2021 Oscar Predictions: INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM (December)
We won’t have the official list of eligible submissions until some time in January but if all hold we’ll end up with 91 entries, just shy of the all time record and impressive in an upside down year.
Two countries had their films disqualified this year: Canada and Portugal. Canada pulled the Ava DuVernay-backed Funny Boy after it didn’t meet the non-English language requirements and submitted 14 Days, 12 Nights from Jean-Philippe Duval as its replacement. Portugal replaced Listen with Vitalina Varela from Pedro Costa.
Two films make big debuts from November’s chart: A Sun from Taiwan (currently on Netflix) and Quo Vadis, Aida? from Bosnia-Herzegovina. As I mentioned last month, I do wonder how Euro-centric the shortlist will be this season and what other continents can and will be represented, especially after South Korea’s historic win with Parasite. Africa has great potential this year but central and south America plus south and east Asia seem like they will have a tough fight.
Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions for International Feature Film for December.
Green – moves up; Red – moves down; Blue – new entry this month
1. Another Round (Denmark)
2. Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)
3. Collective (Romania)
4. A Sun (Taiwan)
5. Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
6. The Auschwitz Report (Slovakia)
7. I’m No Longer Here (Mexico)
8. Charlatan (Czechia)
9. Two of Us (France)
10. This is Not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection (Lesotho)
Other contenders: And Tomorrow the Entire World (Germany), Apples (Greece), Asia (Israel), Buladó (Netherlands), Dear Comrades! (Russia), The Endless Trench (Spain), 14 Days, 12 Nights (Canada), Gaza mon amour (Palestine), Hope (Norway), The Letter (Kenya), La Llorona (Guatemala), Never Gonna Snow Again (Poland), Notturno (Italy), True Mothers (Japan), Vitalina Varela (Portugal), You Will Die at 20 (Sudan)
Taiwan entry A Sun image courtesy of the Tokyo Film Festival
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- ‘Wishful Thinking,’ ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Among 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Juried and Audience Award Winners - March 21, 2026
- Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More - March 20, 2026
- Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’ - March 20, 2026
‘Wishful Thinking,’ ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Among 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Juried and Audience Award Winners 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 144 – ‘A Matter of Life and Death (Powell and Pressburger, 1946) with Special Guest Jesse Nussman 
Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More 
Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’