The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) unveiled the short list of 15 features vying for nomination for the 2025 best international feature film Oscar.
My Oscar Book:
Popular frontrunners:
Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, representing France, the Danish contender The Girl With the Needle from director Magnus von Horn, and Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, an Iran-set feature submitted by Germany.
As usual, there were a few surprises, and a handful of snubs, on this year’s longlist.
Thailand’s entry, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, was a no-show on the major international festivals but became a word-of-mouth hit across Asia, earning $50 million at the worldwide box office. This feel-good comedy concerns a slacker who volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, hoping to of pocket her inheritance.
Several festival favorites didn’t make the cut. Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s crime drama Sujo, Mexico’s entry, which earned the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema in Sundance, was snubbed by the Academy.
Austria’s contender, The Devil’s Bath, a historic horror from directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, picked up prizes at the Berlin Film Fest, was passed over.
Grand Tour, Portugal’s hopeful, another experimental offering from Miguel Gomes, who won best director in Cannes for the black-and-white period/documentary mash-up, was also overlooked.
Chilean director Maite Alberdi, who picked up Oscar nominations for her last two documentaries, 2020’s The Mole Agent and 2023’s The Eternal Memory, was passed over by the Academy this time around, with her period drama In Her Place, failing to make the final 15.
The Academy’s efforts to increase geographical diversity were less evident in this year’s shortlist, as traditional European powerhouses continuing to dominate.
Eleven of the 15 shortlisted films are from Europe. Just two from Asia: Palestine entry From Ground Zero and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies from Thailand.
Diop’s Dahomey is the only African contender.
Matthew Rankin’s Universal Language, Canada’s hopeful, is the only film representing the Americas.
But European countries which submitted entries set outside the continent made the cut.
Although it was shot in France, Emilia Pérez is set in Mexico and filmed in Spanish. Farsi is the only language spoken in The Seed of the Sacred Fig, representing Germany, and the film never leaves Tehran. Santosh, directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri and shot in India, was a rare U.K. entry to make the final 15.
Voting for the 2025 Oscars begins at 9 am PT on Jan. 8 and runs through 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 12. The nominees will be unveiled Jan. 17. Final voting begins at 9 a.m. PT on Feb. 11 and ends at 5 p.m. PT on Feb. 18.
The 15 films on the shortlist for best international film are:
Brazil, I’m Still Here
Canada, Universal Language
Czech Republic, Waves
Denmark, The Girl With the Needle
France, Emilia Pérez
Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Iceland, Touch
Ireland, Kneecap
Italy, Vermiglio
Latvia, Flow
Norway, Armand
Palestine, From Ground Zero
Senegal, Dahomey
Thailand, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
United Kingdom, Santosh
