Three TRT co-productions in the race for Oscar 2027: Turkey with “Like a Limbless Tree”, Japan with Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden”

Three films co-produced by the Turkish public broadcaster TRT have officially entered the race for best international feature film at the 99th Academy Awards, after being selected as national submissions by France, Turkey and Japan, as Bosphorus News reported on October 4.

Japan has chosen Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of a Sudden” — the second time the director represents his country in this category, after the historic win with “Drive My Car” in 2022, the first Japanese film ever also nominated for best picture. The three-hour drama, a France–Japan–Germany–Belgium co-production shot in French and Japanese, screened in the official competition of the 2026 Cannes Festival, where Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto shared the best actress prize. The company NEON will release the film in U.S. cinemas on November 25, after screenings at the Toronto and New York festivals.

Turkey has selected Tunç Davut’s “Kesilmiş Bir Ağaç Gibi” (“Like a Limbless Tree”). The film had its world premiere at the 62nd Antalya Film Festival in October 2025, then screened at the Bosphorus and Ankara festivals, where editor Naim Kanat took the best editing prize at the Bosphorus.

The TRT trio is completed by Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur”, winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, which France had earlier chosen as its submission. According to TRT’s statement, all three films will compete in the international feature category at the 99th Oscars ceremony, held in March 2027.