Netflix vs. Neon: An Oscar Showdown Starts Now

With the New York Film Festival finally over (if it feels like it had been going on for weeks, it had — press and industry screenings started while the Toronto International Film Festival was still running) and regional festivals in Middleburg, Virginia (see you there!) and Montclair, New Jersey ahead this week (catch Christopher Rosen on Sunday), there’s no better time to look at the international feature race. So let me start with a simple question, before we dive into the field and hear from our beloved Prestige Junkie pundits: Can you even have an international feature Oscar race without Neon?

Barely a decade old, the distributor co-founded by Tom Quinn has already won twice in the category — in 2020 for Parasite and this year with Sentimental Value — among 10 overall nominations. But even that doesn’t tell the whole story: At this year’s Oscars in March, four of the five nominees came from Neon — with a fifth movie, No Other Choice, likely just missing.

That’s absurd, but it’s not even the company’s biggest flex.