The Five Films Nominated for International Feature at this year's Oscars wrangle with some

tough ideas and issues.

There's the brutality of war, the human cost of fascism, animal cruelty, neglectful parenting

and the prison of masculinity.

Get all of these films find room to offer glimmers of hope, some more than others.

I'm Aisha Harris.

And I'm Glenn Weldon and today we're bringing you a guide to this year's Oscar-nominated

International Features on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

It's just the two of us today so let's get right into it.

You know Aisha, when we were divvying up categories between the four of us, I win and

snaked international features early because I always thought, you know, the documentaries

historically, they're bummers.

Did we dodge a bullet?

Clearly not because man are these bummers too.

Well, remains to be seen.

Let's put it that way.

First up is Poland's entry.

EO is a film told from the point of view of a donkey who gets rescued from his life in

a rundown circus, and then makes his way through Poland and Italy, having a series of adventures

that expose him to the best and the worst, but mostly the worst of humanity.

It's directed by Yurza Skomolowski and its streaming on the Criterion channel and available

to rent on various platforms.

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