A musical about crime and identity; a searing drama about politics and family oppression; another about an activist's search for her missing husband; about sexual assault as told by victims, about centuries of destruction. documentary about imperialism and Israel's brutal treatment of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank; and a beautifully wordless animated film about animals working together to survive after a flood.

THESE MOVIES - Double Golden Globe winner "Emilia Pérez," "The Sacred Fig Seed," "I'm Still Here," "Black Box Diaries," "Dahomey," "No Other Land" and Golden Globe winner "Flow" — these films have two things in common: They were all made overseas, and they both generated legitimate Oscar buzz outside of the international feature film category.

Of course, some films and filmmakers have always managed to break through this barrier: Fellini, Truffaut, Bergman, and a number of their Italian, French and Swedish peers were nominated for director and screenplay, while Sophia Loren and Rei Actors such as F. Ullman were also nominated. (In 1998, Fernanda Montenegro became the first Brazilian actress to be nominated for a leading actress in Walter Salles' "Central Station"; although she was in Salles' "I'm Still Here" in the film, but her daughter Fernanda Torres plays the lead role in the film.

Things changed a bit in the early 2000s with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the rise of Pedro Almodóvar, whose films received scores, screenplays and credits from Penelope Cruz and Javier Bar Nominated actors such as Deng. But Floodgates came up big in 2018 with “Roma” (which had nine nominations outside of international feature film, winning Oscars for directing and cinematography) and the following year with “Parasite,” which had five other nominations and won best picture, best director and Best Screenplay) and opened.

International films now regularly receive nominations for cinematography (six times since 2018) and even makeup (four times) and visual effects (the first time in the past two years). A total of seven screenplays were nominated in both categories, but that doesn't even acknowledge how blurred the lines have been in recent years, with American films like "Minari" and "The Last Life" heavily subtitled. These films, like "Roma" and "Parasite," also represent new diversity outside Western Europe. (International documentaries are often nominated, but the number of nominations has risen significantly, with 14 nominations in the past five years.)

Part of that shift comes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences creating a younger, more diverse membership, but the organization's outreach to voters has also helped, emphasizing that these films qualify in all categories. . (While smaller films were once limited to big-city film festivals and arthouse theaters, voters can now easily watch everything at home if they so desire.)

"It's inspiring to see what's happening with Parasite, which sparks a democratization of possibility," said Salles, adding that streaming has helped change perceptions, with viewers showing a renewed interest in foreign languages. Movies (and interest in TV shows like "Squid") are subtitled. "It's always better when a field becomes more polyphonic and more diverse," he says.

Gints Zilbalodis, the Latvian director of "Flow," said filmmaking is "less centralized now."

Technological advances "have made it easier to make movies in places where there's no big industry," he added, noting that his team created "our own industry just to make this movie."

"When you make something from scratch, you're not bound by tradition and you're forced to come up with original ways of telling stories — and it's not just different types of stories, but how they're told," he said , adding that audiences and voters now seem ready to embrace these different voices and fresh perspectives.

"Dahomey" director Mati Diop added that "there are now more voices from different parts of the world," noting that many like her belong to Western and non-Western cultures. “We have the storytelling and industrial tools of the Western world, and more and more directors are using the tools of cinema to tell stories from a postcolonial perspective to shine a light on communities that have less opportunity to express themselves.”

Of course, not all communities can express themselves easily. Palestinian Basel Adela was beaten by Israelis while filming "Nowhere Else" and "The Sacred Fig Seed" director Mohammad Rasoulof had to flee Iran to avoid arrest for his anti-regime work. (The film even incorporates real footage of authorities beating citizens.) The film was largely funded by Germany, so German producers lobbied their home country to option the film.

Rasouloff hopes to make further changes so that films like his are more considered for Oscars. "I'm sure it's not going to be easy to come up with a new system that would allow them to actually evaluate all the movies from all the countries," he said. "But it's very important because many filmmakers in many countries are excluded and I don't think we can allow censorship to suppress artistic freedom."

The importance of a nomination goes beyond the satisfaction that comes with being recognized. They transport viewers into smaller films that would otherwise easily get lost in the constant flow of content.

"Nominations give films like this an opportunity to be seen, because it's hard to compete with these big studios and the big marketing campaigns they run," Zirbalodis said, adding that nominations could help independent films Producers launch their next project.

“Nominations bring more shine to films and bring more audiences into the conversation,” Diop said. “Our goal is always to increase visibility and raise awareness.”

"Being nominated or winning an Oscar will ensure our story is well known," Adela said of Nowhere Else. He and co-director Yuval Abraham noted that its anti-Israel content made distribution in the U.S. difficult , but Oscar attention may change that. (Abraham specifically wants American audiences to see the film because "the bulldozers that destroyed the Basel neighborhoods were American-made and the soldiers guarding them used American-funded weapons, so our documentary was not made in the United States, but somewhere response to U.S. foreign policy.”)

However, Adela added that he initially started filming simply to document injustice as evidence - "the camera was probably the only tool we had besides determination" - and that the film has gone on to become "enormous" beyond his dreams. success". "We hope more people will see it and the Oscars will make this a bigger success, but I won't be sad if it doesn't happen."

Abraham added that if they were nominated, they would "spend a night on top of the world," but then they would immediately have to "get back to the fight and reality." We're under no illusions that it will change anything. We will continue to work on the ground. "

Rasoulof said any nomination would also be symbolic. "Not only will they ensure that these films reach a wider audience, they also send an amazing signal to the many filmmakers around the world who are working in similar circumstances, under similar duress: 'We see you now.'"

In an era of closed borders and rising xenophobia in the United States, especially in the wake of elections surrounding these issues, filmmakers say the nominations for international films are a hopeful sign.

“Culture can unite us,” Zirbalodis said. We can see ourselves as we live through these stories and see similarities between ourselves and others. "

Salles agrees, saying that part of the reason he became a filmmaker is that "movies are about discovering things I didn't know; it made me realize that the world is much bigger than I thought."

Films, like books and music, he said, are "great tools that open up the possibility of understanding human nature. Ultimately, we need it to get out of the political mess we're in."