‘Amerikatsi’ Review: Armenia’s Oscar Submission Is A Wayward, Blackly Comic Tale Of Hope

Addie Morfoot Contributor This year’s Oscar feature documentary shortlist is made up of a group of 15 films that, by and large, big streamers aren’t interested in sharing with subscribers. Six films that made it to the shortlist — Lea Glob’s “Apolonia, Apolonia,” Nancy Buirski’s “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy,” Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” Maciek Hamela’s “In the Rearview,” Luke Lorentzen’s “A Still Small Voice” and Sam Green’s “32 Sounds” — have theatrical distribution, but were not picked up by a major streaming company such as Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV+.

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who went to jail for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, has been released on parole.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Want to know which international features vying for Oscar gold are worth watching? Variety‘s team of critics has been on the ground at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and other major film festivals, on the hunt for the best of the best. In December, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences unveiled its shortlist of 15 films eligible for the second round of voting in the Best International Feature Film category.

Oscar Pistorius is no longer in prison.

Emmerdale star Sebastian Dowling has been flooded with support as he broke his silence on his soap exit. The actor made a permanent exit from the ITV soap in scenes aired earlier this week as Heath Hope following a car crash.

Emmerdale's Sebastian Dowling, who played Heath Hope, has received an outpouring of support after speaking up about his departure from the popular ITV soap. The young actor made a dramatic exit from the show earlier this week when his character tragically died in a car crash.The shocking scenes aired over New Year showed Heath, his twin sister Cathy and their friend Angelica King stealing Wendy Posner's car to go to a party in Hotten.

Calvin Harris and his wife Vick Hope looked sensational as they enjoyed a day at the beach during a sun-soaked getaway to Tulum, Mexico.The DJ and radio presenter, who got married in September last year in a Glastonbury-themed wedding, were pictured not only enjoying some quality time together this new year, but also showing off their impressive physiques. Vick, 34, grabbed attention in a barely-there orange bikini and loose waves, while the 39 year old DJ showed off his impressive torso in black swimming shorts.The pair looked as loved up as ever as they paddled in the ocean and were all smiles fourth months on from their beautiful wedding.

Emmerdale viewers are convinced they'd rumbled another exit from the hugely-popular ITV soap following the horrific car crash that killed teenager Heath Hope (played by Sebastian Dowling) on New Year's Day. While Cathy Hope (Gabrielle Dowling) is currently the police's top suspect who was illegally driving Wendy's car, following the latest twists in tonight's episode, 3 January, it seems likely that Angelica King (Rebecca Bakes) could have taken the wheel. April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) told the police that she'd seen Cathy getting in the vehicle and driving off on New Year's Eve night, as the teens were desperate to attend a party in nearby town of Hotten.

EXCLUSIVE: Carly Hoogendyk has joined Omnipop Talent Group, the New York-headquartered management and production company known for its work with comedic multi-hyphenates, as a talent manager. She’ll be based out of the company’s West Coast office, there joining partners Bruce Smith and Zack Freedman.

EXCLUSIVE: Cohen Media Group has set Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s latest pic, Io Capitano, for a nationwide release. 

Emmerdale's Gabrielle Dowling, who plays Cathy Hope, has been in the thick of major storylines during her time on the soap. Her character has dealt with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, leading to heavy periods and mood swings. Viewers have seen Cathy rebel, binge drink, and even attack her dad, Bob Hope.

The Rose Parade will see floral-decorated floats decorated to the theme of “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.”

Siddhant Adlakha Three decades after the 1915 Armenian Genocide, an optimistic American Armenian returns to his Sovietized homeland, only be thrown in prison under flimsy circumstances. From his squalid jail cell, he peers daily into the home and inner life of one of his Armenian prison guards, and inadvertently finds the cultural connection he’d been searching for.

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. 

American Symphony, the Obamas-executive produced documentary about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste, scored a remarkable hat trick today as the Oscar shortlists were revealed, but a couple of documentary icons were left on the bench.

Jon Burlingame Oscar’s music branch has had its say, naming 15 original scores and 15 songs to its shortlist for possible nomination at the 96th Academy Awards, with few surprises. As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” — made the 15-song list.

J. Kim Murphy Filmmaker Michael Goorjian set out to create a different kind of film about Armenian nationality when developing “Amerikatsi,” the country’s submission in the international feature category for this year’s Academy Awards. Along with directing, Goorjian also stars as Charlie, an American who repatriates to Armenia after World War II — but ends up in a Soviet prison for simply wearing a tie.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor When writer-director Mohamed Kordofani first conceived of the film “Goodbye Julia,” he realized that he didn’t have a single friend from South Sudan — “and there are millions who live in Khartoum.” Now he has hundreds, he tells Variety. The first Sudanese film to premiere in the Un Certain Regard sidebar in Cannes, his debut feature won the Prix de la Liberté and is now the official Sudanese entry for the Academy Awards, with Lupita Nyong’o on board as an executive producer. The film had its Middle East and North Africa premiere this week at El Gouna Film Festival, where Kordofani was awarded the Variety MENA Region Talent Award.

Danger is never very far away in Noora Niasari’s confident debut, a deeply personal tribute to a generation torn between tradition and modernity. Focusing on the title character, Shayda hangs on a vulnerable but powerful performance from Holy Spider’s Zar Amir Ebrahimi as an Iranian divorcée hiding out from her abusive ex, who may or may not be planning to smuggle their daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia) back to Iran.

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.