Uruguay has become the first Latin American country to announce its candidate for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025. The South American nation has selected the documentary film The Door Is There / Hay una puerta ahí as its 23rd submission.
The debut feature by Juan Ponce de Leon and Facundo Ponce de León depicts the beginning of a friendship between two men, with one helping the other to die. Over the course of nine months, Fernando and Enric, who were unable to meet due to the pandemic, communicated through electronic devices, discussing pain, humor, family, friends, ideas, beliefs, life, and the end.
The film, a co-production between Uruguay’s Mueca Films and Spain’s A Contracorriente Films, premiered in the Made in Spain section at the San Sebastian Film Festival last year and was also screened at the Malaga Film Festival.
Uruguay received a nomination in 1992 for Adolfo Aristarain's A Place In The World, but it was later revoked after an investigation revealed that the production was predominantly Argentine.
