Thai film makes Best International Feature Oscar shortlist

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From the Straits Times

Thai tear-jerker How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has made the shortlist in the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards, it was announced in Los Angeles on Dec 17. 

The film that became a sensation in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia joins 14 other non-English-language films on the shortlist.

The family drama about a cancer-stricken grandmother (Usha Seamkhum) and her scheming grandson (Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul) is the first Thai movie to make the Oscars shortlist in the Best International Feature Film category, formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film.

It is also the only title from Asia among the top 15 picks. The entry from the United Kingdom, Santosh, is a Hindi-language film set in rural India.

Singapore’s entry to the category, La Luna, a Malay-language comedy-drama directed by Singaporean film-maker M. Raihan Halim, failed to make the cut.

The remaining contenders in the category are I’m Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), Waves (Czech Republic), The Girl With The Needle (Denmark), Emilia Perez (France), The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Germany), Touch (Iceland), Kneecap (Ireland), Vermiglio (Italy), Flow (Latvia), Armand (Norway), From Ground Zero (Palestine) and Dahomey (Senegal). 

The film is the box-office champion of 2024 in its home country and has earned nearly US$50 million (S$67 million) globally. 

In Singapore, it grossed $5.86 million, making it the highest-earning Thai film of all time and the highest-grossing Asian title of 2024.

Across South-east Asia, the film has set box-office records for a Thai production. It is also an outlier in the Thai film industry, a regional powerhouse known for its horror and comedy exports.