Deadline’s Contenders Film: International kicks off this morning, offering up the opportunity to hear from filmmakers who have been making waves around the world in 2021. The second annual event spotlighting international feature films begins at 9 a.m. PT and will showcase the cream of the crop from this year’s festival awards winners, box office hits and International Feature Oscar hopefuls as the teams behind them discuss their work and inspirations.
Click here to register and watch the livestream.
For Contenders Film: International, we’ve again pivoted to a virtual event, which will boast a robust lineup. In total, talent will appear to discuss 26 titles that will represent their home countries as the official submissions for the International Feature Film category at the 94th Academy Awards. A total of 19 studios, streamers and distributors be on hand with presentations including clips and Q&As moderated by Deadline’s crack crew of offshore and domestic editors and reporters.
International films are a mainstay of the global industry. They provide different perspectives on the world at large, create thought-provoking discourse, illuminate new talent and help foster moviegoing in general. Indeed, every year seems to offer up an embarrassment of riches — be it from established or brand-new filmmakers.
It’s been another strange year given the Covid situation’s continuing ebbs and flows, but major overseas festivals such as Cannes and Venice went ahead with in-person events and delivered a powerhouse of pickings. Among the movies we’ll be sharing time with are Julia Ducournau’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane (France); Paolo Sorrentino’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Hand of God (Italy); Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero (Iran) and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6 (Finland), which shared the Grand Prize in Cannes; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria (Colombia), a Jury Prize laureate on the Riviera; Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Cannes Screenplay winner Drive My Car (Japan); Kira Kovalenko’s Un Certain Regard honoree Unclenching the Fists (Russia) and that same section’s Originality Prize winner, Valdimar Johannsson’s Lamb (Iceland); the leading performance-crowned I’m Your Man by Maria Schrader (Germany); Polish Film Festival Best Picture Leave No Traces by Jan P Matuszynski (Poland); and two box office smashes in their home markets in Ryoo Seung-wan’s Escape From Mogadishu (Korea) and the David Ondříček-directed Zátopek (Czech Republic).
Talent on hand will include Titane star Agathe Rousselle, The Hand of God’s breakout Filippo Scotti, I’m Your Man’s Schrader and lead humanoid Dan Stevens, Lamb’s Johannsson and star Noomi Rapace, Memoria’s Weerasethakul; Unclenching the Fists’ Kovalenko and producer Alexander Rodnyansky; A Hero’s Farhadi, and Compartment No. 6’s Kuosmanen among many more.
Check out today’s schedule and panel lineup below, and follow the panel coverage on Deadline and our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels using the hashtag #DeadlineContenders.
Contenders Film: International 2021 schedule
(all times PT)
9 a.m. – Livestream begins
MUBI
9:04-9:18 a.m. – Unclenching the Fists
Alexander Rodnyansky (Producer)
Kira Kovalenko (Director)
9:18a-9:30 a.m. – Great Freedom
Sebastian Meise (Director)
Franz Rogowski (Actor)
KINO LORBER
9:30-9:40 a.m. – Luzzu
Alex Camilleri (Writer/Director/Editor)
9:40-9:55 a.m. – Hive (Kino Lorber/Zeitgeist Films)
Blerta Basholli (Writer/Director)
Yllka Gashi (Actor)
9:55-10:06 a.m. – Brighton 4th
Levan Koguashvili (Director)
Phedon Papamichael (Cinematographer)
10:06-10:16 a.m. – Casablanca Beats
Nabil Ayouch (Writer/Director/Producer)
AURUM FILM
10:17-10:27 a.m. – Leave No Traces
Jan P. Matuszynski (Director)
Tomasz Zietek (Actor)
SIDESHOW AND JANUS FILMS
10:27-10:37 a.m. – Drive My Car
Rysuke Hamaguchi (Director/Co-Writer)
COHEN MEDIA GROUP
10:37-10:48 a.m. – Let It Be Morning
Eran Kolirin (Director)
Alex Bakri (Actor)
10:48-10:58 a.m. – The Good Boss
Fernando Leon de Aranoa (Director/Screenwriter/Co-Producer)
Javier Bardem (Actor)
NETFLIX
10:58-11:14 a.m. – The Hand of God
Lorenzo Mieli (Producer)
Daria D’Antonio (Cinematographer)
Filippo Scotti (Actor)
11:14-11:32 a.m. – Prayers for the Stolen/Noche de Fuego
Tatiana Huezo (Writer/Director)
BLEECKER STREET
11:32-11:43 a.m. – I’m Your Man
Dan Stevens (Actor)
Maria Schrader (Director)
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
11:43-11:55 a.m. – Compartment No. 6
Juho Kuosmanen (Director/Co-Writer)
AMAZON STUDIOS
11:55 a.m.-12:08 p.m. – A Hero
Asghar Farhadi (Director)
12:08 a.m.-12:38 p.m. – LUNCH
NEON
12:38-12:49 p.m. – Titane
Agathe Rousselle (Actor)
12:49-1 p.m. – Memoria
Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Director/Writer/Producer)
FOCUS MEDIA
1-1:10 p.m. – Tereza37
Danilo Serbedzija (Director)
Lana Baric (Writer/Actor)
LEMMING FILM
1:10-1:21 p.m. – Do Not Hesitate
Shariff Korver (Director)
SENSE PRODUCTION
1:22-1:32 p.m. – Oasis
Ivan Ikic (Director)
CORINTH FILMS
1:32-1:44 p.m. – Drunken Birds
Ivan Grbovi (Director/Writer)
Sara Mishara (Writer)
LUCKY MAN FILMS
1:44-1:57 p.m. – Zapotek
Vaclav Neuzil (Actor)
Martha Issova (Actor)
ROWDY PICTURES
1:57-2:08 p.m. – Pebbles
Nayanthara Shivan (Producer)
Vignesh Shivan (Producer)
WELL GO ENTERTAINMENT
2:09-2:22 p.m. – Escape from Mogadishu
Ryoo Seung-Wan (Director)
Kang Hye-Jung (Producer)
BLACK SPARK FILM
2:22-2:33 p.m. – Tigers
Erik Enge (Actor)
Alfred Enoch (Actor)
Frida Gustavsson (Actor)
A24
2:33-2:44 p.m. – Lamb
Noomi Rapace (Actor)
Valdimar Johannsson (Director/Writer)
