Japan Picks Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s ‘Cloud’

Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s “Cloud” has been selected as Japan’s submission for the best international film in the Oscars race. The film will appear out of competition this week at the Venice film festival.

The film is a thriller centered around a young man who resells goods online and who triggers a series of online incidents. These blur the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds.

Despite having long been one of a triumvirate of top Japanese directors (along with Kore-eda Hirokazu and Kawase Naomi), Kurosawa has not previously had one of his films selected for an Oscar run.

Japan has scored strongly at the Oscars. Since the beginning of the 21st century, it has won the best foreign film Oscar twice (for “Departures” and “Drive My Car”) and had one make the shortlist (“Confessions”) and two additional nominations (“Shoplifters” and last year’s “Perfect Days.)

International sales are handled by Nikkatsu.

Kyrgyzstan: ‘Heaven Is Beneath Mother’s Feet’

“Heaven Is Beneath Mother’s Feet” (aka “Beyish Enenin Tamanynda”) will represent Kyrgyzstan in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars. The Oscar selection was made by the Union of Cinematographers of Kyrgyzstan.

The film is directed by Ruslan Akun and is the story of an adult man whose mental development stopped at age 8 and who continues to live with his mother. In order to make sure that his mother can go to heaven, he takes her by foot on a journey to Mecca.

Last year the Kyrgyzstan submission was ruled to be ineligible as it had released before the qualifying period. No replacement film was offered. “Heaven is Beneath Mother’s Feet” opened in Kyrgyzstan cinemas in March 2024 and has subsequently released in Russia and Uzbekistan.

Germany: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’

Germany has decided to submit Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which received the special jury prize at Cannes Film Festival, for its Oscar entry. Rasoulof attended the fest while in exile in Germany from his home country of Iran, which had sentenced him to eight years in prison for the political content of his films.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” follows a man (Misagh Zareh), who has “just been promoted to be an investigating judge at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran when a huge protest movement sweeps the country following the death of a young woman,” its synopsis reads. “Although the demonstrations increase and the state cracks down with ever tougher measures, Iman decides to side with the regime, upsetting the balance of his family.”

In a statement, Germany’s Oscar committee called the film “a psychological portrait of Iran’s theocracy which is built on violence and paranoia. Mohammad Rasoulof subtly tells of the cracks within a family that are representative of those within Iranian society itself. A masterfully directed and movingly acted film that finds scenes that stay with you. The two rebellious daughters symbolize the courageous women of Iran and their self-sacrificing struggle against the patriarchs of their families and their state. It is an outstanding work by one of the great directors of world cinema and someone who has found refuge in Germany from state despotism in Iran. We are very happy to know that Rasoulof is safe in our country. And we are delighted that he will be representing Germany at the Oscars in 2025.”

Neon is releasing “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in the U.S.

Lithuania: ‘Drowning Dry’

Laurynas Bareiša’s “Seses” (Drowning Dry), which won best director in the international competition and best performance award for the film’s four leads at Locarno Film Festival on Saturday, has been selected by Lithuania as its Oscar entry.

In the film, Ernesta, her husband Lukas, and her son, together with her sister Juste’s family, are spending the weekend at a country house after Lukas’s victory in a mixed martial arts tournament. The families are swimming in a nearby lake, having dinner, discussing family finances. After an accident, the sisters become single mothers. The film follows the sisters’ life in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The structurally complex, narratively splintered drama marks a confident step forward for Lithuanian cinematographer turned director Bareiša, whose debut “Pilgrims” triumphed in Venice’s Horizons competition in 2021.

The producer is Klementina Remeikaitė for Afterschool Production of Lithuania and the co-producer is Matīss Kaža for Trickster Pictures of Latvia.

International sales are handled by Alpha Violet.

Uruguay: ‘Hay una puerta ahí’

Uruguay has submitted Juan Ponce de León and Facundo Ponce de León’s debut feature documentary “Hay una puerta ahí,” to the the best international feature category of the 97th Academy Awards.

