Oscar 2025 Shortlist Revealed Intl Feature Film Shortlist: 15 powerful global films, landmark debuts & groundbreaking cinema. from around the world. Learn more!
The shortlist for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards is out, and what a lineup. The extraordinary year for international cinema is reflected in a selection that is truly outstanding. With 15 dazzling films from a wide range of countries and narrative traditions, the international category confirms just how far-reaching the cinematic language really is. From intimate character studies to grand historical dramas, these films address universal human experiences and offer unique cultural viewpoints.
And what makes this year even more special is the presence of Iraq’s The President’s Cake among the shortlist – a first in the country’s history for a film to make it beyond submission. It’s a groundbreaking success that shows how cinema can cross borders and political barriers to bring the stories of countries voices that are often missing in global film talks.
In addition, Brazil’s “I’m Still Here” and France’s “Emilia Pérez,” have already done the unthinkable – Both are nominated for Best Picture in addition to their International Feature nominations.It’s the first year two non-English language films will be up for Best Picture, marking a monumental year for the way the Academy views foreign-language storytelling.
“I’m Still Here” (Brazil) is still among the shrewdest bets, following an astonishing success path. Directed by Walter Salles and with the legendary Fernanda Montenegro (who is also joined by Fernanda Torres in the film) this political biographical drama centers on Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist struggling with the disappearance of her husband during Brazil’s military regime.
Torres has already made history as the first Brazilian actress to ever receive a Golden Globe award in a performance category, shining an international spotlight on this intimate yet politically charged story.
“Emilia Pérez” (France) which continues to captivate with its daring mode of telling a story. Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical crime film in which Karla Sofía Gascón stars as a Mexican cartel leader trying to flee and become her true self, with the aid of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña.
Although it has divided audiences–praised for its direction and performances and mocked in Mexico for its cultural representations–its 13 Oscar nominations are proof that it shook the international film scene.
“Homebound” (India) grants a profoundly humanistic gaze upon two best friends as they navigate the cold structural realities of India. Set in present-day India, there is Ulrike Ottinger (Johanna d’Arc) and then Marty Scorsese attached as exec producer on this Karan Johar-produced NIRANJAN GHAYWAN-directed drama, employing Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa as Chandan, a Dalit, and Shoaib, a Muslim, who aspire to become police officers as a means to flee the the daily humiliation of caste/religious bias.
Their hushed conversations while sitting on the riverbank could tell you all you need to know about friendship, solidarity, and a desire to transcend systematized oppression. What allows this film to resonate on a global scale is the way it manages to address the specific social issues in India, while telling a story that everyone can relate to when it comes to dreaming about “belonging.”
“The Secret Agent” (Brazil) however, presents a different side of Brazil’s historical trauma in the figure of ex-teacher Armando, living under the military regime in 1977. Starring Wagner Moura, this political thriller combines resistance, escape attempts and personal survival during one of Latin America’s bleakest eras.
“Sound of Falling” (Germany) is a haunting reflection on history and inherited trauma. This German drama spans four generations of girls at a single farmstead in the Altmark region over the course of the 20th century – from before World War to the 21st century. In addressing guilt, abuse and national memory through the prism of rural family life, the movie asks how historical violence infiltrates families and landscapes.
“All That’s Left of You” (Jordan) follows a single Palestinian family across seven decades as it endures displacement, resistance, and survival. Director and star Cherien Dabis infuses her own family’s generational trauma in this sweeping saga, which was filmed in four countries—in Palestinian refugee camps—after the October 7 escalation of conflict. It does not simplify, portraying how political violence impacts individuals even as it celebrates the resilience of collective life.
“A President’s Cake” (Iraq) is lamia’s story, a nine-year-old girl who makes a desperate run in 1990s Iraq to collect the ingredients necessary for making the required presidential birthday cake. Against the setting of sanctions and dictatorship, the tone is at once darkly comedic and subtly explores issues such as childhood endurance, the ludicrous nature of authoritarian regimes and how far the human spirit can be pushed while living under oppressive conditions.
“Palestine 36” (Palestine), by Annemarie Jacir, returns to the 1936 Arab uprising against the British mandate, based on extensive archival material to follow Palestinian laborers and militants in the nascent stages of dispossession.
The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), a docudrama by Kaouther Ben Hania, investigates the death of five-year-old Hind Rajab at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces and the Red Crescent’s treatment of the incident. The film received the prestigious Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, where it was said to have been greeted by the longest standing ovation in the history of the festival. From executive producers Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón, and Rooney Mara, this film is one of the most important in contemporary global consciousness.
“Late Shift” (Switzerland), by Petra Volpe, rethinks the hospital thriller from the perspective of an overburdened nurse, Floria, on a disastrous night shift. In a time when a global shortage of thirteen million nurses is predicted, this film has ignited policy dialogues across Europe while garnering unexpected box office success in German-speaking countries.
