Oscar submission – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO – Review by April Neale

December 5, 2025 April Neale Atacama Desert, chilean films, Diego Céspedes, lgbtq, Oscar submission, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo

Set in the early 1980s, when fear of a mysterious new illness spread faster than the information to explain it, Diego Céspedes’ debut feature, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo, is a haunting coming-of-age story set against one of the first global waves of HIV/AIDS panic. Set deep in Chile’s Atacama Desert in 1982, the film explores what happens to a community already living on the edges of society when superstition, isolation, and fear close in. Céspedes’ debut is gentle yet devastating, tender yet unflinching. It reminds us that love is both dangerous and transformative.

Reviews

REEDLAND (RIETLAND) – Review by Nadine Whitney

October 28, 2025October 30, 2025 Nadine Whitney Anna Loeffen, Gerrit Knobbe, Loïs Reinders, Netherlands, Oscar submission, Reedland, Rietland, Sven Bresser

Ruination appears to be filmmaker Sven Bresser’s theme. Whether sudden or inevitable, or simply a no longer sustainable way of life, there will come a time in the not-so-distant future where the village’s way of life simply fades away. If you want easy answers, defined heroes and villains, and a sense of potential ‘better days to come’ Reedland will disappoint. However, if you’re prepared to be immersed in stunning, mysterious, and bewildering depiction of a rarely depicted place, Reedland is transfixing and beguiling.

Reviews

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES – Review by Jennifer Green

November 13, 2023July 23, 2024 Jennifer Green Asmae El Moudir, Moroccan films, Oscar submission

Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir’s experimental, strange and riveting documentary The Mother of All Lies delves into secrets that her family, and her country, have kept for years. The film won the Best Directing award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. Now it is Morocco’s nominee for the International Feature Film Oscar.

Reviews

THUNDER – Review by Jennifer Green

October 23, 2023October 23, 2023 Jennifer Green Carmen Jaquier, Foudre, Lilith Grasmug, Marin Atlan, Oscar submission, swiss french films, Thunder

Thunder (Foudre), Switzerland’s official submission to this year’s International Feature Film Oscar, is an enigmatic and beautifully filmed period piece that could entice viewers (and the Academy) with its mixed-up tale of sexual desire and religious faith. Director Carmen Jaquier and cinematographer Marin Atlan revel in the beauty of the Swiss Alps, and setting the film in 1900 allows for a paring down of visual distractions to just the countryside, the people and spectacular nature.