Hungary has selected Laszlo Nemes’ “Orphan,” which had its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s competition section, as its submission for the best international feature film Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards.
“Orphan” is Nemes’ third film after “Sunset,” and his Oscar-winning breakthrough “Son of Saul,” which debuted in Cannes in 2015, winning the Jury Grand Prix before receiving the best foreign-language film Oscar at the Academy Awards.
The decision was announced Friday by the Hungarian Oscar Committee, which includes producer Attila Csáky, Csaba Káel, government commissioner for the development of the Hungarian motion picture industry and chairman of the National Film Institute, cinematographer-director Lajos Koltai, writer György Lukácsy, cinematographer and executive president of the Hungarian Film Academy Emil Novák, producer Ákos Pesti, and writer Csilla Szabó.
“Orphan’s” story follows a young Jewish boy whose mother has raised him in the hope that his father will return from the camps. These hopes are shattered when a brutish stranger appears on the doorstep to take his family back.
Nemes co-wrote the screenplay with Clara Royer, who was his writing partner on “Son of Saul” and “Sunset.”
The production also reunited Nemes with “Son of Saul” and “Sunset” cinematographer Matyas Erdely, who was feted by the Society of American Cinematographers and Camerimage for his work on the former picture.
The Hungarian-language film was produced by Ildiko Kemeny and Ferenc Szale of Pioneer Pictures and Mike Goodridge of Good Chaos alongside Nemes.
“Orphan” was produced with the support of NFI Hungary, Mid March Media and AR Content alongside the U.K.’s Global Screen Fund, France’s CNC, and Germany’s FFA, as a co-production of Pioneer Pictures (Hungary), Good Chaos (U.K.) with Alexander Rodnyansky of AR Content, Gregory Jankilevitsch of Mid-March Media, Alexander Bazarov, Juliette Schrameck of Lumen, Thanassis Karathanos, and Martin Hampel of Twenty Twenty Vision.
“Orphan” was filmed mostly at locations in Budapest, as well as at NFI Studio’s backlot, the newly constructed outdoor set built as part of the recent expansion of the 31-hectare facility.
NFI Filmlab contributed to “Orphan” with 35 mm colour negative processing, scanning, digital colour grading, analogue image and sound recording, and the creation of 35 mm colour prints from digital intermediate negative using the bleach bypass technique.
World sales are handled by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales and Carole Baraton at Charades.
The Oscar international feature shortlist will be announced on December 16 and the final five nominees will be announced on January 22.
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