After having closed the submission period for the International Feature Film category (formerly known as Foreign Language Film) in October, the 92nd Academy Awards has selected ten films that will advance to the next round of voting in the category. A record of 93 films had been submitted to the Academy (see the news).

This year, the Old Continent is dominating the shortlist: submissions from nine European countries have been selected. Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antonio Banderas
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
scheda film], one of the year's biggest international hits and the new effort by a tireless maestro, leads the pack with the biggest chances to win the award, although it would have to beat the absolute frontrunner, Palme d'Or winner Parasite by Korea's Bong Joon-ho.

Backing the veteran Spanish filmmaker, another eight European submissions have made the cut: Les Misérables [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ladj Ly
scheda film] by France's Ladj Ly (awarded in Cannes with the Special Jury Prize, and recently named European Discovery at the European Film Awards), the documentary Honeyland [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara …
intervista: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir …
scheda film] by North Macedonia's Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov (winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance's World Cinema Documentary Competition back in January, and awarded in several festivals since), Corpus Christi [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bartosz Bielenia
intervista: Jan Komasa
scheda film] by Poland's Jan Komasa (winner of the Europa Cinemas Label at Venice's Giornate degli Autori, and awarded in several festivals since), and rather surprisingly, the three period films coming from Hungary (Telluride-premiered Those Who Remained [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], directed by Barnabás Tóth), Estonia (Black Nights-screened Truth and Justice [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], by Tanel Toom) and the Czech Republic (The Painted Bird [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Václav Marhoul
scheda film], directed by Václav Marhoul, which premiered in Venice to much controversy).

Rounding off the selection is Russia's submission, the second feature by wunderkind Kantemir Balagov, Beanpole [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (awarded with the Best Director prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard), and Senegal's submission, the first feature by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, Atlantics [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mati Diop
scheda film] (a co-production with France and Belgium, winner of the Grand Prix in Cannes).

The Academy has also announced the shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, which, although dominated by US titles, includes European titles such as the aforementioned Honeyland, Waad Al Khateab and Edward Watts' For Sama [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
scheda film] (awarded in Cannes and at the European Film Awards), Victor Kossakovsky's Aquarela [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Victor Kossakovsky
scheda film] and Alex Holmes' Maiden [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], as well as co-productions The Cave [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Feras Fayyad and Advocate [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rachel Leah Jones, Lea Tse…
scheda film] by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaïche.

Here are the main feature-film shortlists that have just been announced:

Best International Feature Film

Czech Republic: The Painted Bird [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Václav Marhoul
scheda film] - Václav Marhoul (Czech Republic/Ukraine/Slovakia)
Estonia: Truth and Justice [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Tanel Toom (Estonia)
France: Les Misérables [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ladj Ly
scheda film] - Ladj Ly (France)
Hungary: Those Who Remained [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Barnabás Tóth (Hungary)
North Macedonia: Honeyland [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara …
intervista: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir …
scheda film] - Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov (North Macedonia)
Poland: Corpus Christi [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bartosz Bielenia
intervista: Jan Komasa
scheda film] - Jan Komasa (Poland/France)
Russia: Beanpole [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Kantemir Balagov (Russia)
Senegal: Atlantics [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mati Diop
scheda film] - Mati Diop (Senegal/France/Belgium)
South Korea: Parasite - Bong Joon-ho (South Korea)
Spain: Pain and Glory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antonio Banderas
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
scheda film] - Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)

Best Documentary Feature

Advocate [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rachel Leah Jones, Lea Tse…
scheda film] - Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaïche (Israel/Canada/Switzerland)
American Factory - Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert (USA)
The Apollo - Roger Ross Williams (USA)
Apollo 11 - Todd Douglas Miller (USA)
Aquarela [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Victor Kossakovsky
scheda film] - Victor Kossakovsky (UK/Germany)
The Biggest Little Farm - John Chester (USA)
The Cave [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Feras Fayyad (Syria/Denmark/Germany/USA/Qatar)
The Edge of Democracy - Petra Costa (Brazil)
For Sama [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
scheda film] - Waad Al Khateab, Edward Watts (UK/USA)
The Great Hack - Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim (USA)
Honeyland - Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov
Knock Down the House - Rachel Lears (USA)
Maiden [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Alex Holmes (UK)
Midnight Family - Luke Lorentzen (Mexico)
One Child Nation - Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang (USA)

The final nominees for the Oscars will be revealed on 13 January 2020, and the awards ceremony will take place on 9 February in Los Angeles.