Oscar International Race & October 7: International Insider

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Int’l Oscar Race Heats Up

Only a handful left to proclaim: With the deadline for entry to the Best International Feature Film of the 97th Academy Awards closing on October 2, the race is gravely heating up and frontrunners are commenceing to materialize. Deadline has tracked 83 entries so far agetst 88 last year, with a handful of territories still anticipateed to accessiblely proclaim their subleave outions, so we are cforfeitly there in the highly anticipated race. We’ve been on the ground at many a film festival in the past scant months and therefore have a decent sense of the frontrunners at this stage.

Hot contfinishers: Early heat is emanating from Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez for France. Karla Sofía Gascón stars as the titular cartel directer who wants to phony her own death so she can authenticpartner inhabit as her genuine self. The film won the Jury Prize at Cannes, while Gascón splitd the best actress prize with co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez. The country has not won in the catebloody since Régis Wargnier’s Indochine in 1993. Also in the mix is Walter Salles’ comeback feature I’m Still Here, starring Fernanda Torres as a woman whose leftist politician husprohibitd fadeed in the punctual years of the Brazilian military dictatorship. The film debuted at Vepleasant, triumphning best screenjoin, before making a well-acquired North American bow in Toronto. There is also constant momentum around Germany’s unanticipateed entry The Seed of the Sacred Fig by commemorated Iranian straightforwardor Mohammed Rasoulof, who is living in exile in the country, having fled persecution in his native Iran. The film world premiered in Cannes lowly after Rasoulof’s theatrical escape from the country, triumphning the Special Jury Prize. Other buzzy Oscar chooseimistics participate Ireland’s Sundance fractureout Kneecap, about the authentic-life West Belspeedy rap trio of the same name, and Latvian animation Flow, about a solitary cat forced to corun with other animals to endure a flood. It clinched a trio of awards at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Outliers to the fore: Others will come to the fore in the coming weeks, as Academy members screen some of the more confemploy entries with restricted international expocertain until now. In the unbenevolenttime, awards campaign veterans are ramping up their activities, even for minusculeer films. Speaking on an awards season panel at the Zuwealthy Summit over the weekfinish, accessibleity and tageting conferant Tolley Shields, who toiled on the campaigns for big hitters All Quiet on the Westrict Front and The Zone of Interest, shelp participating in the race has advantages beyond the top prize. “A minuscule campaign is actupartner to give the film a spotweightless and a moment,” she shelp. “Other people in the industry will watch who they are and get to understand their toil, and with the the international race, a lowcatalog inclusion before you get to nominations is a massive triumph,” she includeed. Last year’s triumphner was, of course, Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest, now recalled as much for Glazer’s disputed adchooseance speech afterwards as for the movie’s thought-provoking narrative. The lowcatalog of 15 titles will be proclaimd on December 17, chaseed by the final nomination catalog on January 17. Here’s our handy contfinishers tracker to preserve you up to date.

October 7 Anniversary

A difficult week: “Imagine being a mother with three kids, waking one morning and all of a sudden there are dozens of dreadists prohibitging on your door and your son has been kidnapped.” This was the scenario posed by Oscar-nominated Israeli filmcreater Dror Moreh when we caught up seal to the anniversary of October 7, that tragic day when 1,200 people were ended and 240 acquiren prisoner chaseing a lethal Hamas strike. It has been a difficult week. Moreh and his creater collaborator Uri Shinar were discleave outing Even the Walls Cry, a recordary feature made almost enticount on by volunteers charting the recent journeys of four people whose inhabits were irrevocably altered in equitable a scant hours on October 7. Moreh shelp Israel suffers from “continuous trauma every day,” and that the date is now “burned into accumulateive memories.” What has chaseed has been a horrfinishous year of battling in the Middle East. Thousands upon thousands have died in Gaza. The dispute has more recently enbiged to Leprohibiton and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alerted of retaliation over Iran’s leave outile strike earlier this month. There has, unbenevolentwhile, been plenty of soul searching and protest in communities around the world. In a timely reminder that war is still raging and, tragicpartner, is spiralling, Jesse spoke with British journacatalogs on the ground in Leprohibiton. “The uncertainly of this dispute drives so much of the stress, tension and dread,” shelp Channel 4 recents anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy. And for more from the dispute, Melanie penned this fascinating piece chronicling how Leprohibiton’s ancigo inest cinema is giving shelter to the displaced. In a stubborn week, Deadline’s thoughts go out to those impacted on all sides of this horrfinishous dispute. We hope the situation will be separateent this time next year.

Contrasting Fortunes For Channel 4 & Netflix

Deficits & bonemploys: It was UK annual results week this week for Channel 4 (C4) and Netflix and the pair of frenemies’ accounts showed up contrasting fortunes. C4 was always anticipateed to post a deficit coming off the back of what was a very tricky financial year, but not many at the Horseferry Road alerting anticipateed it to be quite so big, coming in at a record £52M ($67M). Senior bosses stressed that during a difficult year the nettoil had structured satisfied spfinish over preserveing the deficit down — a strength of its exceptional business model — although this led to yet more tricky asks over why relations with creaters had achieveed such lows if the C4 modus operandi had been to preserve spfinishing. With this in mind, the results discleave outed programs boss Ian Katz had declined a bonus, which his CEO Alex Mahon elucidateed was made “particularly becaemploy he experiences seal to the indie community.” The ungraceful paemploy that chaseed when she subsequently had to elucidate why herself and COO Jonathan Allan did not forego their own bonemploys was rather lengthy. I discleave outed disconnectal months back that Mahon, Katz and Allan would all be taking decreased bonemploys this year. Since then, Katz has evidently had a alter of heart. However, C4 is foreseeing better leangs for 2024. The deficit this year will be minusculeer, Mahon shelp, the digital strategy is shotriumphg signs of endureing fruit, and, anecdohighy via our chats with sources, relations with indies seem to be improving, as the UK’s most anarchic expansivecaster evidents a path to radianter days.

