Hong Kong film makes Oscars shortlist

Hong Kong’s nominee for the best foreign film Oscar has been included on the 15-strong shortlist for the award, raising hopes of a first Academy Award nomination for the territory in more than 25 years.

Better Days, a mainland-set drama about teenage bullying by director Derek Tsang, was selected from 93 eligible submissions. The shortlist will be whittled down to five nominees next month, before April’s Oscars ceremony.

It’s the first time a Hong Kong nominee has featured on the shortlist since 2013, when auteur Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster was included, but missed out in the final nomination.

Hong Kong has only ever had two films nominated for the Oscar, Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, in 1992 and 1993. It has never won the award.

Among the other shortlisted films is the Taiwanese family drama A Sun.

Another nominee, Danish tragicomedy “Another Round”, stars former James Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen as a middle-aged alcoholic who vows to get drunk every day, as part of a pseudoscientific experiment featuring three fellow school teachers.

Other nominees include Mexican teen drama “I’m No Longer Here,” set within the colourful Latin American musical tradition of cumbia, and France’s “Two of Us,” about a pair of retired women who have kept their passionate affair secret for decades.

Last year’s international Oscar went to South Korea’s “Parasite,” which became the first winner to also scoop overall best picture. The country failed to make this edition’s shortlist.

But “Parasite” distributor Neon will hope for repeat glory with Ivory Coast’s “Night of the Kings,” a mystical fable told within the walls of the African country’s notorious Maca prison.

“La Llorona,” a modern political retelling of the folklore horror tale, set among ruthless military leaders and indigenous tribes, hopes to become Guatemala’s first nominated film.

Romania and Tunisia – also never nominated – made the cut with their submissions too. Submissions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Czech Republic, Iran, Norway and Russia round off the international feature film list.

Italy’s submission “Notturno” did not feature on the international shortlist, even though no country has won more Oscars in the category than the land of Federico Fellini.

But “Notturno,” about everyday people fleeing devastating Middle East conflicts, made the best documentary Oscar shortlist – also unveiled on Tuesday – instead.

It will compete with disability documentary “Crip Camp” from the Obamas’ production house, as well as Wuhan pandemic hospital film “76 Days,” Texas teen politics portrait “Boys State” and prison system feature “Time.”

This year’s Oscars, delayed by the pandemic, take place April 25. (RTHK/AFP)