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"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.
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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