While it’s futile to analyze the Oscar race in general — especially many months in advance — we do give special credence to a specific section of the Academy Awards: the Best Foreign Language Film submissions. Often one of the few categories during the ceremony that will actually highlight perhaps underseen works, we’re now giving you a chance to get ahead of the game with a full overview.
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 a record 85 countries that have submitted a proper selection. Notable inclusions are Maren Ade‘s Toni Erdmann, Pedro Almodóvar‘s Julieta, Paul Verhoeven‘s Elle, Pablo Larraín‘s Neruda, Asghar Farhadi‘s The Salesman, Cristi Puiu‘s Sieranevada, and more.
As these get pared down by The Academy, and then subsequent finalist lists, all the way to five nominees on January 24th, followed by the winner during the ceremonies on February 26th, check back for coverage. In the meantime, see trailers for all of the selections below, and reviews where available.
Albania – Chromium (Bujar Alimani)
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Algeria – The Well (Lotfi Bouchouchi)
Argentina – The Distinguished Citizen (Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat)
Australia – Tanna (Bentley Dean, Martin Butler)
Austria – Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (Maria Schrader)
Bangladesh – The Unnamed (Tauquir Ahmed)
Belgium – The Ardennes (Robin Pront)
Bolivia – Sealed Cargo (Julia Vargas Weise)
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Death in Sarajevo (Danis Tanovic)
Brazil – Little Secret (David Schurmann)
Bulgaria – Losers (Ivaylo Hristov)
Cambodia – Before the Fall (Ian White)
Canada – It’s Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan)
Chile – Neruda (Pablo Larraín)
China – Xuan Zang (Huo Jianqi)
Colombia – Alias Maria (José Luis Rugeles)
Costa Rica – About Us (Hernán Jiménez)
Croatia – On the Other Side (Zrinko Ogresta)
Cuba – The Companion (Pavel Giroud)
Czech Republic – Lost in Munich (Petr Zelenka)
Denmark – Land of Mine (Martin Zandvliet)
Dominican Republic – Sugar Fields (Fernando Báez)
Ecuador – Such Is Life in the Tropics (Sebastián Cordero)
Egypt – Clash (Mohamed Diab)
Estonia – Mother (Kadri Kõusaar)
Finland – The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (Juho Kuosmanen)
France – Elle (Paul Verhoeven)
Georgia – House of Others (Rusudan Glurjidze)
Germany – Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade)
Greece – Chevalier (Athina Rachel Tsangari)
Hong Kong – Port of Call (Philip Yung)
Hungary – Kills on Wheels (Attila Till)
Iceland – Sparrows (Rúnar Rúnarsson)
India – Interrogation (Vetri Maaran)
Indonesia – Letters from Prague (Angga Dwimas Sasongko)
Iran – The Salesman (Asghar Farhadi)
Iraq – El Clásico (Halkawt Mustafa)
Israel – Sand Storm (Elite Zexer)
Italy – Fire at Sea (Gianfranco Rosi)
Japan – Nagasaki: Memories of My Son (Yoji Yamada)
Jordan – 3000 Nights (Mai Masri)
Kazakhstan – Amanat (Satybaldy Narymbetov)
Kosovo – Home Sweet Home (Faton Bajraktari)
Kyrgyzstan – A Father’s Will (Bakyt Mukul, Dastan Zhapar Uulu)
Latvia – Dawn (Laila Pakalnina)
Lebanon – Very Big Shot (Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya)
Lithuania – Seneca’s Day (Kristijonas Vildziunas)
Luxembourg – Voices from Chernobyl (Pol Cruchten)
Macedonia – The Liberation of Skopje (Rade Šerbedžija, Danilo Šerbedžija)
Malaysia – Beautiful Pain (Tunku Mona Riza)
Mexico – Desierto (Jonás Cuarón)
Montenegro – The Black Pin (Ivan Marinović)
Morocco – A Mile in My Shoes (Said Khallaf)
Nepal – The Black Hen (Min Bahadur Bham)
Netherlands – Tonio (Paula van der Oest)
New Zealand – A Flickering Truth (Pietra Brettkelly)
Norway – The King’s Choice (Erik Poppe)
Pakistan – Mah-e-Mir (Anjum Shahzad)
Palestine – The Idol (Hany Abu-Assad)
Panama – Salsipuedes (Ricardo Aguilar Navarro, Manolito Rodríguez)
Peru – Videophilia (and Other Viral Syndromes) (Juan Daniel F. Molero)
Philippines – Ma’ Rosa (Brillante Ma Mendoza)
Poland – Afterimage (Andrzej Wajda)
Portugal – Letters from War (Ivo M. Ferreira)
Romania – Sieranevada (Cristi Puiu)
Russia – Paradise (Andrei Konchalovsky)
Saudi Arabia – Barakah Meets Barakah (Mahmoud Sabbagh)
Serbia – Train Driver’s Diary (Milos Radovic)
Singapore – Apprentice (Boo Junfeng)
Slovakia – Eva Nová (Marko Skop)
Slovenia – Houston, We Have a Problem! (Žiga Virc)
South Africa – Call Me Thief (Daryne Joshua)
South Korea – The Age of Shadows (Kim Jee-woon)
Spain – Julieta (Pedro Almodóvar)
Sweden – A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm)
Switzerland – My Life as a Zucchini (Claude Barras)
Taiwan – Hang in There, Kids! (Laha Mebow)
Thailand – Karma (Kanittha Kwunyoo)
Turkey – Cold of Kalandar (Mustafa Kara)
Ukraine – Ukrainian Sheriffs (Roman Bondarchuk)
United Kingdom – Under the Shadow (Babak Anvari)
Uruguay – Breadcrumbs (Manane Rodríguez)
Venezuela – From Afar (Lorenzo Vigas)
Vietnam – Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass (Victor Vu)
Yemen – I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced (Khadija Al-Salami)
What is your pick to win?