Oscars Expand Shortlist For International Film Contenders To 15, Eliminate Executive Committee “Saves”

deadline.com:

In another move due to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic, sources tell Deadline that there are some key changes to the process of shortlisting potential nominees for the International Feature Film category (formerly Best Foreign Language Film).Instead of the main committee of volunteers from all branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences choosing their seven top picks, with the much smaller International Film Executive Committee then adding three more titles — thus creating a shortlist of 10 films to later be pared to the actual five nominees in the category — the main committee will now be doing all the work in phase one of the voting for the year, with an expanded lineup of their top 15 choices ostensibly