Best Foreign Language Film
The Official Submission List
Albania to France / Georgia to The Netherlands / Norway to Vietnam
Once upon a time The Film Experience was virtually the only website that compiled all this information. Now, virtually every awards site and many random movie sites cover the foreign language film submissions as they are announced. I'm no longer the soul source of info for this category -- something that fills me with both joy (people are paying attention...) and panicky melancholy (...and they don't have to pay attention to me to do it!) -- but I still compile them in the most comprehensive chart for the ease of your reference. Information herein is culled from all over the web, official sites, trades, e-mails from international readers and film professionals and my own research.
Related: Google map of this category | Oscar records by country |2008 Foreign Language Race
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Netherlands to Vietnam |
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Norway |
Peru never nominated The Milk of Sorrow Claudia Llosa |
Poland 8 noms / 0 wins Rewers (The Reverse) Borys Lankosz |
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details 95 min (Spanish, Quecha) genre Allegorial Post War Drama starring Magaly Solier, Susi Sánchez, Efraín Solís, Marino Ballón and Antolín Prieto synopsis women suffer from a disease brought on by breastfeeding after rape and abuse during the war misc winner of the Berlin Film Festival -Tilda Swinton presided |
details ... min (Filippino, Tagalog) genre comedy starring ... synopsis ... misc the last Philippine entry I saw (Crying Ladies) was also a comedy about death. Is that a popular genre there? runners up: In My Life by Olive Lamasan, Lola by Dante Mendoza and Jay by ??? were the 3 other finalists also not selected: Pitik Bulag, Kamoteng Kahoy, The Last Viewing , Concerto , Baler, Bente and 100 |
details ? min (Polish) genre black comedy starring Krystyna Jandra (Wajda's actress) & Agata Buzek (daughter of Jerzy Buzek, President of European Parliament) synopsis A thirtysomething woman has both mom and grandma playing matchmaker. One day she meets a man that changes everything for all three women. Set in the 1950s Stalinist terror period. misc director's narrative feature debut not selected Katarzyna Rosianiec's Mall Girls (about prostitution) and Wojciech Smarzowski's The Dark House, a murder mystery involving the communist milita |
details 81 min (Portuguese) genre ? starring Rafael Morais, Tomás Alves, Willion Brandão and Catarina Wallenstein synopsis ? misc ? |
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Puerto
Rico 1 nomination Kabo and Platon Edmundo H Rodriguez |
Romania never nominated Politist, Adjectiv (Police, Adjective) Corneliu Prumboiu |
Russia 13 noms / 4 wins Palata N°6" (Ward No. 6) Karen Shakhnazarov and Aleksandr Gornovsky Official Site |
Serbia never nominated Sveti Georgije Ubiva Azdagydahu (St. George Shoots the Dragon) Srdjan Dragojevic Official Site |
Slovakia never nominated Nedodrzany Slub (Broken Promise) Jirí Chlumsky |
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Films December 23rd, 2009 |
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details min (Spanish) genre ... starring ... synopsis ... misc ... |
details 115 min (Romanian) genre comedy starring Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu, Ion Stoica synopsis a surveillance cop has a crisis of faith while trailing a teen who may be selling pot misc ? |
details 83 min (Russian) genre drama starring Vladimir Ilyin, Aleksei Vertkov, Yevgeni Stychkin synopsis based on a Chekhov short story about a psychiatrist who becomes a psychiatric patient "how easy it is to become what we fear most" misc ? |
details min () genre WW I, folktale starring Lazar Ristovski, Natasa Janjic, Milutin Milosevic, Bora Todorovic and Milena Dravic synopsis Disabled men are pushed into the front lines of war when able-bodied soldiers suspect their wives are being seduced at home misc apparently having a rough go with the press at home due to actors not being paid (?) originally announced Here and There directed by Darko Lungulov Official Site starring Cyndi Lauper (yes really) but too much of it was in English so they switched it out for this film, which was very nearly their nominee anyway (lost by one vote) |
