It appears that Switzerland has made the first move on the Foreign Language Film chess board as it was revealed today that “The Divine Order” will be the nation’s official submission for the 90th Academy Awards. The Petra Volpe directed drama has been a big hit locally and earned critical kudos at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the Audience Narrative Award, the Nora Ephron Prize (Volpe) and Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film (Marie Leuenberger).
Set in 1971, the film chronicles the efforts of a young mother (Leuenberger) from a small Swiss village who champions the right for women to vote in the European country. It received mostly positive reviews out of Tribeca and has also screened at the Sydney, Munich, Traverse City and Locarno Film Festivals so far. Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber will release the film in the U.S. on October 27.
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Last year Switzerland submitted the animated “My Life as a Zucchini.” The film didn’t make the final five nominees, but was included on the shortlist.
The 2018 Foreign Language Film race is quite up in the air at this point with no clear frontrunner out of Cannes or Berlin. Expected submissions (and emphasis on expected) include the Palme d’Or winner “The Square” (Sweden), “Loveless” (Russia), “Happy End” (Austria), Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner “On Body and Soul” (Hungary) “Zama” (Argentina), “The Other Side of Hope” (Finland) and “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile). France will need to decide on whether to submit Cannes favorite “120 Beats Per Minute” or, potentially, “L’Enfant Double” or another surprise contender. It’s not official, but there is buzz that Faith Akin’s “In The Cut” will find a way to qualify as Germany’s submission. “Cut’s” Diane Kruger won the Best Actress honor at Cannes and is a legit contender for a Best Actress nomination.
The field will begin to get a clearer after premieres and screenings at the upcoming Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals.