The Curious Case of International Features

How countries choose their Oscar nominations as well as reviews of Sentimental Value and It Was Just an Accident.

If you haven’t been in the tinsel town news cycle this past week, the major talking point has been who will win the acquisition bid on the Warner Bros. Discovery media conglomerate. This would include Warner Bros. Studios as well as HBO among other smaller entities. Seen as a longshot compared to the favorites, billionaire Larry Ellison and Paramount who are buddies with the current administration, Netflix moved their debt ceiling around to slide in with an $82 billion winning bid. CEO Ted Sarandos and his board will cover $72 billion for the sale and an additional $10 billion in debt from the company.

Listening to The Town podcast and Hollywood’s best insider, Matt Belloni, there are still several moving parts in this acquisition which will take some time to be finalized. Belloni mentioned that the sale could be tied up for a couple of years with Trump’s Department of Justice who are more buddy-buddy with Larry Ellison’s Paramount. Another snag could also be contingencies set in on the movie side of things with how long distribution windows will be in theaters. Netflix is notoriously the smallest window in the industry and only puts out a small number of releases each year to the big screen.

Warner Bros. accounted for over a quarter of the revenue for all of Hollywood and even the slightest squeeze in theater showtimes could create a ripple effect with disaster for struggling theater chains. Sarandos who claims to LOVE going to the theater himself, has been quite glib with his stance that his viewers gain more from having films at their disposal at home sooner rather than later. However a Netflix takeover would lead to fewer job losses in the field as they would most likely leave the film and TV studios separate.

So what does this all mean? Netflix could navigate all this red tape and have a great addition to their library while also dipping into mainstream Hollywood. After password crackdowns and price increases they are not seeing the same subscriber numbers to pump up their stocks. So the only natural fit to keep growing may end up becoming a major film studio in the process.

My gut is telling me a sale will not be happening for a while, hamstringing what Warner Bros. will be able to green light in the next couple of years. Stay tuned for more updates on this massive industry shift as more details play out in the coming months. Onto the films!

One of the most limiting aspects of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) is their ruling on submissions for the best international feature being limited to one entry per country. It’s a two-sided coin because it can’t be a free-for-all with thousands of entries but on the same hand some incredible films are left on their country’s chopping block floors. Being selected could come from a jury panel, a country’s ministry of culture, or simply selected by a small handful of unknowns in a smoky back room like its 19th-century Tammany Hall politics.

After all the dust is settled, the next step requires a shortlisting from the Academy to get the final list down to five nominees which as we know leaves even more films shed off from potentially life-changing attention from being nominated.

There was an old Chappelle’s Show skit called “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong” where everyday citizens seemingly draw a line in the sand for the most ridiculous stances, often to zero benefit besides stubbornness that often end up ruining their lives. This can also be applied to individual country selections for Best International Feature at the Oscars. We see second-guessing, politics, and just straight-up baffling choices leaving the average cinephile wondering about the rationale of this convoluted process.

Let’s use France in this exercise of futility because they cover all grounds of the current strangeness of the submission system. Here are some recent blunders from the eleven member committee of the National Cinema Centre (CNC) over the last decade to illustrate what a crapshoot it is to secure an international feature best nomination from the Academy.

Example #1 - 2020 (The Wrong Choice)

France chooses to select Les Misérables over Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The CNC felt the topical political and social themes would resonate more with academy voters. Political discourse globally including the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States felt like a more “of the time” entry than an 18th century queer period piece. In 2022, Sight and Sound ranked Portrait as #30 on the greatest film of all time top 100 list. Either film would have run up against Parasite that year, but I would imagine the absolutely gorgeous film and acted Portrait of a Lady on Fire would have given pause to academy voters before making their decision.

Example #2 - 2024 (Hedging Your Bets)

In 2024, France’s gameplan was keen to spread the wealth, giving more opportunities for their films to compete. They had Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall ready to go toe-to-toe with the United Kingdom’s eventual winner The Zone of Interest. Instead, they knew Anatomy would be up for several other Oscars nominations as well as Best Picture so they decided to officially nominate The Taste of Things instead. I adore The Taste of Things, a film about late 19th century chefs who fall in love that made it near the top of my best-of list. You would think this was a total shoe-in for an Oscar nomination but the Academy left it on the shortlisting floor in favor of the far inferior German selection The Teachers’ Lounge. Once again the committee overthought and was left holding their heads wondering why on nomination day.

Example #3 - 2025/26 (The French but not French film)

So this year we have one of our films being discussed today, Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s It was Just an Accident, being nominated by France in somewhat similar fashion to last year’s Emilia Pérez. Jacques Audiard made a primarily Spanish-speaking film on soundstages mainly in France which secured Emilia Pérez the country’s nomination. Bad press and unfortunate interviews left the film floundering and missing out on the top prize to Brazil’s I’m Not Here.

