As we get closer to the end of 2024 and various critics and voting bodies collate their year-end lists and ballots, the question of what is eligible for such selection often crops up. It’s become common practice for distributors to give a quiet, one-week awards-qualifying run divorced from the standard promotion a theatrical rollout will earn, instead saving that for a window early the following year.
To help keep better track of these releases, we’ve started a feature detailing films designated in this category. As we begin our year-end coverage in the coming months, here at The Film Stage we consider any feature that receives a one-week qualifying run in a U.S. theater to be a release in that year, so expect a number of these to be featured soon.
Check out the list, in chronological order based on the qualifying run, below. If you are a reader and spot a film getting a quiet awards-qualifying run or a distributor that would like your film to be considered for this list, reach out to [email protected] or @TheFilmStage.
Universal Language (Matthew Rankin)
Qualifying Run: Oct. 18-24 at Alpine Brooklyn in NYC
Theatrical Release: February 2025
No Other Land (Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor)
Qualifying Run: Nov. 1-7 at Film at Lincoln Center in NYC
Theatrical Release: Currently without distribution
Hard Truths (Mike Leigh)
Qualifying Run: Dec. 6-12 at Film at Lincoln Center in NYC
Theatrical Release: Opens Jan. 10
The Last Showgirl (Gia Coppola)
Qualifying Run: Dec. 13-19 in LA
Theatrical Release: Opens Jan. 10
Additional qualifying runs:
- Better Man (Dec. 25; releases Jan. 17)
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Dec. TBD; on Netflix Jan. 3)
- The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (TBD; releases February TBD)
While these aren’t qualifying runs, here are a handful of films getting limited runs beginning in late December and will expand through January:
- The Room Next Door (Dec. 20)
- The Brutalist (Dec. 20)
- Vermiglio (Dec. 25)
- Santosh (Dec. 27)
Be sure to bookmark this page as we’ll update as new qualifying runs and late-December releases are added.