HIFF25 Presents Selections for the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film

Many of the films submitted for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® at the 90th Annual Academy Awards will screen at HIFF25. No two pictures are the same, as they tackle topics ranging from personal memoirs and bad neighbors to social satires and family dramas. The art of storytelling through film is universal, and no matter what language a film is in, it brings people together. As the Oscar race heats up, be sure to catch the following films at the 25th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival. 

Most films screen in the World Cinema section, presented by Delta and Altour.


Under the Tree 650UNDER THE TREE
♦ from ICELAND

“Love thy neighbor” does not apply in the Iceland suburbs of UNDER THE TREE. After his wife kicks him out of the house, Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson) stays with his parents—just as the passive aggressive hostility with their neighbors is ramping up over a large tree in the yard. Director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson establishes character dynamics with jabs to the gut and enough dark humor to quell the uneasiness in your stomach. With a moody score and sound design that sways between the tension and release of the scenes, you may find yourself nervously laughing the next time you want to talk to your neighbors about the noise.

Trogen, Appenzell, Schweiz, 23. Maerz 2016 - Die goettliche Ordnung, Standbild Film Szene 73.

THE DIVINE ORDER
♦ from SWITZERLAND

In 1971, a quaint Swiss village, seemingly untouched by the cultural and social upheavals of the 1960s, anticipates the vote for women’s suffrage. Following her exposure to a women’s rights demonstration in Zurich, a shy and well-liked housewife becomes the unexpected beacon of her village’s suffragette movement. Featuring a strong ensemble cast, led by the effortless Marie Leuenberger, THE DIVINE ORDER chronicles the challenges of a determined group of women who cast off the stubborn ways of the village and fight for independence. Directing with a keen eye for sincerity and humor, Petra Volpe captures the inspiring journey of harnessing your voice to both speak truth to power and tell your husband he can do his own laundry.

Square 650THE SQUARE
♦ from SWEDEN

Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Ruben Östlund’s provocatively anarchic THE SQUARE follows Christian (Claes Bang), the suave director of a respected contemporary art museum who sees the museum, and his career, suddenly upended when the PR campaign surrounding his latest exhibit goes off the rails. Using the same razor-sharp humor found in his festival favorite FORCE MAJEURE (HIFF 2014), Östlund has created another masterful social satire that playfully disassembles the hypocrisy, privilege, and self-importance of the contemporary art world. Featuring fantastic turns by Terry Notary, Elisabeth Moss, and Dominic West, THE SQUARE skillfully orchestrates one standout sequence after another, and in the process creates one of the most memorable films of the year.

Standfoto "Aus Dem Nichts"IN THE FADE
♦ from GERMANY

Selected as Germany’s official submission for the Academy Awards® Best Foreign Language Film, Fatih Akin’s tightly-wound revenge thriller IN THE FADE stars Diane Kruger as a woman struggling to overcome her profound grief in the wake of a neo-Nazi terrorist attack that leaves her husband and son dead. Awarded the Best Actress prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Kruger provides a stunningly fearless and grounded lead performance as the victim of an increasingly prevalent form of violence, pushed to the edge and forced to find her own justice in the wake of a failed judicial system.

Summer 1993 650SUMMER 1993
♦ from SPAIN

Following the death of her parents in Barcelona, six-year-old Frida (the haunting Laia Artigas) is sent to her uncle’s (David Verdaguer) picturesque countryside home, in Carla Simon’s autobiographical feature debut SUMMER 1993. Frida battles with a sense of loneliness and displacement while also yearning to fit into the picture with her new family. Punctuated by moments of youthful exuberance and mature ruminations, this coming-of-age drama, set amongst summery hues, is an extraordinarily moving snapshot of being a child in an adult world, anchored by a flawless performance by its young star.

Happy End 650HAPPY END
♦ from AUSTRIA

While living out their days in a Calais mansion against the backdrop of the city’s increasingly turbulent refugee crisis, the well-off Laurents find themselves slowly torn apart by the surprise arrival of a young guest. In the follow-up to his Academy Award®-winning (and five-time nominated) film AMOUR (HIFF 2012), acclaimed filmmaker Michael Haneke returns to the career-defining social and familial themes of his work in this story of the disintegration of a single bourgeois family. Anchored by powerful performances from past Haneke collaborators Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant, HAPPY END is another unrelentingly singular work of social satire from a master filmmaker.

Fantastic Woman 650A FANTASTIC WOMAN
♦ from CHILE

A shatteringly intimate and nuanced performance from newcomer Daniela Vega anchors Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s latest film, A FANTASTIC WOMAN. In this Hitchcockian drama, transgender woman Marina (Vega) and Orlando (Francisco Reyes) are in love and are planning to spend the rest of their lives together, but when tragedy strikes, Marina finds herself unexpectedly under criminal investigation. Much like with his previous film, 2013’s GLORIA, Lelio offers a complex portrayal of a strong female character unsure how to navigate a hostile environment defined by prejudice and intolerance.

Loveless 650LOVELESS
♦ from RUSSIA

In LOVELESS, Boris and Zhenya’s (Alexey Rozin, Maryana Spivak) divorce has devolved into an endless series of arguments. Consumed with selling their apartment and beginning lives with new partners, their 12-year-old son Alyosha (Matvey Novikov) seems increasingly pushed out of their minds, until he suddenly disappears without a trace into the wintry expanse of Moscow. Using the foundation of a crime procedural to shed greater light on the stark inhumanity seeping into every aspect of contemporary Russian society, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s (LEVIATHAN) expertly crafted film applies his impeccable ability to portray human drama on a global scale to this bitingly vicious story of lost love.

Ciambra 650A CIAMBRA
♦ from ITALY

Adapted from his eponymous short film, filmmaker Jonas Carpignano returns to the southern Italian setting of his debut MEDITERRANEA (HIFF 2015) in this neo-realist coming-of-age story. Desperate to join the ranks of the men of his Romany family, 14-year-old Pio finds his initiation into adulthood unexpectedly fast-tracked with the imprisonment of his father and older brother, as he gradually involves himself in the same criminal world that placed them there. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and directed with a remarkably atmospheric touch that refuses to settle into the expected tropes of the genre, A CIAMBRA is another nuanced look at the difficulty of escaping a life of crime in a community defined by it, confirming Carpignano as a undeniable international force.


Bonus!

glory-650GLORY
♦ from BULGARIA

At HIFF 2016, GLORY was the winner in the Best Narrative Feature. This year, Bulgaria selected GLORY as its submission to the race for Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film. A poor railway worker’s world is turned upside down when he finds a huge pile of cash abandoned on the tracks in Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s absorbing tragicomedy GLORY. He decides to do the honorable thing and turn it over the police, but a careless government propaganda team eager to capitalize on the story sends his life spinning out of control. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Bulgarian society, where corruption and bureaucracy are givens, GLORY is a mysterious journey of one man’s race against time to expose the truth and regain his dignity.


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