Oscars: UK Selects Jonathan Glazer’s ‘The Zone Of Interest’ for International Feature

This is kind of unexpected. The UK has decided to select Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” as its International Oscar pick. Since it was funded with UK money, and mostly in German, it is eligible.

Glazer won the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes for his film, which will be released by A24 in the US on December 8th. It’s a challenging, but ultra-rewarding statement from the British director, a holocaust film that strips away the cliches for a more clinically abstract approach.

This sets up a fascinating race for Best International Film. It’s been a stacked year for world cinema and, as countries continue to submit their entries, we are starting to see a race taking shape. These are the ones that stand out as prime contenders:

Anatomy of A Fall (France)
The Zone of Interest (UK)
Fallen Leaves (Finland)
Perfect Days (Japan)
The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)
About Dry Grasses (Turkey)
In Capitano (Italy)
Four Daughters (Tunisia)
The Settlers (Chile)
Shayda (Australia)
The Promised Land (Denmark)
20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine)
Godland (Iceland)

By the looks of it, this will be a race between the two big Cannes prize-winners: ‘Zone of Interest’ and “Anatomy of A Fall.” I give the latter the edge as Glazer’s film might be a tad too inaccessible for some Academy voters.

France hasn’t won this category in over 30 years. They’ve been struggling to find a winning formula, even dramatically reorganizing their selection committee this past year. They even ousted the Cannes boss in favor of more neutral members.

In fact, France had a good shot in 2021 when both Julia Ducournau’s “Titane” and Audrey Diwan’s “Happening” had won the top prizes at both Cannes and Venice — they selected Ducournau’s film but that didn’t sit well with many. It didn’t even get nominated. Diwan’s film felt like the more topical, and accessible pick.