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 Denmark's comedy-drama "Another
Round" is the outlier, with its tale of teachers
who agree to drink a certain amount of alcohol
every day in the hope it will get them out of a
middle-aged rut.
"Another Round" is seen as the front-runner to
take the Oscar on Sunday, given that its
director, Thomas Vinterberg, a co-founder of the
Danish "Dogme 95" movement of low-budget
naturalistic filmmaking, also snagged a surprise
best director nod.
Yet Vinterberg had his own tragedy to cope with
when his teenage daughter died in a traffic
accident just as filming began. Completing the
movie became a way to honor her, star Mads
Mikkelsen said.
"It is a film about reclaiming your life, it is
never too late," Mikkelsen said.
This year's other entries are dark - but also
convey a hopeful message.
Romania got its first-ever Academy Award
nomination with "Collective," about the
aftermath of a deadly nightclub fire.
"Collective" is also competing in the best
documentary field.
"Collective" follows journalist Catalin Tolontan,
whose investigations revealed that badly burned
victims were treated in improper hospital
conditions, with inadequate cleaning products
linked to many deaths.
Romanian director Alexander Nanau said the
double nominations mean the 2015 fire and
subsequent healthcare scandal "will not be
forgotten."
Bosnian war drama "Quo Vadis, Aida?," about a
woman's desperate effort to save her husband and
sons during the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, would
be the second Bosnian film to take home an Oscar
after "No Man's Land" in 2002.
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 The film, directed by Jasmila
Zbanic, centers on Aida, a translator for the
United Nations when the Bosnian Serb Army takes
over the town during the Bosnian war. "Quo Vadis"
is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?"
"This film was not made to
divide and confront people but the opposite - to
understand each other better," said Zbanic.
"The Man Who Sold His Skin," the first Tunisian
film to be nominated for an Academy Award, is a
satirical drama about a Syrian refugee who
agrees to become a living artwork in the hope of
getting a European visa.
Hong Kong's entry "Better Days," about a bullied
high school student facing daunting
college-entry exams, was a major draw at the
Chinese box office in 2019, grossing $230
million.
But Hong Kong authorities have decided not to
broadcast the Oscars ceremony on television for
the first time since 1969 in a move which
activists have linked to the nomination of
another film - the documentary "Do Not Split" -
about the city's 2019 democracy protests.
"Better Days," adapted from a popular novel,
stars Zhou Dongyu as a high-school girl
tormented by peers, who befriends a young
criminal played by pop music star Jackson Yee.
"The film carries a very positive message and
(bullying is) something that needs to be
discussed," director Derek Tsang said.
(Writing by Nick Zieminski in New York. Editing
by Jill Serjeant and Jonathan Oatis)
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