On September 23, Anica‘s selection committee met and chose “L’Estranea” (“The Outsider”) by Paolo Strippoli, among twenty-one contenders, as Italy’s candidate for the 2027 Oscars in the Best International Feature Film category. The Academy’s selection process will continue over the coming months. The shortlist of 15 international films will be announced on December 15, 2026, followed by the nominations on January 21, 2027. The ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on March 14, 2027.
The Committee’s statement says the film is an innovative genre work by a young, up-and-coming director already praised by audiences and critics in Italy and abroad. Paolo Strippoli, born in 1993, is only 33 years old and is already one of the most compelling directors in contemporary Italian horror cinema, thanks to films such as “A Classic Horror Story“, “Piove“, and “La Valle dei Sorrisi”.
The film centres on Anna, who shows up at her daughter Alice’s home in Rome during a violent storm to confess a secret. Years earlier, to save Alice from a serious accident, Anna had made a pact with a mysterious woman, “the Outsider“: in exchange for Alice’s life, the family would have to endure a series of painful events and losses. The two leads are played by Jasmine Trinca as Anna and Romana Maggiora Vergano as Alice, alongside Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Adriano Giannini.
Following its world premiere at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, “L’Estranea” will hit Italian theatres on October 8, 2026, distributed by 01 Distribution. The production is a collaboration between Propaganda Italia, Dinamo Film, Kazak Productions and Tarantula.
The project received funding from the DGCA, including development grants totalling €61,000 in 2023 and production grants totalling €350,000 in 2025. The production has also applied for a production tax credit.
Photo credit: Harald Krichel via Wikimedia Commons
