Spain has selected the director J.A.Bayona’s latest film, Society of the Snow, which debuted last month at the Venice Film Festival, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category (previously known as Best Foreign Language Film) at the 2024 Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
The Academy Award’s shortlist nominations will be announced on 23 January 2024, and the 96th Oscars ceremony will then take place on 10 March in Hollywood.
The announcement marks the first time a Netflix-backed film has been selected by Spain and it is the second time Bayona has made the cut following his 2007 film The Orphanage.
Based on the book of the same name by Pablo Vierci, first published in 2008, Society of the Snow charts the story of the 45 people who, on October 13, 1972, boarded Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 from Montevideo to Chile. There were five crew members on board and 40 passengers, including 19 members of the Old Christians Club rugby team.
Tragedy struck when the pilot began his descent too early, crashing into the Andes and killing 12 immediately. The survivors clung to the belief that help was coming, but none did. After weeks of hunger, having exhausted everything in the plane’s hold, they were forced to do the unthinkable and eat the flesh of those who had died. The story was also told by Frank Marshall in the 1993 film, Alive.
Starring in the Spanish-language film are Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Esteban Kukuriczka and Tomas Wolf.
Last year Spain selected Carla Simón’s Berlinale winner Alcarràs for the Best International Feature Film race. The film didn’t make the final shortlist.
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