Bosnian War Drama, Romanian Documentary Nominated For Academy Awards

Bosnian and Romanian films have been nominated in the best international feature film category for next month’s Academy Awards.

The Bosnian war drama Quo Vadis, Aida? and Romania’s Collective documentary will compete in the category along with films from Denmark, Hong Kong, and Tunisia, the academy announced on March 15.

Quo Vadis, Aida?, directed by Jasmila Zbanic, tells the story of a translator for the United Nations in the town of Srebrenica, the scene of the Bosnian war’s worst atrocity when 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serb forces in July 1995.

Collective, by Romania’s Alexander Nanau, follows a group of Romanian investigative journalists in their arduous journey of uncovering public health-care fraud and corruption.

David Fincher’s Mank, the black-and-white drama starring Gary Oldman as Citizen Kane writer Herman Mankiewicz, led the overall field for the Academy Awards with 10 nominations.

For the first time in the 93-year history of the awards, two women — Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell — were nominated for best director.

The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year were postponed by two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They will instead be telecast on April 25.

Based on reporting by the BBC, AFP, and AP