‘Zone Of Interest’ Looks To Lead International Oscar Feature Field With So Many Major Nominations

The nominees announced today for the Best International Feature Film Oscar category were for the most part presaged, particularly in the case of Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest which is now also in the races for Best Picture, Directing, Adapted Screenplay and Sound. Wow!

Other nominees in the field include Matteo Garrone’s Io Captiano, which already was a a Best Director/Best Young Actor winner in Venice – and this marks Garrone’s first Oscar nom; Wim Wenders’ Japan entry Perfect Days (Best Actor at Cannes); J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow and Ilker Catak’s The Teacher’s Lounge out of Germany.

Spain’s entry, Society of the Snow, also nabbed a Makeup and Hairstyling mention from AMPAS. Again, we’re seeing more crossover from movies made overseas and not in English.

Notably, however, documentaries that were on shortlists for both International Feature and the overall Doc category ended up leaning towards Doc for Oscar. That was the case for Four Daughters and 20 Days in Mariupol. 

With the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences having expanded its shortlist for the Best International Feature Film Oscar in recent years, it’s inevitable that some deserving titles miss the nominations cut. 

Aki Kaurismaki’s Fallen Leaves feels like a miss this year, as do the Danish pic The Promised Land and Mexico’s Totem, among others.