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Spain 19 noms / 4 wins The Dancer and the Thief Fernando Trueba |
Sweden |
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details 90 min (Slovenian) genre crime thriller starring Marko Mandic, Slobodan Custic, Barbara Cerar and Janez Hocevar synopsis While stealing a painting, two burglars discover damning documents from World War II misc this is the director's second film |
details 93 min (Afrikaans, Zulu, English, Xhosa) genre roadtrip comedy starring Mbulelo Grootboom, Zandile Msutwana, Kenneth Nkosi and Josie Whitaker (Venus) synopsis a groom and his best man take a road trip headed towards the bride. Things go awry misc ? |
details 127 min (Spanish) genre Drama starring Ricardo Darin (he also stars in Argentina's submission), Abel Ayala, Miranda Bodenhofer, Ariadna Gil (Pan's Labyrinth) synopsis An imaginative young boy and a famous thief struggle to rebuild their lives. When they meet Victoria, a female dancer, their plans change. misc Trueba won the Oscar in 1994 for Belle Epoque Not selected Pedro Almodovar's Volver follow up Broken Embraces and the two official finalists: Isabel Coixet's Map of the Sounds of Tokyo and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo's Fats (Gordos). |
details ... genre ... starring ... synopsis ... misc Based on a prize winning novel not selected Previously Akasa Kusum or Flowers in the Sky was announced as their submission? It's by the same director but it doesn't seem to be the same film with a different title. |
details 98 min (Swedish) genre ? starring Villmar Björkman, Linnea Cart-Lamy, Leif Edlund, Sara Eriksson, Lola Ewerlund, Olla Liljas and Maria Lundqvist synopsis five peer pressure themed stories misc very popular award winner in Sweden |
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Switzerland 5 noms / 2 wins Home Ursula Meier |
Turkey |
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Zeitgeist
Films now playing |
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details 98 min (French) genre Familial Drama starring ISABELLE HUPPERT and Olivier Gourmet (Le Fils) synopsis Highway construction disrupts a family in a rural town misc ... |
details 85 min (Taiwanese) genre Familial Drama starring Chen Wen-pin and Chao Yu-Hsuan synopsis A poor man's daughter is taken away from him once the government learns of their illegal living conditions misc The director Leon Dai is best known as an actor. further reading about Dai and a review |
details 118 min (Thai) genre romance starring Arak Amornsupasiri, Yarinda Boonnak, Sunsanee Wattananukul and Krit Sethamrong synopsis Two stories about never forgetting your first love. A man takes up with his friend's ex wife and a family disapproves of an elderly couple's golden years romance misc ... |
details 120 min (Turkish) genre drama starring huge ensemble cast synopsis The story of three families in Istanbul over 25 years, all affected by the forced migration policies misc ... |
details 88 min (Dari, Pashto, English) genre drama starring n/a synopsis a look at Afghan Star, the equivalent to American Idol and the way Afghanistan has responded to a democratic talent contest misc ... |
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Vietnam |
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details 100 min (Spanish, English) genre ... starring Gary Piquer (Orsini) and Jouko Ahola (Jacob) --who starred in Werner Herzog's Invincible -- and César Troncoso (XXY) synopsis Strong Man Jacob and his manager Orsini organize wrestling exhibitions in South American. Things change for their act in Santa Maria... misc Based on a short story by Juan Carlos Onetti not selected: Gigante (Giant) --the official voting body is ASOPROD |
details 110 min (...) genre comedy starring Rafael Gil (Libertador), Alba Valvé, Yugui Lopez, Jose Manuel Suarez and Alberto Paisa Gonzalez synopsis a father takes a mototaxi job and becomes a hero protecting citizens at night not selected The Virgin Negra a Chocolat-like story of a magical town starring Carmen Maura, Un Lugar Lejano, Venezzia, a fictional WWII story, and Macuro misc I've received a few e-mails about this one arguing about its merits and the politics of its selection. It's good when there's debate about a selection: it means people are passionate about the movies. |
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