Oscar race: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Picture

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The Academy Awards are more than four months away, but the submissions for the Oscar nominations race are shaping up in two major categories, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Picture.

The latest entries are from China and India. Hong Kong has submitted “Mad World” and Taiwan announced the documentary film “Small Talk” as its official entry, with India selecting the black comedy “Newton” as its entry.

China's submissions

“Mad World” is a drama starring Hong Kong stars Shawn Yue and Eric Tsang. It is a daring story about a former financial analyst suffering from a severe case of bipolar disorder, who is released from a mental health facility into the unwilling custody of his truck-driver father.

Wong Chun (middle), director of Mad World / ‍CFP Photo

Despite its difficult subject matter and raw approach, “Mad World” became a surprise hit on the indie circuit. It won the top prize at the Osaka Asian Film Festival in March. The following month it collected three prizes at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including best new director for Wong Chun. Meanwhile, “Small Talk” marks the first documentary entry submitted by Taiwan to the Oscars.

Chinese mainland has yet to submit its official selection in this year’s race.

Around Asia

Amit Masurkar’s sophomore feature “Newton” is India’s entry to the 90th Academy Awards in the foreign-language category. The decision was announced by the Film Federation of India on Friday. “Newton” is about a rookie government clerk, determined to conduct fair elections in the conflict-ridden jungles of central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, against formidable odds.

The Hindi-language film was released on Friday in India. It has been on the international festival circuit, winning awards. “Newton” won the CICAE award at the Berlin Film festival earlier this year and the jury prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. It also scored nominations at the Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Istanbul, Jerusalem and the TriBeCa film festivals.

Nine other films from Asia have been previously submitted. They are The Republic of Korea’s “A Taxi Driver,” Japan’s “Her Love boils Bathwater,” Thailand's “By the Time It Gets Dark,” Nepal’s “White Sun,” Indonesia’s “Leftovers,” Pakistan’s “Saawan,” Laos’ “Dearest Sister,” Vietnam’s “Father and Son,” and Cambodia’s “First They Killed My Father.”

Countries have until October 2 to make a submission. Last year, 85 films from around the world were submitted for one of the five coveted spots. The official Oscar Best Foreign Film Category nominees will be revealed next January.

Best Picture contenders

Due to the changing demographics of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the certainty of predictions in any category is proving to be nearly impossible. However, with the early film festivals over and a few more coming up, most of this year's crop of award winners have been seen.

CGTN takes a look at few of the possible silver screen contenders for Hollywood’s biggest night’s top prize.

"Dunkirk" Movie Poster /Warner Bros. Pictures

“Dunkirk” is the box office spectacular from Christopher Nolan. Clearly, this war film is a fan favorite drawing big returns in China and around the world. Its box office draw has already crossed the half-billion US dollar mark but not one of its cast members have been lauded for their performance which can call into question the film's overall recognition.

“Lady Bird” is a comedy-drama directorial debut from actress Greta Gerwig. The festival-friendly film has a cast of scene-stealing performances likely to garner several Oscar nominations including Best Picture. But overall the film has not really wowed critics who say it is like a story they’ve seen before.

“Mudbound” is a period family drama that has an ensemble cast that delivers impressive performances, but Netflix is the distributor which could cause this film to be snubbed. Cannes already blocked Netflix released films from competing against films with theatrical releases. Academy voters could strike a similar chord.

“The Post” does not hit theaters until December 22. The historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg is stacked with Oscar royalty. Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks lead the cast in the story of an unprecedented battle between journalists and government in publishing the Pentagon Papers. Despite its dynamic casting, “The Post” may suffer from comparisons to Best Picture “Spotlight” which was about the press.

Until the nominations are released it remains to be seen if the Academy really is ready for something new or just another repeat performance.