Tonight The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released the official list of Best Foreign Language Film Submissions that have qualified for the big show. There are 83 competitors this year, breaking the record by 7 films and in January 11% of those (aka 9 films... I think it really should be 12 each year) will move on to the "finals" from which 5 nominees will be chosen. In a long overdue adjustment to the category the names of the winning film's director will be placed on the statue alongside the country. Previously it was just the country which is silly because nobody would claim that Pedro Almodovar, Ingmar Bergman or Federico Fellini didn't win this category, you know?
The Film Experience's Official Submission Charts, the most comprehensive collection of the nominees on the web, are fully updated with posters, official charts, running times and more.
Pt. 1 Afghanistan through Ethiopia - 25 submissions
Pt. 2 Finland through Nepal -30 submissions
Pt. 3 Peru through Venezuela -28 submissions
READY TO DIG A LITTLE FURTHER?
Let's break those 83 films down further and see what we're really looking at this year. Which countries are submitting for the first time? Which popular countries are STILL waiting for their first win? Are there familiar stars in the mix? Read on to find out...
Marion Cotillard mopes about her Oscar chances - ice cream always soothes the pain
Recognizable Stars
Obviously fame differs incredibly from country to country so this is not meant as a diss on lauded stars of other countries. This is just a list of actors who are either internationally recognized or familiar to the English speaking world.
Sam Riley headlines German speaking DARK VALLEYJavier Camara (from a few Almodovar movies) stars in Spain's entry Living is Easy with Eyes Closed
Brady Corbet and Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones) are in Sweden's great entry Force Majeure
Marion Cotillard (who needs no introduction) leads Belgium's Dardenne Brothers submission Two Days One Night and as per usual she does so brilliantly, subsuming her star glamour to play a desperate woman who's just been fired
David Gulpili (Baz Luhrmann's Australia) leads Australia's Charlie's Country (reviewed)
Sam Riley is the lead of Austria's submission Dark Valley as a stranger who rides into a small village in the Alps (The British star lives in Berlin with his German-speaking actress wife, Alexander Maria Lara)
Gaspard Uliel, Léa Seydoux and Louis Garrell star in Saint Laurent for France (reviewed)
Edgar Ramirez (Carlos, Zero Dark Thirty) headlines Venezuela's The Liberator (Reviewed)
Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors, the recent Star Wars movies) is in New Zealand's The Dead Lands
Tang Wei (Lust Caution) headline's Hong Kong's The Golden Era
Still Waiting To Be Nominated
Will Portugal, Romania, Egypt, The Phillipines, South Korea, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Croatia, Columbia Turkey or Thailand ever get nominations? They're the 11 most regular submittees (31,30,30, 26,26, 25, 23,23, 22, 21 and 21 respectively) that Oscar hasn't honored. Despite continual brush offs they won't give up! Good on them. Endearing Trivia: The Phillipines (26 submissions) actually started started submitting in the very first year of this competition back in 1956 (Italy's La Strada won that year). Of these eleven countries none look particularly likely this year, except for maybe Venezuela's The Liberator if they go old school historical epic in the category though Turkey can brag about it's Palme D'Or for Winter Sleep even if its passed over again.
Can Poland get its first win with the popular IDA?
Still Waiting To Win
Israel, Poland, Mexico, and Belgium are the four clear winners in the Most Losing Derby. All of these countries have been up to bat plenty of times (10,9,8,7 nominations respectively) but haven't yet captured the gold. (Greece and Norway don't quite make this list with 5 nominations and 0 wins each). Watch out for POLAND this year. Ida could well be their first winner. It's high profile. It was a major success in its US release. And it's not particular divisive either. On the other hand it could well feel like old news by the time the Oscars roll around having first premiered on the festival circuit in 2013. Can Music Box Pictures really push it to the win?
Will Oscar voters go for France's glossy stylish (but very gay) biopic?
France vs. Italy
They've been neck and neck as long as this category has existed. Though Italian cinema is currently far less lauded (as a general, not film-specific rule) than French cinema, Italy has more total wins including last year's favorite The Great Beauty. But France has walloped Italy in nominations so its basically a draw as Oscar's favorite foreign country. Will their artistic competition continue this year? France has the jaw-droppingly stylish fashion designer biopic Saint Laurent (reviewed) and Italy has Human Capital a drama about a hit-and-run accident which actually beat The Great Beauty at Italy's own Oscar-like awards.
Xavier Dolan's MOMMY. Is it too young and raw for Oscar?
Nathaniel's Favorite Competitors
With the understanding that it's hard to see all the submissions (I've yet to accomplish it in a given year) I've already seen quite a few and if I had to choose five nominees right now, this would be my ballot.
Argentina Wild Tales (Review) - opening February 2015
Belgium Two Days One Night (Review) - opening December 2014
Cuba Behavior (Review) - no US distribution
Canada Mommy (Review) - opening January 2015
Poland Ida (Capsule) - currently available on DVD
Sweden Force Majeure (Capsule) - opening this month from Magnolia Pictures
OH WAIT, THAT'S SIX. I need more time to decide since they're all special movies in their own ways. If some combo of that six were nominated let me just say that it would, as a group, put whatever ends up in Best Picture to shame. Just sayin'. Of the submissions I have yet to see I am most curious about Hungary's White God, Russia's Leviathan and Switzerland's The Circle.
Latvia's "Rocks in My Pockets" is an imaginative investigation of family and depression
Oddities
Oscar has only ever nominated one animated movie and two documentaries in this category and of those three detours from the norm, two are the same film (Israel's Waltz With Bashir) and the third was just last year (Cambodia's amazing The Missing Picture. Sadly they didn't submit this year). This year only Latvia submitted an animated film (Rocks in My Pocket -reviewed) but there are a few more documentaries or semi-documentaries in the mix from Switzerland (The Circle), Luxembourg (Never Die Young) and Portugal (What Now? Remind Me).
Can Timbuktu be a rare African film to be nominated?
Newbies
There are four countries submitting for the first time: Kosovo, Malta, Mauritania, and Panama. Of those submissions, the one to watch is probably Mauritania's Timbuktu (reviewed) which critics are absolutely wild about and tends to reduce moviegoers to copious tears. That is not a turn off for Oscar. African films very very very rarely win Oscar love but this might be one that does.
COMING UP IN PART TWO
...of LGBT Interest, Best Posters, Best Trailers, and More.
Any Coverage Requests?
Current Predictions
Pt. 1 Afghanistan through Ethiopia - 25 submissions
Pt. 2 Finland through Nepal -30 submissions
Pt. 3 Peru through Venezuela -28 submissions