The Importance of International Cinema
Park So-dam and Choi Woo-shik in Parasite. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment. At the 92nd Academy Awards on the 9th of February, Bong Joon-ho’s socio-political thriller Parasite made history by becoming the first foreign language film to be awarded the Best Picture Oscar. Bong was the biggest winner of the night, receiving Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Director on top of the prestigious Best Picture, bringing international cinema to the forefront and introducing a new audience to the many phenomenal foreign films in the world today. Every year, a select few international films break through the language barrier and reach a worldwide audience; in 2018 we had Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma , and the year before that, Sebastian Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman ( Una Mujer Fantástica ) claimed the best foreign film Oscar. These films never become major box office hits; their success always comes with the asterisk of being in another language, and they are consider