“Hay una puerta ahí” documents the beginning of a friendship between two older men, with one helping the other to die. For nine months, Fernando and Enric recorded every conversation they shared about the subject, conversations had entirely through video chat during the pandemic.

With a slight “The Odd Couple” vibe, Fernando logs on to video chat from a hospital bed, often with a cigarette between his lips, while Enric sits in a well-kept home office. Fernando’s family makes sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes uplifting cameos as together, they face the end of their patriarch’s life.

The film, produced by Mueca Films in Uruguay and A Contracoriente Films in Spain, screened in San Sebastian’s Made in Spain sidebar in 2023 and in Malaga’s special selections section for documentaries.

Taiwan: ‘Old Fox’

Taiwan has selected multi-award-winning drama film “Old Fox” as its representative in the best international feature category of the 97th Academy Awards. The island’s Ministry of Culture says that it selected “Old Fox” from 14 candidate films.

Directed by Hsiao Ya-chuan, the film tells the morally-conflicted tale of an 11-year-old boy from a modest background. He is torn between the hardscrabble and penny-pinching life of his single-parent father and the allure of a neighborhood landlord, who offers riches and lessons in streetwise pragmatism.

The central performances of child star Bai Run-jin (who previously appeared in “Dear Tennant”) and writer-actor Akio Chen elevate the triangular relationship into a prize-winning effort. The picture had its premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival before becoming the numerical winner at Taiwan’s prestigious Golden Horse Film Awards the following month. While it missed out on the best film prize, “Old Fox” collected four prizes including best director and best supporting actor for Chen.

Latvia: ‘Flow’

Latvia has selected Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow” as its entry in the best international feature category of the 97th Academy Awards. The animated feature had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival and won four prizes at Annecy.

Sideshow and Janus Films acquired North American rights to the film out of Cannes and are planning a theatrical release this year.

At Annecy, “Flow” won the Audience Award, the Jury Award, the special prize for original music and the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution. It will also screen at the Toronto Film Festival next month.

“Flow” follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet.

The film was co-written by Zilbalodis and Matiss Kaza, with a score by Zilbalodis and Rihards Zalupe. It was produced by Zilbalodis and Kaza, alongside Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman. The international sales agent is Charades.

Zilbalodis’ “Away” won the Contrechamp Award for Best Film at Annecy in 2019.

Latvia’s selection was made by the Latvian Selection Committee, a commission of film industry experts established by the National Film Center.

Austria: ‘The Devil’s Bath’

“The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller which competed at the Berlin Film Festival, has been submitted by Austria as its official Oscar entry for the international feature film race. The film picked up the Silver Bear for best cinematography (for Martin Gschlacht) at the Berlinale.

The film is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy,” which bowed at Venice and also represented Austria in the Oscar race.

Set in rural Austria in 1750, the film centres on Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, which is devoid of emotion and limited to chores and expectations. A pious and highly sensitive woman, Agnes falls into a deep depression, before committing a shocking act of violence that she sees as the only way out of her inner prison.

The movie is being handled by Shudder in North America. The streamer also picked it up for the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It’s been sold around the world by Playtime.

“The Devil’s Bath” was produced by Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion, in co-production with Heimatfilm and Coop99 Filmproduktion.

“The Devil’s Bath”

Ireland: ‘Kneecap’

Ireland has submitted “Kneecap” to represent the country in the Oscars international feature film category.

The film became a sensation in Sundance, where it was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, and has been amassing plaudits at festivals around the world over the last few months.

From writer-director Rich Peppiatt, “Kneecap” is a raucous semi-autobiographical comedy about the wildly outspoken and hard-partying Northern Irish hip-hop trio of the same name.

“Kneecap” was produced by Trevor Birney and Jack Tarling for Fine Point Films and Mother Tongues Films, with Patrick O’Neill at Wildcard acting as co-producer.