The Czech film Charlatan by Polish director Agnieszka Holland has been shortlisted among the 15 films nominated for the Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category, the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday.
Unlike in past years, when ten films qualified for the Best International Feature Film Category, 15 films were nominated this year.
Charlatan is a biographical drama about a Czech healer who cured hundreds of people, including the Czechoslovakian communist president, Antonin Zapotocky, using plant-based remedies.
A three-time Oscar nominee, Holland – who was recently elected President of the European Film Academy (EFA) – has directed many successful films, including To Kill a Priest (1988), Europa Europa (1990), and Washington Square (1997).
Holland, who has never been afraid to cover controversial subjects in her films, has also worked in television. Among the international productions directed by Holland were several popular series, including ‘House of Cards’, ‘The Wire’, ‘The Killing’, and ‘Treme’.
The Czech Republic won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film three times, twice as Czechoslovakia (The Shop on Main Street, 1966; Closely Watched Trains, 1968), and once since its independence (Kolya, 1997).
Nominations for Oscars 2021 will be announced on Monday, March 15, 2021, and The Oscars will be air on April 25 live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
Emmy-nominated producer Jesse Collins, Oscar-nominated producer Stacey Sher, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh will produce the 93rd Oscars.
