How does foreign content get to Oscars?

Okay, can someone tell me how does it work? How do non Hollywood films and songs make it to Oscars? How do they get nominated or get award?

How do they get noticed by Academy?

What is criteria of Academy to select content? 

I have noticed both RRR, Lagaan had anti colonialism themes, which is why, perhaps US being a formerly colonised country, paid attention to these films. 

I guess they tend to like films on poverty, harsh reality of society, social evils or more realism perhaps which is why they noticed Mother India, Ray films.

What are themes Academy is more likely to be drawn to when they decide to nominate or award international content?

Do they also require lot of lobbying? Marketing? Is there any politics or bribe element involved? Or is it purely on merit?

Why do some songs or films or artistes make it to Oscars and some do not? 

Naatu is not necessarily the best song to come out of even Southern industry and Keervani has done better work earlier too. So what was special about Naatu that got it the award finally? Was it the online virality of the song? 

What also made Academy give awards to Ray, Bhanu Athaiya earlier? 

Lobbying——>$$$ or going viral 

Money but to a certain extent it’s a crapshoot 

watch this interview of bb producer shobu,  he talks about the process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeoL3TkIrvQ

1. foreign films get nominated by their country only for one category (best foreign film) which is what all films from india did so far. you can also compete in the general category for all other awards which is much tougher because you are competing with HW movies, this is what RRR did.

2. yes, you need lobbying. but this is not  just foreign films, everybody lobbies including cate blanchett, the biggest to smallest studios, even speilberg. Miramax which won lots of awards was famous for how they campiagned. this is because the sheer volume of films from world over is huge so you have to do screenings, press meets etc to create visibility. this is not some bribe, but yes you need money to arrange all these screenings. for example, RRR screened in the biggest theater in LA, had several interactions with rajamouli etc, you have an agency for this etc.

3. the agency which handled RRR is pretty big, they did movies like baby driver etc, but obviously big agencies will not pick any movie as clients as their reputation will be at stake, they look at the potential to win, quality, buzz that the movie has generated etc

4. there are generally film festivals where if you do well, especially foreign films will be noticed. RRR didnt take this route as it was not really considered award type festival movie. Mainly it being on netflix helped, basically its initial buzz and traction was organic, but then they managed to get a few big critics, film makers attention and it just picked up from there. they also got the agency and planned well and spent. 

also other award shows leading upto ocars like LA, golden globe, critcis choice, you have enter all of them, do screenings for them etc, this will catch the attention of oscars, RRR did all this. 

5. earlier awards including bhanu, arr were all from british productions, who are well versed in this. which is why RRR winning is big because they are indian production. the only exception is Satyajit ray, who organically made it big through film festivals and is considred a great liek kurosowa. those days are gone, now even, ray wont be noticed without lobbying. Apart from that Aamir spent and did the same lobbying RRR did, but no net, OTT  those days.

6. Bottomline, you need organic buzz + a good quality movie which appeals to them (their tastes are diff)+ money to lobby and go the whole hog. RRR had all that, mainly also because rajamouli had unprecedented commercial success so he could spend. Only others who can in india are probably other big producers like YRF but their films may not appeal to the west. so the combination of everything working is very rare.

just money is not enough, and also a very good small film without money cant do it. 

Parasite btw was heavily supported by korean govt, they invested heavilly and the result is the korean domination now 

And how did Lagaan and Mother India get nominated? Film festival route?

How do documentaries get noticed and awards?

Originally posted by: atominis

And how did Lagaan and Mother India get nominated? Film festival route?

How do documentaries get noticed and awards?

lagaan did the same as RRR, but it was nominated by govt so it competed only in the foreign film category, it also lobbied and spent money but those days net, ott all that was not there

mother india was also foreign film category, nominated by govt, those days i guess films were much lesser, i am guessing some screenings would have been there, but it is not like now, so extensive

documentaries go through the festival route or lobbying , 

elephant whisperers has heavy backing from netflix, guneet is a pro at this. some other docs from her have been nominated before, she is very well known in the  festival circuit, even anurag kashyap knows this route well. 

she produced luncbox before which had a good chance, but india didnt nominate it, just like rrr

So it is more about money, agencies, PR firms, lobbying than just merit of content?

I am surprised how did Naatu get nominated for Oscar despite not being from a Hollywood production at all?

Is it norm or possible for songs from foreign productions to get nominated in mainstream categories like it happened with Naatu? 

Sorry for asking a lot. I am clueless when it comes to how nominations of global content work at Oscars.

Wikipedia gives an answer (but vcs does it perfectly, too 😊):

Criteria

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given Academy Awards to foreign language films since 1945. The Academy defines a foreign language film as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. Films that meet these criteria are eligible for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. They can be nominated for awards in categories other than Best International Feature Film provided that they have been commercially released in Los Angeles County and comply with the special rules governing those categories. In addition, foreign-language films produced in the United States are not eligible for Best International Feature Film, but are eligible for awards in other categories.[

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Academy_Award%E2%80%93winning_foreign-language_films

On the site, there is also a list which movie of a foreign country got an Oscar in another category than feature film (RRR is the last entrance on the list)

i  think it is unfair to say it is more about money , lobbying than merit. 

would you say that speilberg or a cate blanchett, ang lee are without merit? then why are we so dismissive when our ppl paly the same game. 

the system is set up like that, even UN resolutions require lobbying. 

yes, you need money to enter the system and lobby, doesnt mean you dont have merit 

we in india need to realise that those who want to make it big globally have to play the game according to the rules there

if money was the only criteria, a kjo would have dumped money and gotseveral oscars

the easiest category for foreign films is the direct best foreign film for which they have to be nominated by their country 

they are also free to compete in all other general categories, not just song, actor, technical anything, baby driver, parasite (korean) did this. rrr also did this, they infact tried for lot of categories, got only song. 

it is not the norm

 but this is rare, as you need heavy buzz and response in US to do this, rrr got big directors, critics parising it, so it picked traction, and ppl will spend money when they see the buzz

I think vcs has pretty much covered everything very nicely. 

Two other things. One Oscars are primarily a self-fulfilling prophecy. People need to believe you are going to win the Oscar before the first poster even comes out. Otherwise you are not even going to be in contention. This is especially true with foreign films. Where most nominated directors already have previous nominated work. New breakouts are rare. It will happen with Rajamouli's next too. 

Something like EEAAO is very rare at the Oscars, and even then A24 campaigned the hell out of it. 

Second, there's an increased push towards films with more contemporary relevant themes (class divide, immigrants, fascism etc) as well as commercially successful films. 

I think RRR fit both bills will. And it would have done well in the foreign language category. But it's not the kind of film that would win the main awards. It's not exactly the kind of thought provoking piece or technical achievement that Oscar usually goes for.