Variety announces The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has whittled down its foreign-language contenders to nine semi-finalists. The five nominees will be announced, along with other categories, on Jan. 22.
Austria, “Revanche” (Gotz Spielmann, director)
Canada, “The Necessities of Life” (Benoit Pilon, director)
France, “The Class” (Laurent Cantet, director)
Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Uli Edel, director)
Israel, “Waltz with Bashir” (Ari Folman, director)
Japan, “Departures” (Yojiro Takita, director)
Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out” (Roberto Sneider, director)
Sweden, “Everlasting Moments” (Jan Troell, director)
Turkey, “3 Monkeys” (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director)
No Gomorrah? Really? It’s one of the highest-rated foreign films of the year, and aside from Let The Right One In, my favorite.
What do you think of the shortlist?