Emilia Pérez confidently dominates nominations for the Academy Awards. Other films shown at KVIFF 58, Vary at Your Cinema, and Variations were nominated as well.

Emilia Pérez confidently dominates nominations for the Academy Awards. Other films shown at KVIFF 58, Vary at Your Cinema, and Variations were nominated as well.

Musical, crime thriller, and drama. Emilia Pérez, which was previewed in the Czech Republic at the Vary at Your Cinema festival in November, is truly a mixture of genres. The film tells the story of a tough Mexican drug cartel boss who wants to become a woman and break free from the mafia. The film’s thirteen Oscar nominations set a new record for a non-English-language feature film. Besides earning nominations for Best Picture and Best International Feature Film, its director Jacques Audiard is up for a Best Director award and Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón was nominated Best Actress for her portrayal of the title character. Zoe Saldaña was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Perez’s attorney and close confidante of this woman who did not hesitate to follow her life’s dream. But that’s not all. Emilia Pérez’s nominations also include Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Sound.

The unusual musical also scored points for its original music, with two songs nominated in the category of Best Original Song. The film has already been honored with many nominations and awards at film festivals, both this year and last, including the European Film Awards and the Golden Globes. At Cannes, all three main actresses (Gascón, Saldaña, and Selena Gomez, who plays the mobster’s wife) took home a joint award for Best Actress. Saldaña also won a Golden Globe and an award from the Florida Film Critics Circle. Emilia Pérez comes to Czech cinemas on 13 February.

Demi Moore won a Golden Globe at age 62 for her performance in the body horror The Substance. Will she add an Oscar?

Demi Moore is in shock right now, as she declared at the Golden Globes, where – after many years of being underappreciated and unawarded – she was named Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her performance in Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance. A very physical and bloody horror movie, the film’s sense of humor and its satirical take on society and the film industry, especially its religion of beauty and youth, certainly cannot be denied. Moore’s performance is perfectly seconded by 30-year-old Margaret Qualley as her character’s younger self, although Qualley unfortunately did not convert her Best Supporting Actress nomination into a win at the Globes. The Substance is set to do well at the Oscars as well, with five nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Demi Moore, plus nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and, perhaps not surprisingly, Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

The Substance was shown at last year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and has been in Czech cinemas since 10 October. It is currently also available exclusively online on KVIFF.TV – the only streaming platform in the Czech Republic where the film can be seen.

Other films shown at least year’s festival that have earned nominations include The Girl with the Needle (Best International Feature Film), the Norwegian-Palestinian documentary No Other Land, and the documentary Porcelain War about the conflict in Ukraine (Best Documentary Feature Film). Of the films shown at our series of sneak previews Vary at Your Cinema, six Oscar nominations went to Anora (Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing). Director Sean Baker’s film about a romance between a sex worker and a rich young Russian was a hit at last year’s festival in Cannes and has been running in Czech cinemas since late October.

Another film with multiple Oscar nominations, A Real Pain, was shown at November’s Variations mini-festival in Karlovy Vary. The film, which was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Supporting Actor (Kieran Culkin), will be in regular distribution starting 20 February. Also doing well in Los Angeles was the drama I'm Still Here, which premiered in main competition in Venice and, as anticipated, earned Academy Award nominations in the categories of Best International Feature Film and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres), but also made the list in one of the most prestigious Oscar categories, Best Picture. This drama, based on true events from the time of the military dictatorship in Brazil, can be seen on 12 March as part of Vary at Your Cinema and comes to Czech cinemas on 20 March.

A summary of all Oscar nominations is available HERE.