In the fifteen films shortlisted for an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film, three hail from our unassuming region. We breakdown the three Nordic contenders vying for an Oscar nod
It’s been a big year for Scandinavian film, with contenders from our unassuming region dominating major film festivals and slowly gaining buzz. Further cause for celebration came yesterday, with the release of the Oscars shortlist. The list narrows 10 Oscar categories down into a digestible crop of contenders, eliminating hundreds of eligible nominees in the process. Among those categories is Best International Feature Film, whittled down from 85 eligible films from 85 countries and regions to just 15. Among those 15 films shortlisted for the covetable nomination are three Scandinavian films.
The news should come as no surprise; all three of these films have been garnering buzz for months on the international festival circuit. Still, this serves as further proof that though our region is small, when it comes to film we’re mighty. Now all that’s left is to cross our fingers for the Oscar nominations, which will be announced January 17th.
Below, everything you need to know about the three Scandinavian films shortlisted for an Oscar nomination.
The Girl With The Needle (Denmark)
Though The Girl With The Needle is this year’s Danish submission, its success is also a boon for Sweden: director Magnus von Horn hails from Gothenburg. A harrowing (and disturbingly relevant) tale about a woman who finds herself pregnant, unemployed, and low on options, The Girl With The Needle stars Vogue Scandinavia alum Vic Carmen Sonne and Danish film icon Trine Dyrholm. This black and white film is not a breezy watch, perhaps, but a necessary one.
Armand (Norway)
The buzzy directorial debut of Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, the grandson of film legends Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, Armand stars acclaimed Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve as a woman processing (not always well, mind you) an accusation levied about her adolescent son. Claustrophobic, squirmy and shot gorgeously on film, there’s a reason why it’s sweeping the prominent “first feature” awards in the run-up to the Oscars. Good filmmaking runs in the family.
Touch (Iceland)
The most (only?) feel-good(ish) contender in this trio, Touch is a non-linear film that follows an older man (played stunningly by Egill Ólafsson) as he searches for his long-lost love. Based on the novel of the same name by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson, this Baltasar Kormákur-directed film will get under your skin and stay there until award season comes to a close.