International Feature Focus: Why Irish Film ‘The Quiet Girl’ Is Making Noise In The Oscar Race

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here. It’s Oscar noms week, and we’d be rude not to bring you the latest headlines and analysis from the Academy and beyond. Read on.

The awards keep on coming for Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund. The two-time winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival just spent Monday night celebrating a six-trophy sweep at Sweden’s esteemed Guldbagge awards that included a win for Best Director and Best Film.

With the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences having expanded its shortlist for the Best International Feature Film Oscar to 15 in recent years, it’s inevitable that some deserving titles miss the nominations cut. However, several of the perceived frontrunners are in the mix after today’s announcement, including Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front which has nine nominations in total, including Best Picture, and is yet another sign of how foreign-language films are crossing over into other main categories. 

The Berlin Film Festival today announced that Sean Penn will debut the documentary he shot in Ukraine with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Berlin next month.

The Berlin Film Festival unveiled the titles selected for its official competition as well as its sidebar Encounters competitive section this morning. Scroll down for the full lineup.

Join us, Insiders, for another look through the busy world of film and TV. Jesse Whittock from the TV team here taking you into the weekend.

Aubrey Plaza has been waiting to host Saturday Night Live for a while.

Sleaford Mods have announced that they will release new album ‘UK Grim’ in March. Its first single and title track is out now.“Maybe we are proud of the country”, says vocalist Jason Williamson of the ideas behind his lyrics on the record.

EXCLUSIVE: Taissa Farmiga (The Gilded Age) will exec produce and star in the Ukrainian drama Anna, from producer Uri Singer (White Noise).

The award-winning documentary Navalny could be crowned with an Oscar nomination later this month, but the man whose story is told in it has never seen the film. Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, remains behind bars under a lengthy sentence after daring to criticize President Vladimir Putin.

Kim Kardashian doesn’t have s**t to say about her ex getting remarried in a surprise ceremony!!

Kim Kardashian appears to be taking a page from sister Khloé Kardashian’s playbook as Kanye West’s new relationship makes headlines.

In theory, international films can earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture in any given year. But in reality, only a handful have ever attained that distinction, and a single one — Parasite — has claimed the prize.

Big outlets like HBO Documentary Films, Neon, and National Geographic dominate the Oscar documentary feature shortlist this year. But a few films without major backers managed to make it through, including one film with no American distributor at all – Simon Lereng Wilmont’s A House Made of Splinters.

It’s not often that Cecil B. DeMille award recipients come backstage at the Golden Globes, but Eddie Murphy did for a brief three minutes.

A flying ace, rampaging dinosaurs, Marvel, DC, Minions and battling blue aliens on a distant planet were among the highlights of 2022 for the Hollywood studios at the global and international box office. Still, it was yet another year of transition, with worldwide grosses reaching an estimated $26B — a 27% increase on 2021 but 35% off the pre-pandemic three-year average, according to Gower Street Analytics. The upward trajectory also occurred overseas as some markets came back strongly, while others struggled and exchange rates went wild.

Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival unveiled its 2023 lineup today, featuring 250 feature films set to screen across 10 days, with highlights including Isabella Carbonell’s thriller Dogborn, starring Swedish rap star Silvana Imam, and Hlynur Pálmason’s well-received period piece Godland. Other stand-out titles include Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, which pops up in the International Competition, and Mia Engberg’s latest Hypernoon in the Documentary Competition.