More films shepherded by directors who grew up outside of the U.S. may be getting nominated for best picture these days, but those that go on to win the coveted Oscar tend to be, like last year’s “Oppenheimer,” led by helmers from English-speaking countries: In the past 50 years, there have been only eight that were not. And of those, there’s only one best picture winner — Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” — where the majority of the film is in a language other than English.
Three contenders from non-English-speaking countries have a shot at joining that rarefied group this awards season, though two of their films are in English: “Conclave,” a papal drama from German filmmaker Edward Berger; “The Substance,” a very Hollywood tale from French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat; and “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language film set in Mexico but filmed in France by Jacques Audiard. “The Substance” is leading the trio at the box office so far, its $56.4-million global tally well below “Parasite” but No. 6 on this select list, ahead of $37.9 million for “Conclave” and $8.8 million for Netflix-streamed “Emilia Pérez.”
In time-honored tradition, some of the international directors on this list made their Oscar-winning films in Hollywood. Respective countries of origin are noted for all.
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