Apichatpong Weerasethakul On Colombia’s Oscar Entry ‘Memoria’: “I Really Treasure My Dreams” – Contenders International

The eponymous edifice of Cambodia’s International Feature Oscar entry, White Building, is barely white at all by the time we encounter it. A low-rise apartment block in Phnom Penh — the sort of teeming anthill of humanity familiar to anyone who has spent time in a South East Asian city — it is stained with tropical rain, its cement falling off in chunks, its cat’s cradles of improvised electrical wiring truly shocking, in every sense of the word. Director Kavich Neang grew up here.

Flash, flicker, flash, cut to black. We’re watching grainy film of men walking in and out of the stalls in a West German public toilet, casting glances at each other, maybe a fumbling feel; a reverse angle shows us the camera behind the mirror. The men can’t see it, but some of them must surely guess it’s there and defy the odds anyway. Because without defiance, without desire, what are they? Without those things, they know they will only ever be half-alive.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentKino Lorber has acquired U.S. and Canadian  distribution rights to Aly Muritiba’s “Private Desert” (“Deserto Particular”) Brazil’s International Feature Oscar submission and a love story hailed for its large sensibility as well as political point.The deal was negotiated with the film’s world sale agent, Rome-based Intramovies.

Matt Damon, Mahershala Ali, and Oscar Isaac hit the red carpet for Deadline’s Contenders Event on Saturday morning (December 4) in New York City.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“Spencer” director Pablo Larraín has thrown his weight behind Chilean Oscar entry “White on White” (“Blanco en Blanco”), hailing it as a “really interesting, strange and highly violent film.”“White on White” also addresses issues that are “highly unsettling and complex and which haven’t been resolved or at least discussed at sufficient length,” Larraín adds.His words come from a conversation, which he moderates, with “White on White’s” director

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticAs awards season rolls on, Variety breaks down 20 of the top toons in Oscar contention. Already, awards are being granted on hopefuls, with the National Board of Review named Disney’s “Encanto” best animated feature on Dec.

The Icelandic mountains loom, the mists swirl between the peaks to where horses suddenly skitter in the snow. The only sound is stertorous breathing as the camera, clearly asserting something’s point of view, approaches the herd. Away they run.

EXCLUSIVE: Colman Domingo is executive producing Scott Aharoni and Dennis Latos’ short Leylak.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentStarring Pablo Larraín regular Alfredo Castro, Chilean-Spanish writer-director Theo Court’s “White on White” (“Blanco en Blanco”) has been acquired for distribution in North America by Outsider Pictures.The deal follows on the film’s world premiere this September at the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar, where Court won a Silver Lion for the section’s best director and a film writers’ Fipresci Prize.

It took eight years and a very enticing look book before Lamb co-writer and director Valdimar Jóhannsson got Iceland’s current Oscar entry off the ground.

Starring newcomer Erik Enge, Black Spark Film’s Tigers tells the extraordinary true story of Swedish soccer star Martin Bengtsson, who made his international debut at just 17 years old. In stark contrast to many other sporting movies, which tend to focus on stories of triumph over adversity, Ronnie Sandahl’s movie from Black Spark Film examines the true cost of success in the world of professional football and the pressures that almost cost Bengtsson his life.

Escape From Mogadishu, Korea’s submission to this year’s International Feature Oscar race, tells the harrowing true story of North and South Koreans caught in the middle of a brutal civil war in Somalia in 1991, and how the divided nation worked together to survive the crisis in a foreign land.

The sobering story of Pebbles, about domestic violence in India, is inspired by an incident in filmmaker P.S. Vinothraj’s real-life past, in which his sister was “chased away by her husband” and forced to walk 14 miles whilst cradling her baby in scorching terrain.

Filmed with an international cast speaking French, English and Spanish, and co-written with cinematographer Sara Mishara, Ivan Grbovic’s Drunken Birds begins in urban, crime-infested Mexico and swiftly transports us to the rural farmlands of Quebec, where former drug runner Willy has come in search of a former lover is in hiding from her mobster partner.

Lana Barić joined director Danilo Šerbedžija at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International awards-season event to talk about the taboo-busting Tereza37, Croatia’s official candidate for the International Feature Oscar. The film centers on Barić’s character Tereza, a married woman who decides to sleep with multiple men while trying for a baby.

Filmed in the mountains of Greece — which doubled for the stark, alien landscapes of war-torn Afghanistan — Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate tells the story of three young Dutch soldiers who are left guarding a military vehicle after it breaks down. A chance encounter with a local boy causes tensions in the group, which reach a shocking climax.

Ivan Ikić’s second feature Oasis is representing Serbia in the International Feature Oscar race this year following its buzzy premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The pic explores how a friendship between Marija (Marijana Novakov) and Dragana (Tijana Markovic) is put to the test, as they both develop a crush on Robert (Valentino Zenuni), a fellow resident at an institution for people with disabilities.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has represented his country in the International Oscar race an impressive five times, winning the coveted prize on two occasions (for The Salesman and A Separation).

At Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season event, director Eran Kolirin (The Band’s Visit) explained why he chose to adapt Sayed Kashua’s novel Let It be Morning, the film that has become Israel’s submission into the International Feature Oscar race.

Brighton 4th was a big winner at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, taking awards for Best International Narrative Feature, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. Shot on location in New York, Kino Lorber’s Oscar hopeful from Georgia tells the story of Kakhi, a former wrestler who travels from his native Tbilisi to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, in the hope of helping his wayward son get his life back on track.