Actors from Ireland, Iran, Palestine, China and Argentina are all in good stead for awards success this season. Screen assesses the stand-out contenders.
This year’s brightest acting contenders among the foreign-language titles represent both seasoned names and completely new faces. Argentina, 1985 actor Ricardo Darin is a big star in his home country of Argentina, having appeared in the likes of Oscar winner The Secret In Their Eyes, and is in promising shape to strike out on his own this year in the best actor categories.
From Luxembourg there is Corsage star Vicky Krieps, who is in a strong position having won the prize for best performance in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, and who is best known previously for Phantom Thread.
Palestine is represented by Cairo Conspiracy star Tawfeek Barhom, who is a name on the international film circuit, with credits such as Garth Davis’s Mary Magdalene, and on TV screens, in mini-series The Looming Tower and Baghdad Central.
Then there’s Ireland’s Catherine Clinch in the mix – a young newcomer who has already been sweeping up awards in her home country for her role in buzzy Irish-language drama The Quiet Girl.
Zar Amir Ebrahimi - Holy Spider
Iranian actress Amir Ebrahimi, who quit her home country in 2008 and is now a French citizen, initially served as casting director on fellow émigré Ali Abbasi’s film, but stepped into the lead role after the original actress exited over concerns about appearing without a hijab. Her performance as a journalist on the tail of a serial killer targeting sex workers in an Iranian holy city won her the best actress prize at Cannes, and she is eligible for both Bafta and Oscar.
Tawfeek Barhom - Cairo Conspiracy (aka Boy From Heaven)
Palestine’s Barhom has forged a career in international films such as Garth Davis’s Mary Magdalene and Reed Morano’s The Rhythm Section, and TV mini-series The Looming Tower and Baghdad Central. Sweden’s entry to the international feature Oscar sees him play a fisherman’s son who becomes a pawn in the conflict between Egypt’s political and religious elites. The US release is too late for this year’s Oscars, but he will compete at the Baftas.
Catherine Clinch - The Quiet Girl
Clinch scooped the Irish Film and Television Awards’ best film actress prize for her role in Colm Bairead’s adaptation of the Claire Keegan novella — playing a quiet, neglected girl who blossoms when she is sent by her distracted family to stay with older relatives in the summer of 1981. Clinch will be eligible for both the Baftas and Oscars.
Eden Dambrine - Close
Nominated for European actor at the European Film Awards, Dambrine carries this second feature by Belgium’s Lukas Dhont (Girl) on his young shoulders — playing a teenager who becomes embarrassed by the intense brotherly bond he has long enjoyed with his childhood friend (Gustav De Waele). This performance is eligible for both the lead actor Oscar and Bafta, courtesy of a timely release of Close respectively by A24 in the US and Mubi in the UK.
Felix Kammerer - All Quiet On The Western Front
A graduate of Berlin’s Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Austrian actor joined the Vienna Burgtheater in 2019 — where the wife of All Quiet On The Western Front producer Malte Grunert served on the management board and began championing the raw talent. Kammerer makes his screen debut as protagonist Paul Bäumer, who signs up to fight for Germany in the First World War and has his illusions shattered. He will compete for Bafta and Oscar.
Vicky Krieps - Corsage
Luxembourg-born Krieps shared the prize for best performance in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard for Corsage, playing Austrian empress Elisabeth — who bristles at her decorative royal role and strikes out for an independent life. Previously best known internationally for Phantom Thread, Krieps is nominated for European actress at the European Film Awards for Corsage — where her competition includes Holy Spider’s Amir Ebrahimi — and she is eligible for Bafta and Oscar.
Guslagie Malanda - Saint Omer
After appearing in 2014’s My Friend Victoria, Malanda went virtually absent from our screens — finding the roles offered limited to “an immigrant, a prostitute or a cleaner”, she says — and forged a career in art curation. She returns with a powerful performance in Alice Diop’s drama, playing a woman whose mysterious motives for infanticide are explored in the courtroom. Starring opposite Kayije Kagame, Malanda will run in the best supporting actress category.
Tang Wei - Decision To Leave
Tang earned multiple nominations and awards as the breakout star of Ang Lee’s 2007 Lust, Caution, and was nominated as a Bafta rising star in 2008. The Chinese actress now stars in Park Chan-wook’s detective tale, which won the directing prize at Cannes. Tang plays opposite Park Hae-il as a woman suspected of being involved in her husband’s death, and will compete for leading actress.
Daniel Giménez Cacho - Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths
In his personal odyssey Bardo, two-time best director Oscar winner Alejandro G Iñárritu presents the tale of an expatriate Mexican documentary filmmaker returning to his native country to be celebrated there in advance of receiving a prestigious award – and exploring his own fractured sense of identity. Born in Spain but resident in Mexico, Cacho is a multiple winner and nominee at Mexico’s Ariel Awards, with credits including Zama and Blancanieves. Barely off the screen during Bardo’s epic running time, the 61-year-old registers strongly in the Netflix-backed drama.
Ricardo Darin - Argentina, 1985
Veteran actor Darin is a huge star in his native Argentina, and films featuring him have been submitted multiple times by his country for the international feature Oscar – including The Secret In Their Eyes, which won in 2010. Darin now has his best shot to date at figuring in best actor races, playing Julio Cesar Strassera, the prosecutor who in 1985 helped bring members of the military junta to justice for their crimes. Santiago Mitre directs, while Darin produces with his son Chino Darin via their Kenya Films.
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