The Academy of Cinema has chosen the three films that will compete to represent Spain at the 2025 Oscars in the category of best international film. The Blue Star by Javier Macipe, Frame, by Aitor Arregui and Jon Garaño and Second prize, by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodriguez, are the three titles selected by the Academy. Now, its members must choose the film that will finally fight for the nomination for the statuette. The final decision will be announced on September 18.
The resulting film will take over from The Snow Societya feature film directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, who last year managed to be among the four candidates, although he ultimately did not win the statuette. The Blue Star remembers the journey that the Zaragoza musician Mauricio Aznar (1964-2000), who led the group Más Birras in the 90s, made across Latin America to reconnect with his vocation, leaving behind the ghost of addiction.
The film was critically acclaimed and won two awards at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival: the Youth Award and the Spanish Cooperation Award.
FrameThe film by Basque directors Aitor Arregui and Jon Garaño has not yet been released in theaters but has already been seen this week at the Venice Film Festival, where it has received good reviews and is a candidate for some awards, especially for the immense performance of its protagonist, Eduard Fernández. The film tells the story of Eric Marco, the impersonator who for years pretended to be an inmate of the Nazi concentration camp of Mathausen and who, as such, chaired the association Amical Mathausen.
Second prize is the latest opus by Catalan director Isaki Lacuesta, in this case co-directed with Pol Rodríguez. It tells the story of the Granada independent pop-rock band Los Planetas, the most emblematic of its generation, during the recording of its third album, A week in the engine of a bus.
The film, highly praised by critics, won three awards at the last Malaga Festival: best director for Isaki Lacuesta, best film and best editing.
