Argentina is backing Luis Ortega’s equestrian-themed surreal comedy-thriller Kill the Jockey for the 2025 Oscar race in the best international feature category.
The film, which premiered in Venice, features BPM star Nahuel Pérez Biscayart as Remo Manfredini, a troubled jockey who begins to question his masculine identity shifts after a serious accident on the track. When he disappears from the hospital and wanders the streets of Buenos Aires, trying to discover who he is truly meant to be, he is pursued by mobster boss Sirena (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), to whom he is deep in debt, and who wants Remo found, dead or alive.
A mash-up of psychological thriller and comedy of manners, with a heavy dose of surrealist camp, the film will be a unique Academy Award entry this season.
Kill the Jockey was produced by Ortega and Esteban Perroud via their production label El Despacho together with Rei Pictures’ Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli and Matías Roveda; Infinity Hill’s Axel Kuschevatzky and Cindy Teperman; Warner Music Entertainment’s Charlie Cohen and Exile’s Nando Vila and Paz Lázaro. Benicio Del Toro is among the executive producers.
Protagonist Pictures is handling world sales on the project.
Argentina has been nominated eight times for the best international feature Academy Award — most recently for Santiago Mitre’s political drama Argentina, 1985 in 2022 — and has won the Oscar twice.
The shortlist for best international feature contenders will be unveiled on Dec. 17. Nominations will be announced Jan. 17, 2025. The 2025 Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2.
