The major horror movie player on the awards circuit this year is Shudder and director Jayro Bustamante‘s La Llorona, which has been nominated in the Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language category at the 78th annual Golden Globe Awards. And after being submitted by Guatemala last year, La Llorona has now made the Oscars shortlist in the same category!
The Academy announced tonight, “Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards. Films from 93 countries were eligible in the category. Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.”
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
- Chile, “The Mole Agent”
- Czech Republic, “Charlatan”
- Denmark, “Another Round”
- France, “Two of Us”
- Guatemala, “La Llorona”
- Hong Kong, “Better Days”
- Iran, “Sun Children”
- Ivory Coast, “Night of the Kings”
- Mexico, “I’m No Longer Here”
- Norway, “Hope”
- Romania, “Collective”
- Russia, “Dear Comrades!”
- Taiwan, “A Sun”
- Tunisia, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
What this means is that Shudder and Bustamante are *closer* to being nominated for an Academy Award, with the list above soon being whittled down to the final list of nominees.
Nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, March 15, 2021, and the 93rd Oscars® will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2021, televised live on ABC.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review of La Llorona last year, “Bustamante delivers a sobering evocation for justice, and in the case of La Llorona, it’s by the hands of a folkloric vengeance seeker.” You can check out Shudder’s official trailer down below.
“Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women of the house—his haughty wife, conflicted daughter, and precocious granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique against the devastating truths being publicly revealed and the increasing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes. Meanwhile, much of the family’s domestic staff flees, leaving only loyal housekeeper Valeriana until a mysterious young Indigenous maid arrives.”
Elsewhere on the horror front, Benjamin Wallfisch‘s score for The Invisible Man has made the “Original Score” shortlist, with Love and Monsters making the “Visual FX” shortlist.