“Kokuho” (Japan) is a groundbreaking achievement in Japanese cinema—smashing the domestic box office record for live action films with over $112 million. Set against this background, this sweeping drama, directed by Lee Sang-il and featuring Ken Watanabe, depicts a man who rejects his yakuza family roots to pursue a life as a celebrated Kabuki actor over the course of five decades. The film has been so successful that Tom Cruise himself introduced special Academy screenings.
‘Left-Handed Girl’ (Taiwan) by Shih-Ching Tsou, with Sean Baker as co-writer and editor, is about a single mom and two daughters coming back to Taipei to run a noodle stall at a night market. Shot entirely on an iPhone, the film is a blend of intimate family portraiture and cultural specificity that was met with universal critical praise and garnered awards at several international film festivals.
Belén (Argentina), from the director and lead Dolores Fonzi, is based on the real-life struggle of lawyer Soledad Deza to win the release of Julieta, a woman who was thrown behind bars in a nation with notoriously complicated abortion laws after suffering a miscarriage. This courtroom drama sparked women’s rights activism in Argentina and has relevance in global conversations on reproductive justice.
“No Other Choice,” spearheaded by Park Chan-wook, is a darkly comedic thriller adaptation of Donald Westlake’s The Ax. The plot chronicles the life of an unemployed man who turns to killing as a way to get a job. With Lee Byung-hun and Son Ye-jin, it is Chan-wook’s highest grossing film opener in South Korea. The film deals with themes of hopelessness, class stratification and modern capitalism’s brutal realities, and continues the tradition of questioning these issues in entertaining and intellectually challenging cinema.
Sirât (Spain) awarded the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival – narrates the story of a father and a son in pursuit of the man’s kidnapped daughter in the arid lands of southern Morocco. Soon a personal mission is transformed into an end-of-the-world trek when global warfare breaks out, weaving family drama with science-fiction filmmaking.
The International Feature category lineup for 2025 shows that filmmakers from around the world continue to boldly confront their nations’ most complicated histories, social issues and current crises. These films resist simplifications, instead they dwell with an ambiguous, traumatized, and resilient population confronting the seemingly impossible.
Even if their ambition is modest, by focusing on characters or making sweeping historical narratives, specific cultural contexts or universal strings, all the 15 films bring us vision why international cinema should matter, it is a window into how people from the different parts of the world experience love, loss, justice and hope.
The bizarre, darkly comic human story telling of Jia Zhangke, Ida and The Good Boss among other illustrious contenders on the Oscar 2025 International Feature shortlist point to a boom year for world cinema, with provocative films, historic firsts and non-English language productions all firmly at the heart of the Academy discussion. These films demonstrate that compelling storytelling has no nationality, and that international filmmakers are defining the future of cinema.
As the Academy pares down this shortlist to five nominees in the weeks ahead, audiences around the world have been bestowed an extraordinary gift: a handpicked group of vital contemporary films that insist on being seen and heard.
Fandomfans gives a quick overview of the Oscar 2025 Best International Feature Film shortlist, focusing on their deep storyline and performance.
The Avatar: Fire and Ash world premiere reveals the Ash People, a violent new Na'vi tribe, and a dark, unpredictable Pandora. Releasing on 19th December 2025.
If you thought Pandora was just about bioluminescent forests and spiritual connections with whales, James Cameron is about to torch that image, literally. Hell, we’ve been falling in love with the Na’vi for more than a decade. They are the good guys, the protagonists, the noble-savage environmentalists who are being persecuted by evil, rapacious humans.
However, the Avatar: Fire and Ash World Premiere, this new film of the franchise is coming out on 19 December 2025, which is going to turn the whole series on its head. It’s not only all about “save the trees,” it’s a journey into the moral tangle of a world we thought we knew.
For the first time, the danger is not just falling from the sky, but arising from Pandora itself.
The biggest revelation at the world premiere of Avatar 3 events is the introduction of the Ash People. Residing in the volcanic wastelands of Pandora, this mysterious new tribe represents a total opposite to the Omatikaya, who live in the forests, and the Metkayina, who dwell on the ocean reefs.
Under the leadership of the cruel Varang (Game of Thrones alum Oona Chaplin), the Ash People are fire incarnate. Cameron has been clear on what this means, if water symbolized adaptation and flow, fire symbolized rage, violence, and destruction. These are not the peaceful natives we’re accustomed to. They’re aggressive and territorial, and maybe most shockingly, they could be the antagonists of the story.
It’s a superb narrative turn. Cameron introduces us to a “bad” Na’vi clan, thus complicating the simple Nature vs Technology binary established in the first two films.
It raises the question, What if the native population is as divided and as flawed as the invaders?
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Visually, we’re in for a surprise. The cool blues and greens are historical. Concept art and trailer descriptions show a terrain covered with charcoal blacks, melting lavas, and blinding smoke. The Ash People themselves are said to have a unique appearance — ghostly, ash-covered skin, perhaps even physical mutations evolved for life in a volcanic environment.
