We had our eyes on the 2018 Oscars queer films ever since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the complete list of the Best Foreign Language Film category submissions.
The Oscars (also known as Academy Awards) will honor the best films of 2017 in 24 categories. It will take place on March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, at 5:00 p.m. PST. Its Best Foreign Language Film category is intensely competitive with 92 contenders and some titles have garnered hype even early in the race.
Some queer films were unexpected choices while we didn’t expect some countries to submit LGBTQ-themed films. This year’s Oscars may be the queerest one yet and it marks a remarkable period for LGBTQ cinema.
It was a (dramatic) surprise when Moonlight won the Best Picture award last year, scoring a first for LGBTQ films. Is there a chance for a glorious back-to-back win? Watch these five 2018 Oscars queer films and see which one has a shot at winning.
2018 Oscars queer films
Small Talk
Original Title: Ri Chang Dui Hua
Release date: February 2017
Country: Taiwan
Director: Hui-Chen Huang
Genre: Documentary | Family
Taiwanese filmmaker Hui-chen Huang knows her mother is a lesbian, but just about nothing else about her. They have lived like strangers under one roof for decades, and almost never talk to each other. One day Hui-chen finally summons up the courage to sit her down and make her mother talk. But is she ready to hear what she has to say?
Thelma
Release date: September 2017
Country: Norway
Director: Joachim Trier
Writers: Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier (screenplay)
Cast: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins
Genre: Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller
A college student starts to experience extreme seizures while studying at a university in Oslo, Norway. She soon learns that the violent episodes are a symptom of inexplicable, and often dangerous, supernatural abilities.
Tom of Finland
Release date: February 2017
Country: Finland
Director: Dome Karukoski
Writers: Aleksi Bardy (screenplay)
Cast: Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Werner Daehn
Genre: Biography | Drama
A biopic about cult artist Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, and the events that influenced his iconic homoerotic drawings. Although he remained closeted during his early years in socially conservative Finland, he immerses himself in his art and becomes a gay icon after finding freedom in 1980s Los Angeles.
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Release date: August 2017
Country: France
Director: Robin Campillo
Writers: Robin Campillo, Philippe Mangeot (collaboration on screenplay)
Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel
Genre: Drama
In the early 1990s, with AIDS having already claimed countless lives for nearly ten years, Act Up-Paris activists multiply actions to fight general indifference. Nathan, a newcomer to the group, has his world shaken up by Sean, a radical militant, who throws his last bits of strength into the struggle.
A Fantastic Woman
Release date: April 2017
Country: Chile
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Writers: Sebastián Lelio and Gonzalo Maza (screenplay)
Cast: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco
Genre: Drama
Marina, a transgender nightclub singer, comes under suspicion when her much older lover, Oscar, dies suddenly. After being harassed and threatened by Oscar’s vengeful relatives, she must defend both her rights as Oscar’s life partner and as a human being.