While the awards talk already this season has been discussed ad nauseam, we do give special credence to a specific section of the Academy Awards: the Best Foreign Language Film submissions. As close as cinema gets to a World Cup or Olympics, each country is able to submit their choice to compete for the award, with a few guidelines. Notably, each film must have been released in its respective country from October 1st of the previous year to September 30th of this year.
With that date recently passing, The Academy has confirmed 83 countries that have submitted a selection and today we are going to take a look at them all. Notable inclusions are Palme D’Or winner Winter Sleep, Pawel Pawlikowski‘s Ida, Xavier Dolan‘s Mommy, the Dardennes‘ Two Days, One Night, and Ruben Östlund‘s Force Majeure, while Mauritania submitted for the first time ever with Abderrahmane Sissako‘s Timbuktu, and Panama and Kosovo also with Invasion and Three Windows and a Hanging, respectively.
As these get initially pared down by The Academy, and then subsequent finalist lists, all the way to five nominees in January, followed by the winner during the ceremonies, check back for coverage. In the meantime, see trailers for (almost) all 83 films below, and reviews where available.
Afghanistan – A Few Cubic Meters of Love – Jamshid Mahmoudi
Argentina – Wild Tales – Damián Szifrón
Austria – The Dark Valley – Andreas Prochaska
Australia – Charlie’s Country – Rolf de Heer
Azerbaijan – Nabat – Elchin Musaoglu
Bangladesh – Glow of the Firefly – Khalid Mahmud Mithu
Belgium – Two Days, One Night – Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Bolivia – Olvidados – Carlos Bolado
Bosnia and Herzegovina – With Mom – Faruk Lončarević
No trailer available.
Brazil – The Way He Looks – Daniel Ribeiro
Bulgaria – Bulgarian Rhapsody – Ivan Nitchev
Canada – Mommy – Xavier Dolan
China – The Nightingale – Philippe Muyl
Chile – To Kill a Man – Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Colombia – Mateo – Maria Gamboa
Costa Rica – Red Princesses – Laura Astorga
Croatia – Cowboys – Tomislav Mršić
Cuba – Conducta – Ernesto Daranas Serrano
Czech Republic – Fair Play – Andrea Sedláčková
Denmark – Sorrow and Joy – Nils Malmros
Dominican Republic – Cristo Rey – Leticia Tonos
Ecuador – Silence in Dreamland – Tito Molina
Egypt – The Factory Girl – Mohamed Khan
Estonia – Tangerines – Zaza Urushadze
Finland – Concrete Night – Pirjo Honkasalo
France – Saint Laurent – Bertrand Bonello
Georgia – Corn Island – Giorgi Ovashvili
Germany – Beloved Sisters – Dominik Graf
Greece – Little England – Pantelis Voulgaris
Hong Kong – The Golden Era – Ann Hui
Hungary – White God – Kornél Mundruczó
Iceland – Life in a Fishbowl – Baldvin Zophoníasson
India – Liar’s Dice – Geetu Mohandas
Indonesia – Soekarno – Hanung Bramantyo
Iran – Today – Reza Mirkarimi
Iraq – Mardan – Batin Ghobadi
No trailer available.
Ireland – The Gift – Tommy Collins
Israel – Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem – Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
Italy – Human Capital – Paolo Virzì
Japan – The Light Shines Only There – Mipo Oh
Kosovo – Three Windows and a Hanging – Isa Qosja
Kyrgyzstan – Kurmanjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains – Sadyk Sher-Niyaz
Latvia – Rocks in My Pockets – Signe Baumane
Lebanon – Ghadi – Amin Dora
Lithuania – The Gambler – Ignas Jonynas
Luxembourg – Never Die Young – Pol Cruchten
Malta – Simshar – Rebecca Cremona
Macedonia – To the Hilt – Stole Popov
Mauritania – Timbuktu – Abderrahmane Sissako
Mexico – Cantinflas – Sebastian del Amo
Moldova – The Unsaved – Igor Cobileanski
Montenegro – The Boys from Marx and Engels Street – Nikola Vukčević
Morocco – The Red Moon – Hassan Benjelloun
Nepal – Jhola – Yadavkumar Bhattarai
Netherlands – Accused – Paula van der Oest
New Zealand – The Dead Lands – Toa Fraser
Norway – 1001 Grams – Bent Hamer
Pakistan – Dukhtar – Afia Nathaniel
Palestine – Eyes of a Thief – Najwa Najjar
No trailer available.
Panama – Invasion – Abner Benaim
Peru – The Gospel of the Flesh – Eduardo Mendoza de Echave
Philippines – Norte, the End of History – Lav Diaz
Poland – Ida – Paweł Pawlikowski
Portugal – What Now? Remind Me – Joaquim Pinto
Romania – The Japanese Dog – Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
Russia – Leviathan – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Serbia – See You in Montevideo – Dragan Bjelogrlić
Singapore – My Beloved Dearest – Sanif Olek
Slovakia – A Step Into the Dark – Miloslav Luther
Slovenia – Seduce Me – Marko Šantić
South Africa – Elelwani – Ntshavheni wa Luruli
South Korea – Sea Fog – Shim Sung-bo
Spain – Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed – David Trueba
Sweden – Force Majeure – Ruben Östlund
Switzerland – The Circle – Stefan Haupt
Taiwan – Ice Poison – Midi Z
Thailand – Teacher’s Diary – Nithiwat Tharathorn
Turkey – Winter Sleep – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Ukraine – The Guide – Oles Sanin
United Kingdom – Little Happiness – Nihat Seven
Uruguay – Mr. Kaplan – Álvaro Brechner
Venezuela – The Liberator – Alberto Arvelo
Which films are you most looking forward to seeing? Which feature do you believe will win?