Park Chan-wook's 'NO OTHER CHOICE' Fails to Make Final Nominee List for Academy International Feature Film Award... U.S. Media Says "Shock"

Director Park Chan-wook's 〈NO OTHER CHOICE〉 has failed to make the final nominee list for the International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards, leading U.S. media to evaluate that he has been "once again snubbed by the Academy."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on the 22nd (local time) that 〈NO OTHER CHOICE〉 was not included in the final list of five nominees for the International Feature Film category. This film, submitted as a representative work of Korean cinema, had made it to the preliminary list of 15 last month, raising expectations, but did not pass the final hurdle.

Three years ago, in 2023, Director Park Chan-wook also reached the preliminary nominee stage for the Academy International Feature Film category with 〈Decision to Leave〉, but failed to make it to the final nominees.

〈NO OTHER CHOICE〉 was nominated in three categories at the Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Lee Byung-hun), and Best Foreign Language Film, which increased its chances for the Academy, but it could not break through the fierce competition in the International Feature Film category.

This year's final nominees for the International Feature Film category include Kleber Mendonça Filho's 〈Secret Agent〉 (Brazil), Jafar Panahi's 〈It Was Just an Accident〉 (France), Joachim Trier's 〈Sentimental Value〉 (Norway), 〈The Voice of Hind Rachab〉 (Tunisia), and 〈Sinners〉 (Spain).

⬦ U.S. Media Says "Human Perspective and Black Comedy... Oscar Missed Out"

U.S. media pointed to the disqualification of 〈NO OTHER CHOICE〉 as one of the major surprises of the awards ceremony. Hollywood trade publication 'Deadline' evaluated that "this dark comedy directed by Park Chan-wook seemed aimed at the Oscars, but the Academy has once again excluded his work from the list of international feature film nominees."

'Variety' analyzed that "Park Chan-wook's dark social satire received both box office success and critical acclaim, but the competition in this category was particularly fierce this year," adding that "the influence of distributor NEON, which submitted several strong works, was significant." In fact, NEON is responsible for the distribution of four out of the five final nominees.

Gold Derby reported, "Director Park Chan-wook, who has received praise over the years, has once again been excluded from the Oscar nominees," stating that "in the fiercely competitive International Feature Film category, 〈Sinners〉 and 〈The Voice of Hind Rachab〉 emerged at the last minute, pushing Park out."

The Los Angeles Times noted, "Oscar voters have overlooked Park's works in the past, such as 〈Decision to Leave〉 and 〈The Handmaiden〉, but 〈NO OTHER CHOICE〉 seemed poised to break through the Academy's walls with its portrayal of the ugliness of humanity in desperate situations through a human perspective and black comedy," adding that "Park's wait continues."

⬦ 'Wicked' Zero Wins & 'Avatar' Snubbed... Surprises Abound

The biggest surprise in this year's Academy nominee list was that the Hollywood blockbuster musical 〈Wicked: For Good〉 received no nominations in any category. The previous installment, 〈Wicked〉, was nominated in ten categories last year.

Additionally, James Cameron's 〈Avatar: The Way of Water〉 was only nominated in the Costume and Visual Effects categories, failing to make it in major categories like Best Picture, which was also seen as unexpected. The previous two installments of the Avatar series were both nominated for Best Picture.

〈Sinners〉 setting a record with 16 nominations was also noted as one of the major surprises this year.

Meanwhile, Korean-American director Maggie Kang's 〈K-Pop Demon Hunters〉 has met expectations by being nominated in the Best Feature Animation category and for the song 'Golden'.