East and Southeast Asia 2026 Oscar Submissions: A First Look at the International Feature Film Contenders

This year’s International Feature Film race is shaping up to be a duel between cinematic pedigree and sheer market volume, and nowhere is that tension more apparent than in the slate submitted by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) countries.

We have the usual suspects, of course—South Korea leaning on its newly established Oscar royalty, Taiwan placing its bets on the streaming infrastructure of Netflix. But a surprise element this year is the region’s embrace of sophisticated genre filmmaking, moving beyond the traditional arthouse fare we’ve come to expect. You see this in a ghost story from Thailand that critiques capitalism, and a surveillance thriller from Singapore that uses the mystery format to comment on contemporary anxiety.

What’s compelling about the 98th Academy Awards pool is how clearly the films reflect the different internal priorities of their respective national industries. China is submitting a patriotic blockbuster that shattered box office records at home, while the Philippines is relying on the philosophical weight of a major auteur, Lav Diaz.

Whether the Academy’s voters, who are increasingly globalized, reward the established celebrity-director pipeline or embrace the politically charged genre experiments from emerging markets remains the most intriguing question as we head toward the December shortlist announcement.

South Korea: No Other Choice (2025)

Director: Park Chan-wook

Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee-soon, Lee Sung-min, Yeom Hye-ran , Cha Seung-won

Park Chan-wook, of Oldboy fame, returns to the Oscar stage with this darkly comic thriller starring megastar Lee Byung-hun. The film follows Man-soo, a successful paper mill employee who finds his satisfying life turned upside down after he is suddenly laid off. Desperate to protect his family and home, Man-soo hatches a brutal plan to secure a coveted executive position at a rival company: he lures his job competition into meetings and, one by one, eliminates them. This movie is a scathing satire on the intense pressures of contemporary South Korean work culture and status-seeking, adapted from a Donald E. Westlake crime novel. Neon, the distributor who steered Parasite to its monumental win, is campaigning this picture, which puts it in an immediate top tier of global contenders.

Read More: South Korea Selects Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice’ for Oscar Consideration

Taiwan: Left-Handed Girl (2025)

Director: Tsou Shih-Ching

Starring: Janel Tsai, Shih-Yuan Ma, Nina Ye, Brando Huang, Akio Chen

Director Tsou Shih-Ching’s debut feature is a vibrant, family-focused comedy-drama set in Taipei’s night markets. The story centers on three generations of women: single mother Shu-Fen, her troubled twentysomething daughter I-Ann, and five-year-old I-Jing, played by Nina Ye. The heart of the conflict involves little I-Jing, who believes her left hand is possessed by the devil, a bizarre idea sparked by her grandfather’s teasing. As the child begins to commit small acts of theft, the film uses this personal crisis to explore themes of generational struggle and financial desperation under late capitalism. The kinetic energy and visual flair of the film impressed critics at Cannes Critics Week. Netflix distribution ensures that the Academy membership will have easy access to view this strong, critically acclaimed entry.

Read More: Shih-Ching Tsou’s ‘Left-Handed Girl’ Coming to Netflix

China: Dead To Rights (2025)

Director: Shen Ao

Starring: Liu Haoran, Wang Chuanjun, Gao Ye, Wang Xiao, Zhou You,  Yang Enyou, and Daichi Harashima

China has submitted a historical epic, Dead To Rights (Original Title: Nánjīng zhàoxiàng guǎn), a film that demands attention simply because of its sheer box office power. The movie has shattered local records, grossing over $421 million domestically, and is considered a massive cultural event in China. Set during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, the plot follows a postman, A Chang, who disguises himself as a photo developer in a studio. He secretly shelters Chinese refugees while being forced to develop film for the occupying Japanese military. When he discovers the negatives hold photographic evidence of atrocities, he risks his life to smuggle them out. The film is a powerful historical account, but China’s previous Oscar submissions in this category, despite high production value, have historically struggled to convert domestic success into Academy votes.

Read More: ‘Dead to Rights,’ a New Film on the Nanjing Massacre, Secures North American Release

Hong Kong: The Last Dance (2024)

Director: Anselm Chan

Starring: Dayo Wong, Michael Hui, Michelle Wai, and Chu Pak Hong

Anselm Chan’s $\text{The Last Dance}$ became the highest-grossing local film of all time in Hong Kong, earning over $17 million. It’s a comedy-drama that pits new ideas against old traditions, centering on Dominic (played by Dayo Wong), a debt-ridden wedding planner forced to pivot to the funeral business. He introduces modern concepts to the industry, which creates friction with his conservative business partner, Master Man (Michael Hui), a traditional Taoist priest. The title itself refers to the “Breaking Hell’s Gate” ritual performed during traditional funerals. Critics have noted the standout performance of Michelle Wai, who plays Master Man’s daughter, navigating the trauma caused by her father’s patriarchal worldview.

