Orphan, the Laszlo Nemes directorial which had its world premiere in Venice Film Festival recently, has now been chosen as the official submission from Hungary for the best ‘International Feature Film’ category for the 98th Academy Awards that will take place in early 2026.
Set in the late 1950s, Orphan (original title: Arva) tells the story of a young Jewish boy living in Budapest, growing up with glorified legends from his mother about his dead father, whose life takes a drastic turn when a brutish man arrives at their doorstep, claiming to his actual father. Produced by Nemes alongside Ildiko Kemeny and Ferenc Szale of Pioneer Pictures and Mike Goodridge of Good Chaos, Orphan is Nemes’ third feature film after Son of Saul and Sunset.