Argentina, 1985, the record-breaking feature detailing some of the darkest years in the country's recent history, has been nominated for an Oscar, capping off a whirlwind year for the film's stars, producers and director.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally announced the nominations for the Oscars this morning, confirming that Argentina, 1985 had landed a coveted nomination for Best International Film.
The feature, which details the efforts of prosecutors to put the leaders of the brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship on trial for crimes against humanity, was just one of five selected in the category from a pool of 70 films from all over the world.
Should it win, Argentina, 1985 would become the country's third victory in the category after 1985's La historia oficial ("The Official Story") and 2009's El secreto de sus ojos ("The Secret in Their Eyes").
Santiago Mitre's film, however, faces tough competition – it will compete against runaway favourite Germany's All Quiet on the Western Front (which has 14 BAFTA nominations), Belgium's Close, Poland's Eo and Ireland's The Quiet Girl. The winner will be announced at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, momentum is building behind Argentina, 1985, which earlier this month won the Golden Globe for Best Non-English Language Film, a prize awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
"For the people of Argentina, after winning the World Cup, this is a great joy," said veteran actor Ricardo Darín, one of the film's stars, as he received the award alongside Mitre.
This is the fourth time Darín has been nominated for an Oscar, having been part of the casts of El hijo de la novia (2001), El secreto de sus ojos (2009) and Relatos Salvajes (2014).
India's RRR, the film which defeated Argentina's offering at the Critics Choice Award, did not make the list of nominees as its country of origin decided to submit another film for this category.
Argentina's Oscar nominations
Argentina, 1985 is the eighth Argentine film to be nominated for an Academy Award.
The country cinched its first nomination in 1974, with Sergio Renán's film La tregua ("The Truce"), but it was not until 1985, after the nomination of María Luisa Bemberg's Camila in 1984, that Luis Puenzo's film La historia oficial won the first Oscar for an Argentine film. The feature made history by being the first Latin American nominee to win an Academy Award in the category.
Following this award, Carlos Saura's Tango, no me dejes nunca (1998) and Juan José Campanella's El hijo de la novia (2001) were nominated and went close, but in 2009, another film focused on the 1976-1983 dictatorship, El secreto de sus ojos , also directed by Campanella, won the second Oscar for Argentina.
The last time an Argentine feature film was nominated in the Best International Film category was Damián Szifrón's Relatos Salvajes, which lost in 2014 to the Polish film Ida.
–– TIMES/AFP/NA
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