Kill the Jockey / The Jockey by Luis Ortega has been announced as Argentina’s official entry in the Best International Feature competition at the 97th Academy Awards. The film recently had its world premiere in the Golden Lion competition at the Venice Film Festival and has since screened at the Toronto and San Sebastián Film Festivals.
Ortega’s entry follows the story of Remo (played by Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), the greatest jockey of his generation, whose battle with addiction casts a shadow over his once-glorious career.
Kill the Jockey stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (120 Beats per Minute) as Remo Manfredini, a jockey whose self-destructive tendencies begin to eclipse his talent, jeopardizing both his career and personal life. After a life-threatening accident on race day, he vanishes, embarking on a transformative journey through the city, fleeing from both his identity and a dangerous criminal underworld. The film also features Úrsula Corberó, Mexican actor Daniel Giménez Cacho, and Chilean actress Mariana Di Girólamo.
Argentina has won the Oscar for Best International Feature twice—once in 1986 for Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story / La historia oficial, and again in 2010 for Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in Their Eyes / El secreto en sus ojos—and has garnered eight nominations in total, the most recent being Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985 in 2023.
