The Cuban film "Un traductor" closer to being nominated for the Oscars

October 13, 2019

The Cuban-Canadian film A Translator, directed by brothers Sebastián and Rodrigo Barriuso, is among the ninety-three non-English language films that could be nominated for the Academy Awards. The film, selected by Cuba a few months ago for the award, was accepted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and now awaits its possible nomination.

Premiered during the days of the 40th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, this film tells the story of Mali, a Russian literature professor at the University of Havana, who is sent as a translator for children arriving from the Chernobyl disaster to receive care in Cuba.

The film, starring Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro, also brings together in its cast the renowned Cuban performers Eslinda Núñez and Osvaldo Doimeadiós. If the Academy were to include it among the nominees, A Translator would follow in the footsteps of Fresa y Chocolate, a work by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, which was nominated in 1994.

The feature film by the Barriuso brothers, produced in 2018, was awarded the Best Director prize at the 2018 Shanghai International Film Festival, was nominated in the categories of Best Actor and First Feature at the Iberoamerican Film Award Fénix and was included in the official selection of the Sundance Film Festival.

The foreign film category was modified this year by the Academy's Board of Governors, who voted to redefine it as International Feature Film and expand the list of favorites from nine to ten films. This list of films selected by the Academy will be announced on December 16 and the final nominations will be announced on January 13, 2020. The 92nd edition of the golden statuettes will take place on February 9 at the Dolby Theatre, in Hollywood & Highland Center.