This year France helped finance Panahi’s film and co-producer Philippe Martin had this to say about its official selection, “The only way to compete at the Oscars is to be submitted by a country, and Iran has never wanted Jafar Panahi to represent Iran…I’m also very happy because this film carries such a strong political message that the more it resonates, the more it is seen, the more it is talked about, the better it will be”. Time will tell if Panahi’s film will take home the hardware but once again, people will be scratching their heads at France’s selection committee if they come home empty handed on March 15th.

So where does the academy go from here? Panahi himself has been critical of their submission and shortlisting process stating that filmmakers in authoritarian governments have little to no chance of ever being submitted as their viewpoints are often critical of the government. He mentioned the idea of having a separate candidate pool like the Olympics does with refugee athletes to give a greater voice to those being silenced. Personally I feel that there is just too much talent in the global filmmaking landscape and Best International Feature should be opened up to ten candidates just like Best Picture. Take off the reins of one submission per country and create some new academy boards to select the best of the best.

Variety has updated their daily predictions so far this awards season, and today’s two films, the Norwegian Joachim Trier directed Sentimental Value and Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident made the fifteen film Oscar shortlist which came out on December 16th. I’d like to believe that Brazil coming off hot from 2025’s win, will garner a spot for The Secret Agent (which was amazing) and would love to see South Korean master Park Chan-Wook finally get a nod for No Other Choice in the final five selection slates to be revealed on January 22nd. We’ll see if France can get back on track and figure out the mystery that is The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best International Feature. Both of today’s films were recently nominated for Best Drama at the 2026 Golden Globes and will be major players in the awards season. Onto the reviews!

Sentimental Value

Spill the tea

Norwegian director Joachim Trier teams up with Renate Reinsve for their second film after the exceptional 2021 entry The Worst Person in the World. Premiering at Cannes, it won the Grand Prix award and focuses on two sisters dealing with the grief of their mother’s passing in their long-standing family home. With her passing, they must confront their formerly famous estranged director father Gustav, played by Stellan Skarsgård, who abandoned them when they were children. Gustav has an idea for a new film to revive his career and asks his stage actress daughter Nora (Reinsve) to play the main role. She refuses, forcing him to tap the talents of Hollywood actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) in her stead. Gustav tries to use the unfortunate events to repair the damage done to his daughters in this dramedy which has been nominated by Norway as its Best International Film entry to the Oscars.

Time is money, why should I go?

The story has a lot of themes on the surface. Processing grief, overcoming resentment, and pushing through multi-generational trauma that seems to be ever present in their idyllic house. Digging deeper, it’s a father/daughter film that explores how people can try to mend old wounds without having the tools for real communication. In that sense it’s a narrative closer to One Battle After Another than The Worst Person in the World. We get an excellent slice of life examining the minds of artists who use their work as a means of dealing with their anxiety, egos, and inability to allow those most important people in their life inside a self-made barrier. I found myself very charmed by Gustav and Nora constantly circling each other with younger sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) acting as a buffer to the family drama. This had a really beautiful indie vibe that uses an excellent script along with its stars to bring performances to a higher level.

Star of the show

This could be the year that veteran Swedish actor Skarsgård puts as a crowning achievement to a lifetime of film. He has always played cold and calculated roles and frequently collaborated with the provocative filmmaker Lars von Trier. While he excels at that frequency, I have found him to be wonderful in more mild mannered performances such as Good Will Hunting, Thor, and even Mamma Mia!. His character Gustav wants to use his new movie script to allow himself to connect with his daughter Nora. As much as his hubris from success makes him aloof to his former misgivings as a father, he is still in tune enough to know this opportunity could be not only his last as an aging director but his final opportunity to mend fences with Nora. Like Nora, he also is dealing with grief of his mother committing suicide as a young boy, and his only outlet is the art he creates. He toes the line of sincerity and brashness that makes Skarsgård one of the finest character actors in the business today. This role should garner his first acting nomination at the Oscars for a role he seemed born to play.

Don’t Sleep on

Renate Reinsve and Joachim Trier hopefully will get their plaudits as well come awards season. Reinsve delivers a powerful performance as Nora who is a successful stage actress much to the chagrin of her father who feels she has wasted her talent not taking the leap to film. That resentment drives her and also creates walls that she keeps up in dealing with him and her lovers that no one can seem to crack. When she is eventually confronted with her fathers true intentions about his new film she must decide if giving him another chance is worthy of her letting go of her decades of built up anger. Reinsve will have a hard time besting Jessie Buckley for Hamnet this awards season, but she more than deserves a look from the academy.

Could have used a little more

This really was a dramedy but leaned a little heavier than I was expecting. There were some moments of levity, but I felt it could have used a few more scenes exploring Nora’s and Rachel (Elle Fanning) getting to know each other that could have brought an interesting balance to the story.

