Oscars Shortlists Announced; Includes International Film, Visual Effects & Documentary

The Oscars shortlists in 10 categories have been announced. They include documentary feature, international feature, makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, sound and visual effects.

I’m not going to go through the entire thing. You can check out the full list here. What I will say is that “The Substance” missing out on sound, score and visual effects is tragic. “Saturday Night” not making original score was another notable omission.

With that said, the category that most intrigues me is INTERNATIONAL FILM, and by the looks of it, there weren’t really any surprises or snubs this year, unless you expected Mexico’s “Soju” to show up today. The usual suspects all made it this time around.

“I’m Still Here” (Brazil)
“Universal Language” (Canada)
“Waves” (Czech Republic)
“The Girl with the Needle” (Denmark)
“Emilia Pérez” (France)
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany)
“Touch” (Iceland)
“Kneecap” (Ireland)
“Vermiglio” (Italy)
“Flow” (Latvia)
“Armand” (Norway)
“From Ground Zero” (Palestine)
“Dahomey” (Senegal)
“How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies” (Thailand)
“Santosh” (United Kingdom)

This year, 85 countries submitted their selections. That’s a record. A quick glimpse at the short list, it’s hard not to predict “I’m Still Here,” “Emilia Perez,” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” as our main frontrunners.

As far as DOCUMENTARY shortlist goes, the Christopher Reeve film, “Super/Man,” has been ignored. This year, the category is filled with highly politicized docs from Palestine, Ukraine, Israel, and Japan. If it were up to critics, then not only would Palestine’s “No Other Land” be nominated, but it would also probably win the Oscar.

“The Bibi Files”
“Black Box Diaries”
“Dahomey”
“Daughters” (Netflix)
“Eno”
“Frida”
“Hollywoodgate”
“No Other Land”
“Porcelain War”
“Queendom”
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
“Sugarcane”
“Union”
“Will & Harper”

Another interesting category is VISUAL EFFECTS. Something of a surprise was the inclusion of Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” which had a production budget of $50M. Also, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” did not make the shortlist. If you remember, “Mad Max: Fury Road” was nominated in 2016, and that’s despite it using far more practical effects than ‘Furiosa.’

“Alien: Romulus”
“Better Man”
“Civil War”
“Deadpool & Wolverine”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Gladiator II”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Mufasa: The Lion King”
“Twisters”
“Wicked”

The 97th Academy Awards nominees will be announced on Friday, January 17.