Star Pictures. The movie stars Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino as Sicilian World War II naval captain Salvatore Todaro and depicts his act of wartime humanitarianism on Oct.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet‘s “Anatomy of a Fall” missed out on being chosen as France’s Oscar entry, but the movie has been a critical and commercial hit — including in the U.S., where it’s become the highest-grossing specialized foreign-language release post-pandemic, according to distributor Neon. Released in the States on Oct. 13, “Anatomy of a Fall” has pulled in $3.5 million so far, putting it ahead of Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” and on track to match last year’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” another Neon movie.

EXCLUSIVE: Tubi has acquired North American rights to Spanish and English-language thriller Upon Entry from French sales firm Charades and Anonymous Content Independent.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Former French President François Hollande is part of the voice cast for “Silex & the City – The Movie,” a big-screen spinoff of the popular short-format animated series set in the Stone Age. “Silex & the City” is adapted from the comic book series by the same name created by French cartoonist Jul, which has sold over a million copies.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall has given her an experience unlike any other she’s had over her 15-year career — one that includes winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. “I would say that the job I’ve been doing since May is a job that I had never done before. It’s a new craft entirely,” she says. Anatomy of a Fall, which she co-wrote with her partner Arthur Harari, eschews the traditional courtroom drama to explore familial relationships when an ambitious, sexually self-assured novelist, played by Sandra Hüller, is put on trial for the suspicious death of her husband Samuel at their home in the French Alps.