Foreign filmmakers finally 'arrive' at Oscars

Once only an afterthought, international productions are now part of a new normal at top Hollywood awards ceremony

US/ BEVERLY HILLS:

Foreign films used to be almost an Oscars afterthought, but the directors of the five movies nominated for the best international feature prize say they increasingly feel like part of a new normal on Hollywood's biggest night.

Two of the 10 movies vying for best picture -- Brazil's "The Secret Agent" and Norway's "Sentimental Value" -- are not primarily in English. Both have produced acting nominees.

For Joachim Trier, whose "Sentimental Value" has an impressive nine nominations including for best director, being a part of the conversation is already a win.

"That's not about competition. It's more about recognition. And I like that," he told AFP.

"Enough people among my colleagues voted and said: 'You did a good job as director,' and that means a lot," said the 52-year-old Danish-Norwegian auteur filmmaker.

The increasing diversity of the 10,000-strong voting group of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, many of them former winners, is part of this inclusiveness, said Trier.

But the global success of films like his family drama, which stars best supporting actor hopeful Stellan Skarsgard, is down to the fact that they can illuminate the deeply personal fears and feelings that we all have, he said.

"The whole clue is to try to get the big machine, the apparatus of cinema, to go to an intimate place," Trier told AFP.

"That's the kind of film I'm interested in making. And if that works for people, it's a magnificent thing."

Franco-Spanish director Oliver Laxe agrees with Trier.

The 43-year-old filmmaker believes that films like his "Sirat" succeed because they are honest.

"All directors have looked inward, tried to do something with their heart, with their soul. And I did it with my gut".