Although Liu Zhou is beginning preparations to make a run at the Oscars, Aftershock is clearly unsuitable and has little chance of success.
Best Picture at the Oscars is out of the question, and Best Foreign Language Film is nearly impossible. For all these years, the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film has never been awarded to a commercial blockbuster with heavy special effects; they are almost exclusively art-house films.
Therefore, the failure of Hero to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film was not some conspiracy theory—it simply wasn't selected. As for The Promise—
Chapter 561