A modern take on Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Antigone, is Canada’s selection for the Best International Feature Category to the 92nd Academy Awards.
The French language drama, by writer and director Sophie Deraspe focuses on the treatment of immigrants in Montreal through the story of a young woman’s search for justice.
The film, revolves around Antigone, whose life as a Canadian refugee and immigrant is turned upside down when one of her brothers is wrongfully killed during a drug arrest, and another is taken into custody.
As the protagonist played by newcomer actress Nahema Ricci confronts the police, she finds herself against the entire judicial and penal system. In her strive to prove the truth and free her brother, she is forced to defy the laws of men and become a warrior of love and solidarity.
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“Bringing Antigone to the Oscar race is not only a huge honor. It’s also a way for me to highlight the values of empathy, artistry and integrity, which Canadian films exemplify so well,” Deraspe said in a statement.
“Antigone is also a film about values — values of sympathy, integrity, love. I feel proud of … campaigning not only for film, for the art of filmmaking, but also those values.”
“It’s about a young woman who has no power in terms of what power is in our world … and she stands against authority because of what she believes. That’s what the film wants to carry — that OK, there’s this big system above us, but we are those that are powerful deep inside.”
The ensemble cast for Antigone includes, Nour Belkhiria, Rawad El-Zein, Rachida Oussaada, Antoine Desrochers, Paul Doucet and Nathalie Tanous.
Antigone premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last week, won the $30,000 Canada Goose Award for best Canadian feature film.
Out of the 62 films submitted so far, a short list of 10 films for the Oscars will be unveiled on 16 December, and the chosen five official nominees will be announced on 13 January 2020.