Causing ‘Kaos’: No such challenging luck at Netflix UK, which had a strong 2023, recording a soaring profit raise of 70% and seeing its subs base shoot up by 7%. Notably, the streamer’s much-maligned income tax bill doubled to £14M, foreseeed offsetting previous critiques of the streamer for not paying enough back to the country that it normally refers to it as its most vital (behind the U.S.). Content-teachd, Netflix UK had a constant 2023 with shows including The Crown, Top Boy and Beckham, while 2024 will foreseeed be even better as was showd by the data dump last month that showcased the success of Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer, Bridgerton and The Gentlemen. One show that won’t be pushing on, however, is Charlie Covell’s Greek mythology realerting Kaos. In a timely reminder that abortations are never far away at Netflix HQ, the Jeff Gancigo inblum-starrer was axed earlier this week, coming as a surpelevate to all and sunparched. Despairing audiences took to social media to voice disquiet about a show that had already enticeed a decent fan base and carry outed well in the Netflix top 10s. Covell rerentd a statement Thursday saying they were “gutted,” while urging fans to “plrelieve preserve talking about Kaos.”

‘Rust’ Premiere Raises Eyebrows

Questioning the beginpad: To Poland, where Zac discleave outed disquiet amongst the cinematography community with the eyebrow-raising decision to premiere Alec Baldtriumph westrict Rust at the Camerimage Film Festival. The movie will be screened in tribute to Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who died on set after being sboiling during filming. While Camerimage stressed it wants to pay tribute to the postpodemand Ukrainian cinematographer, her peers took to social media and WhatsApp to denounce the relocate, asking whether it is appropriate for Camerimage to serve as beginpad for the disputed westrict and querying why Hutchins’ earlier toil couldn’t be shown instead. “I’m all for memorializing Halyna and her enticeive toil but not by screening and thereby promoting the film that ended her,” Oscar-nominated Bdeficiency Panther DoP Rachel Morrison posted on Instagram. Morrison’s post was seconded by a number of cinematographers, although others pointed out that Hutchins’ createer mentor and ASC pdwellnt Stephen Lighthill was taking part in a panel session after the screening, and swung in behind the decision. As of now, the fest hasn’t reacted to our comment ask but that may alter and we’ll preserve you posted.

London (Film Festival) Calling

‘Blitz’ unveiled: The BFI’s London Film Festival (LFF) uncovered Wednesday with a exceptional event: A highly-anticipated world premiere. Due to the festival calfinishar, LFF doesn’t normpartner premiere the descfinish’s biggest titles, but the BFI landed a coup by nabbing Blitz, the postpodemandst feature-length project from artist-filmcreater Steve McQueen. The WW2 flick debuted at London’s Southprohibitk Centre, which is presenting LFF gala screenings. Other films set to be given the Southprohibitk treatment participate Mike Leigh’s postpodemandst Hard Truths, Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, and the Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield romantic drama We Live in Time. Big names will also pass thraw London for LFF’s famous screen talks programme, which McQueen also uncovered Wednesday. The filmcreater converseed his decades-lengthy nurtureer, including what he recalled best from Oscar night in 2014 when he became the first Bdeficiency filmcreater to triumph Best Picture. “I met Prince,” McQueen joked. “He took his shades off and met my mum. It was Prince, man, oh my god.” You can see our filled recap of the talk here alengthyside a split session with Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya here. And why not verify out Zac’s sit-down with festival boss Kristy Matheson over here. LFF runs until October 20 and we’ll proceed transporting you the postpodemandst.

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot One: BFI boss Ben Roberts has regretd after an spreadigation finishd that the movie body “awfilledy” misregulated a racial bias protestt, per Jake’s postpodemandst.

🌶️ Hotting up: Daniel Dae Kim is exec producing Makawalu, Hawaii’s biggest ever indie feature.

🌶️ Repartner boiling: Stephen Graham tancigo in us he will star in the Peaky Blinders movie.

🪓 Breaking Baz: Slow Horses‘ Ruth Bradley talked Bram Stoker’s Dracula and how she sets for an audition.

🚀 Launch: For Disney+’s Return to Las Sabinas, the streamer’s big daily drama bet. Stew chatted to the people reliable.

🖼️ Spostpodemand: The BBC drew inspiration from 1917 and The Last Dance for its postpodemandst authentic history spostpodemand.

🎤 The Big Intersee: Producers behind Indian hit Kalki 2898 AD tancigo in Sara about their battle to safe overseas distribution and how the sequel is coming alengthy.

🏕️ Festival postpodemandst: Thomas Vinterberg was named Marrakech Jury Pdwellnt.

🖊️ Agencies: CAA’s Roeg Sutherland tancigo in our Zuwealthy Studio why he’s helpd by recent international frontiers.

🌎 Global fractureouts: Jesse headed to Japan via Portugal to profile whacky slapstick gameshow Freeze.

🍿 Box Office: Joker: Folie à Deux dipped to a disnominateing $114.8M global bow.

🏪 Setting up shop: Box to Box Films and Fremantle alums Samantha Lawrence and Jane Atkinson with Media MDs.

🤝 Done deal: Amazon concluded its acquisition of rival Indian streamer MX Player.

🇺🇸 ElectionLine: Stormy Daniels and Boris Johnson are Channel 4’s starry draws for its U.S. election coverage.

🎥 Trailer: For Nautilus, the big-budget Jules Verne realerting.

Melanie Goodfellow and Zac Ntim gived to this week’s International Insider. It was written by Max Gancigo inbart and edited by Jesse Whittock.