The first-ever documentary, first animated feature and first Mandarin-language film Canada has submitted for the international Oscar race, Jason Loftus’ Eternal Spring takes a deep dive into issues of state propaganda and political violence through the lens of events in March 2002, when members of the outlawed spiritual group Falun Gong hijacked a state TV station in China in an attempt to counter government propaganda about their spiritual practice. The film follows comic book illustrator Daxiong, a Falun Gong practitioner, who was forced to flee China, but upon arrival in North America, finds his stories of violent repression challenged.

In a country with one of the world’s biggest wealth gaps, it is unsurprising that most Brazilian films on the festival circuit depict stories of either the bitterly poor or the stupendously wealthy. But that makes Gabriel Martins’ drama, about the struggles of a lower-middle-class family living on a modest budget in a blue-collar suburb, all the more unique and appealing. Political upheaval in the form of the election of right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro simmers in the background, but the film’s focus is squarely on the mostly ordinary hopes and dreams of the Martins family, only one of whom — son Deivinho — imagines a world beyond and is set on joining a manned mission to Mars.

Houman Seyyedi’s absurdist drama follows a day laborer who, after losing his wife in a horrible catastrophe, finds himself surprisingly cast as Adolf Hitler in an Iranian-shot, German-set World War II film. The combination of comedy, emotional drama and subtle social commentary won over the jury at the Venice Film Festival, where World War III picked up honors for best film and for best actor Mohsen Tanabandeh in the Horizons sidebar section. As is typical with Iranian films, broader political issues — including the government’s recent crackdown on dissident directors — could determine whether Academy voters back this year’s Persian contender.