Teixeira: International Films Will Dominate Best Picture — SkimNews
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- Rodrigo Teixeira predicted at San Sebastian's Creative Investors' Conference that international films will comprise 60% of Best Picture nominees within five years, up from the current 3-4 per year
- Teixeira attributed the shift to greater freedom of speech outside the U.S., claiming American films are now 'difficult to get financed' at home
- "I'm Still Here" grossed over $36 million on a $9 million budget — the highest-grossing Brazilian film since COVID — and won Best International Feature at the 2025 Oscars, with Fernanda Torres also nominated for Best Actress
- Teixeira framed "I'm Still Here" as part of a Brazilian cinema wave responding to the 'very hardcore, right-wing' Bolsonaro government, calling the film 'an act of hope' that 'changed the self-esteem of the country'
- RT Films' upcoming slate includes James Gray's next project, Mia Hansen-Love's Mary Wollstonecraft biopic "If Love Should Die" starring Renate Reinsve, and a debut feature from an unnamed U.S. filmmaker
- Teixeira recently brought Gray's "Paper Tiger" to Cannes competition and Dominga Sotomayor's "La Perra," which won the Palm Dog Award at Directors' Fortnight
Why it matters: Teixeira's prediction, if accurate, would mark the most dramatic Best Picture shift in decades, with his own $36 million grossing 'I'm Still Here' serving as a concrete proof point that international films can compete both critically and commercially. His framing — that U.S. financing constraints on edgy scripts are ceding the awards stage to the rest of the world — puts pressure on American producers and financiers watching capital and recognition flow outward.
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