This Year’s Virginia Film Festival Platforms Under-the-Radar Oscar Contenders for Best International Film
Courtesy of VAFF
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 22, marks the beginning of the 38th annual Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, with Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere serving as the Opening Night Film, directed by VAFF Advisory Board member and Virginia native Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Hostiles). Taking place October 22-26, other highlights of VAFF’s 2025 lineup include Train Dreams and Rental Family, the festival’s Centerpiece and Closing Night Film, respectively, along with Frankenstein, Hamnet, and a Special Screening of Sinners presented by the movie’s breakout star, Miles Caton.
A program of the University of Virginia, VAFF is never short on international cinema, and this year proves no exception, with awards frontrunners that have already wowed the festival circuit, including It Was Just an Accident, Sentimental Value, Sirât, and The Secret Agent all making appearances in the lineup. While this handful of movies has already distinguished itself as the frontrunners for Best International Feature at next year’s 98th Academy Awards, VAFF’s schedule also boasts many other official entries for the Best International Feature category, representative of cinema from every corner of the globe. Continue reading to check out five under-the-radar bids for Best International Feature that audiences should not miss at the Virginia Film Festival this upcoming weekend.
‘Left-Handed Girl’
Director: Shih-Ching Tsou
Taiwan
Set in the bustling metropolis of Taipei, Left-Handed Girl is a heartwarming intergenerational family drama that will represent Taiwan in its Best International Feature bid for the upcoming Oscars. Co-written by Tsou and longtime collaborator Sean Baker (director of VAFF 2024’s Opening Night movie Anora), the film revolves around a working-class five-year-old girl, I-Jing, whose mother runs a stall in one of the city’s bustling night markets. As their working-class toil collides with long-brewing family tensions, I-Jing faces the harsh truths of life and all the beautiful, frenetic chaos it brings with it. After premiering at Cannes this past spring, Left-Handed Girl was acquired by Netflix for U.S. distribution and will commence its limited theatrical release on November 14.
‘The Love That Remains,’ courtesy of TIFF
‘The Love That Remains’
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Iceland
Pálmason (Godland, VAFF 2022) is quickly rising to the top of contemporary Icelandic cinema through his tranquil, temporal studies of families in flux. The Love That Remains takes place over the course of a year, tracking a family of five whose parents, Anna and Magnús, have chosen to end their marriage. As the household leaders figure out how to navigate such a complicated time for their family, their lives play out on screen through sketches that blend humor, tenderness, and the inevitable passage of time. The Love That Remains will represent Iceland in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards and will be released in the U.S. by Janus Films in early 2026.
‘The President’s Cake,’ courtesy of TIFF.
‘The President’s Cake’
Director: Hasan Hadi
Iraq
The first-ever Iraqi film to be shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival (where it premiered earlier this year in the Director’s Fortnight and won the section’s Audience Award), Hadi’s directorial debut channels many of the great works of Neorealist cinema, particularly through its focus on a child’s perspective in a world shaped by human conflict. Newcomer Baneen Ahmad Nayyef serves as the heart of The President’s Cake, starring as Lamia, a nine-year-old girl who has been chosen to bake a cake for her school’s upcoming celebration of President Saddam Hussein’s birthday. Living in a society crippled by UN-imposed sanctions against her country, Lamia, her ailing grandmother, and the rest of their peasant community struggle to make ends meet against the backdrop of escalating socio-political tensions. As the movie tracks Lamia’s wild journey to procure all the ingredients she needs to make the cake (her pet rooster in tow), The President’s Cake unfolds as a heartwarming coming-of-age ode to those who grew up during the height of Hussein’s crippling regime. The President’s Cake will be distributed in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics and was recently announced as Iraq’s official entry for Best International Feature at the upcoming 98th Academy Awards.
‘The Tale of Silyan,’ courtesy of TIFF.
‘The Tale of Silyan’
Director: Tamara Kotevska
Macedonia
Between 2019 and 2020, Kotevska’s career skyrocketed thanks to her universally beloved work Honeyland, which made Academy Awards history when it became the first film to be nominated for both Best Documentary and Best International Feature. For her latest documentary, The Tale of Silyan, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival, Koteveska builds upon the themes of human diaspora and nature conservation introduced in Honeyland while adding wondrous folkloric flourishes that further link her work to her captivating homeland of Macedonia. Connecting the hardships of a peasant farmer facing a transforming world with that of a popular 17th-century fable about a boy turned into a white stork, The Tale of Silyan is another richly touching feather Koteveska can add to her cap, boasting an exquisite audiovisual design that evokes the timeless beauty of rural life and warns about the consequences that would come if it were left behind. The Tale of Silyan has recently been announced as Macedonia’s Best International Feature submission for the 98th Academy Awards.
‘The Things You Kill’
Director: Alireza Khatami
Canada
The latest from Iranian-Canadian American filmmaker Khatami, The Things You Kill won the Directing Award in the World Cinema - Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where the movie held its world premiere. Set in Turkey, it stars Ekin Koç as Ali, a professor perturbed by his mother’s suspicious death, supposedly caused by a falling accident. When Ali’s own father is brought into the picture as a possible subject, he employs the help of a mysterious gardener (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil) to uncover the ultimate truth. Channelling a neo-noir nightmare, The Things You Kill is a chilling examination of grief and revenge. Canada has chosen the film to serve as its Best International Feature submission for the Oscars, and Cineverse will theatrically release The Things You Kill in the U.S. beginning on November 14.