The first docu to throw their hat into the derby, the Sundance break-out hit Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints becomes Estonia’s nomination to represent one of the almost 90+ film nation options in the category of Best International Film category. Winner of the Directing award (see below) in the World Cinema Documentary comp section in Park City, this is Hints debut feature film project. There is currently no US distributor attached.
In the darkness of a smoke sauna, women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences, washing off the shame trapped in their bodies and regaining their strength through a sense of communion.
We’ll update the chart the massive chart (and missing countries) as the weeks go by.
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia: Smoke Sauna Sisterhood – Anna Hints
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Lebanon
Luxembourg
Mexico
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
North Macedonia
Norway
Pakistan
Palestine
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea: Concrete Utopia – Um Tae-hwa
Spain:
Sweden
Switzerland: Foudre – Carmen Jaquier
Taiwan
Tajikistan: Melody – Behrouz Sebt Rasoul
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uruguay: Family Album (Temas propios) – Guillermo Rocamora
Venezuela
Vietnam
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
