Italy has selected Paolo Strippoli’s The Spiral (L’Estranea) as its candidate for the Best International Feature Film at the 99th Oscars. The drama, which world premiered in Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, stars Jasmine Trinca as a woman who arrives at her daughter’s apartment during a storm to confess a lie that will undermine the family’s foundation and their relationship as it comes out in the open.
Trinca is joined in the cast by Romana Maggiora Vergano, Adriano Giannini and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. It is Strippoli’s fourth film after award-winning The Holy Boy (2025), Flowing (2022) and A Classic Horror Story (2021). The Spiral is lead produced by Marina Marzotto and Mattia Oddone at Rome-based Propaganda with Rai Cinema, in co-production with France’s Paris-based Kazak Productions, Belgium’s Tarantula and Italy’s Bari-based Dinamo Film.