Best ten minute stretch

There is a great scene with some bite in the second act where Nora and Gustav square up during sister Agnes’s son’s birthday party. Nora, slightly inebriated, brings her sharp wit to focus on Gustav, prying at his newfound interest in their family. Watching the two size each other up and try to make sense of their standing to one another showcased some outstanding acting.

Matt at the Movies Score: 8.5/10 (A heartfelt examination into the lives of artists)

It Was Just an Accident

Spill the tea

I covered this film earlier in my fall preview. Jafar Panahi is one of the most celebrated but unknown directors in mainstream films working today. The Iranian director has had several critically acclaimed successes including 2022’s No Bears and 2018’s 3 Faces. He is part of the Iranian New Wave movement and in 2010 was banned by the government for twenty years from making films and traveling internationally (including a six year prison sentence). However, he has continued making films that have been smuggled out of Iran to screen in film festivals, most notably Cannes, while even being granted special permission to promote his films outside his country. Even so, this past week he was given another one year sentence for leaving the country to collect various awards in the United States.

It Was Just an Accident won the coveted Palme d’Or this year at Cannes and has been selected as France’s submission for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards. It was filmed in secret in Iran with no permits from the government. The film centers around a man (Eghbal) who accidentally kills a dog with his car, forcing him to pull into a garage to get his vehicle fixed. While there he meets Vahid who notices the man’s prosthetic leg and its sound reminds him of an officer who tortured him in a political prison named “Peg Leg”. Vahid kidnaps Eghbal and rounds up others who were imprisoned at the same time to try and identify the man in order to dispel vengeance on their torturer. The film focuses on the morality of taking another’s life and what constitutes justice with the vagueness of actual evidence in limbo.

Time is money, why should I go?

I rewatched his last film No Bears prior to this viewing to see where Panahi would go next. He chose not to act himself in his new thriller, and I feel his focus behind the lens created an absolutely gripping story until the final frame. Secondly, the story felt more linear and focused which keeps the audience guessing throughout. They reference the word “zombie” multiple times in this film. The survivors of torture camps live a zombie existence where it doesn’t feel they have a full life anymore and walk the earth in a pseudo state of being. However just like any zombie film or TV series, it’s never the walking dead you worry about, it’s humans and their capability to encapsulate true evil.

We have a van full of unreliable narrators who are not sure if their hostage is actually their torturer, and have so much hatred buried deep inside that they thirst for revenge or justice. Each victim terrorized has their own feelings and axe to grind to be able to move on with their lives in any sort of meaningful way. They also don’t want to be part of the wheel of violence that keeps the cycle moving forward putting each individual at a juxtaposition of morality. Panahi not only has a brilliant basis for a script but completely lands the plane through the third act which is as white knuckle as anything I’ve experienced at the theaters this year.

Star of the show

This was Vahid Mobasseri’s second collaboration with Panahi after 2022’s No Bears. He has the most kind and welcoming sensibility where you are always pulling for him. You instinctually care for him and whenever he is in a moment of stress feel the urge to want to jump through the screen to offer a helping hand. He did an amazing job in this film to be the moral compass of the spectrum of emotions harbored by each victim throughout the story. He wears his heart on his sleeve and you hope that whatever decision he makes will be the right one for all parties in the end.

Don’t Sleep on

This film’s chances at making a push for not only Best International Feature but Best Picture as well. It’s an incredibly topical script giving the middle finger to authoritarian governments, censorship, and brutality. It goes after the disgusting concept of evil men who are “just doing their jobs” that rings from the Middle East to Central Avenue in Charlotte.

Could have used a little more

The second act is where each member of the group gets to tell their story and release some anger to their personal situations surrounding their hostage. I feel this section dragged a little bit but also was needed to build up the stakes for the ending. It could have been cut down strictly for pacing.

Best ten minute stretch

The final ten minutes where everything comes together. We have Vahid and another accomplice Shiva (played wonderfully by Mariam Afshari) out in the desert with the man who they believe was their torturer. The choice that they make will undoubtedly haunt them forever, whichever way the pendulum of justice swings. The aftermath regardless will most likely have ripple effects for everyone involved.

Matt at the Movies Score: 9/10 (a masterclass in storytelling by Jafar Panahi)

We are nearing the end of the year, and there are still a ton of movies to comb over before creating the top ten list for 2025. Hamnet is out and personally wrecked me emotionally. Jay Kelly, Train Dreams, and Nouvelle Vague are all streaming on Netflix and certainly worth a watch. The Secret Agent is a great acting vehicle for Wagner Moura to swoop in for an Oscar in acting. Marty Supreme is currently in theaters and No Other Choice will be wide released in January with lots of buzz surrounding each.

One Battle After Another still seems like the frontrunner but the Golden Globe nominations came out December 8th. The tea leaves are starting to fall, and we seem primed for a great awards season heading into 2026. Thanks for reading and supporting Matt at the Movies over at Y’all Weekly.