Croatia Picks God Will Not Help as Its Oscar Entry
Croatia has chosen God Will Not Help as its official entry for the Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards, the Oscar prize for films made in languages other than English. The Hollywood Reporter reported the choice this week, and the film was previously selected as Croatia's submission for the 99th Academy Awards, according to Deadline.
The film is the second feature from Hana Jusic, who wrote and directed it. Her first, Quit Starring at My Plate, came out in 2016. The original Croatian title is Bog Neće Pomoći.
The story is set around 1910 in rural Croatia. Manuela Martelli plays Teresa, a Chilean widow who turns up in a sheep-herding community. She arrives unexpectedly on the doorstep of her dead husband's family. Ana Marija Veselcic plays Milena. Screen Daily describes the film as a slow-burn drama built around Teresa as an enigmatic stranger.
The project has been travelling the festival circuit for more than a year. It was included in the Locarno Film Festival 2025 programme in Switzerland, and it had its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. Kinorama produced the film. It is a co-production between Croatia, Italy, Romania, Greece, France and Slovenia, a mix of partners that is common for European films seeking funding across borders.
Producer Ada Solomon has described the film as peaceful, silent, contemplative and slow-paced. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she framed it around a Chilean woman, which is the setting that gives the story its outsider's view of the village.
Jusic has talked about the film's themes in several interviews. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter at the Sarajevo Film Festival, she discussed female outcasts, rebellion, religion and sheep. She also spoke about the film during a taping of THR Presents, a video interview series run by the same publication.
Martelli has a link to the Oscars this year too. Her film The Meltdown is Chile's candidate for the same category, so two of the film's lead performers are connected to national Oscar campaigns in different countries.
For a general reader, the practical point is simple. Being chosen as a country's entry does not guarantee a nomination. Each year, the Academy narrows the submissions from dozens of countries to a shortlist, and then to the final nominees. Croatia's selection puts the film into that race, and the next stage will decide whether it goes further.