Volcanoes are not the full story. The film introduces the Wind Traders as well. This nomadic group traverses the air over Pandora. New zones range from oceans to molten mountains and open skies. Pandora makes for a real, profound world. Not just a plain movie backdrop.
Let’s not lose track of that point. The Way of Water ends with an agonizing blow—the death of Neteyam. Fire and Ash now with Jake and Neytiri against the crushing weight of grief. The title itself hints at this theme, “Ash” is more than just volcanic debris, it’s what remains after a fire has burnt through. It’s like an intermission in grieving.
Rumors suggest this grief will drive a wedge in the Sully family, potentially pushing characters toward darker choices. And then there’s Colonel Quaritch. Now fully embedded in his Avatar body, he’s no longer just a soldier following orders.
He’s undergoing an identity crisis, and some theories suggest he might find a strange kinship with the aggressive philosophy of the Ash People. Could we see a team-up between the RDA and the Fire Clan? It’s a terrifying possibility.
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James Cameron never plays it safe. He held off on the sequel for 13 years because the technology needed to catch up to his vision. Now, just three years after The Way of Water, he’s coming with Fire and Ash, suggesting an — no pun intended — fiery confidence in the story.
He has vowed to “break the mold” and reveal that Pandora, like Earth, is “both a place of stunning beauty and unimaginable savagery.” As we slowly begin our journey to December 2025 one thing is becoming clear that the war for Pandora is not black and white. It’s in shades of grey and red.
So you can pack your rebreathers and make it hot. Pandora is burning, and we get a front-row seat.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is more than just another sequel — it is a reimagining of Pandora. New tribes, darker feelings, volcano landscapes, and morally ambiguous conflicts, James Cameron is bringing the series to new levels. The bravest, most intense chapter of Avatar is set to deliver in December 2025.
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The Hunger Games love birds Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are reunited in the new prequel Sunrise at the Reaping, which will bring fans back to Panem.
The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the iconic duo who captured our hearts as Panem’s greatest rebels, are confirmed to be coming back to the franchise with The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and we’re just not emotionally prepared for what this means.
The revelation was made on 10 December 2025, and it reverberated across the entertainment industry like a hovercraft. For more than 10 years, we’ve seen these two gifted performers breathe life into the characters created by Suzanne Collins, and seeing them in this new prequel feels like that chance encounter with an old friend that really throws you for a loop. While Jennifer Lawrence will be reprising her role as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, there is a fun twist to this - they are not the main characters in this movie.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is turning out to be something I don’t think we’ve seen from the series yet. Taking place 24 years prior to the original Hunger Games trilogy, the prequel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, the surly yet surprisingly endearing mentor we are familiar with through Woody Harrelson’s version of the character.
To those of you who read the novelization, Lawrence and Hutcherson are set to appear in a flash forward sequence near the end of the film, showing where our favorite characters ended. It’s that perfect kind of callback that makes longtime fans feel seen and appreciated.
The extraordinary cast lined up for this prequel is the first reason for this excitement. Joseph Zada as young Haymitch, who confronts the terrifying 50th Hunger Games (the Second Quarter Quell) — where the stakes are doubled with 48 tributes instead of 24.
That’s right, this isn’t just any Hunger Games, it’s a barbaric, monstrous edition that will tell us exactly how Haymitch became the shattered man who then leads Katniss through her own.
Backing up the extraordinary young talent is a star-studded cast that feels like a who’s who of Hollywood: Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes (as a younger President Snow), Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Maya Hawke, and so many more incredible actors. Kieran Culkin, just coming off an Academy Award win for A Real Pain, will be taking over Stanley Tucci’s role as Caesar Flickerman, and Ralph Fiennes lends his gravitas to a youthful iteration of the tyrannical President Snow. This level of casting in this prequel is just jaw dropping.
Francis Lawrence, having directed all but one of the Hunger Games movies since 2012, is back to lend his deft hand to this dark origin story. Billy Ray’s screenplay is a faithful, attentive adaptation of Collins’ novel, so those familiar with the books will pick out the key scenes, but the uninitiated gain a new, cinematic interpretation.
The enthusiasm What’s really exciting about this project is that it comes full circle for the Hunger Games franchise. Following the unprecedented popularity of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2023, which gave a glimpse of a young Coriolanus Snow, Lionsgate are clearly interested in delving further back into this universe’ s past. The franchise has grossed $3.3 billion worldwide over five films, and with this star-packed cast and gripping story, Sunrise on the Reaping is set to be another blockbuster.
The film is set to blaze its way into theaters on November 20, 2026, giving fans almost a year to speculate on what a Lawrence and Hutcherson cameo might entail, be it a fleeting appearance or a substantial chunk of the story, it’s unclear at the moment, but whatever it is: getting Katniss and Peeta back on the big screen – even in this unusual capacity, is a treat for the series’ fanatics.
To those of us who have grown up with these characters, this is like coming home. The Hunger Games world keeps expanding and surprising us, and with Lawrence and Hutcherson’s return, it’s clear why this franchise ever really captured our hearts.
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