Philippines: Magellan (2025)

Director: Lav Diaz

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Ângela Azevedo, Amado Arjay Babon, Ronnie Lazaro, Hazel Orencio

The Philippines is represented by Lav Diaz, an auteur whose work is known for its uncompromising length and philosophical depth. $\text{Magellan}$ is a monumental, multilingual historical epic about the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, played by Gael García Bernal, and his colonial campaigns in Southeast Asia in the 16th century. The story details the harrowing ocean voyage, the ensuing mutinies, and Magellan’s growing obsession with conquest and conversion once he reaches the Malayan Archipelago, an obsession that leads to violence. While Diaz is globally respected—the co-production structure involves partners from Europe and Asia—the demanding runtime of his work historically creates a logistical barrier for Academy voters, making the film’s path to a final nomination particularly challenging despite its grand scale.

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s feature debut is the most eccentric contender from the region. The film is a politically tinged, absurdist comedy-drama inspired by the Thai folklore legend of Mae Nak. The central conceit involves a recently deceased young woman, Nat (Davika Hoorne), whose ghost returns to her grieving husband, March, in the form of a bright-red vacuum cleaner. The ghost is determined to prove her love by serving as a useful appliance. Critics have described the film as a bizarre, genre-blending fable that uses a clash between the spiritual world and exploitative capitalism as its backdrop. Screen Daily suggested, “If Yorgos Lanthimos relocated to Thailand, his next film might look something like… A Useful Ghost,” underscoring its unique tone and sophisticated approach.

Read More: ‘A Useful Ghost’ Wins Top Prize at Cannes Critics’ Week

Singapore: Stranger Eyes (2024)

Director: Yeo Siew Hua

Starring: Lee Kang-sheng and Wu Chien-ho.

Yeo Siew Hua’s third feature is a mystery thriller that quickly morphs into a rumination on modern surveillance and voyeurism. The film follows Junyang and Peiying, a couple devastated by the abduction of their baby daughter, Little Bo. They soon begin receiving mysterious DVDs containing footage of their daily lives, obsessively filmed by a stalker. When the culprit is arrested—Lao Wu (Lee Kang-sheng), a lonely supermarket manager—the film shifts its focus to his perspective and motivations. The mystery of the kidnapping recedes as the movie explores the deep human need to feel seen in a highly monitored digital culture. The film uses a striking motif of cameras across Singapore to highlight a blanket surveillance society where, ironically, private grief remains unseen.

Indonesia: Sore: Wife From Future (2025)

Director: Yandy Laurens

Starring: Sheila Dara Aisha and Dion Wiyoko

Indonesia’s submission is a romantic science fantasy film from director Yandy Laurens. The movie follows Jonathan Riady (Dion Wiyoko), a young man living alone in Croatia, whose life is interrupted by a woman named Sore (Sheila Dara Aisha) who claims to be his wife from the future. Her mission is to help him correct his bad habits and improve his lifestyle, even though he is content with his current existence. Adapted from a popular web series, the film became Yandy Laurens’ best-selling work to date. Indonesia is still seeking its first-ever IFF nomination, and the choice of a genre piece like this romantic sci-fi tests whether the Academy is ready to look past traditional dramas when considering submissions from emerging Asian markets.

Vietnam: Red Rain (2025)

Director: Đặng Thái Huyền

Starring: Đỗ Nhật Hoàng, Lê Hạ Anh, Steven Nguyễn, Phương Nam, Hoàng Long, Lâm Thanh Nhã, Nguyễn Hùng and Đình Khang

$\text{Red Rain}$ (Vietnamese: $\text{Mưa đỏ}$) is an epic historical war drama that became the highest-grossing Vietnamese film of all time, grossing 714 billion Vietnamese dong (about $27 million). Set during the 81-day Second Battle of Quảng Trị in 1972, the film follows a squad of North Vietnamese soldiers defending the Quảng Trị Citadel. The plot focuses on Cường, a music student who gives up a chance to study at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory to enlist, and the trials faced by his squadmates. It is an intense, emotional portrayal of the conflict, directly influenced by the fact that the screenplay was co-written by Chu Lai, who fought on the southern battlefield.