Official Foreign Film Submission Oscar Charts. Plus Trailers
Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 11:10AM 
Twenty-one Official Submissions for the 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar race have been announced! That's just under a third of the list given the usual amount of submissions but things are already weird and wild with a colorful LGBT drama (Xenia from Greece), a disaster movie (The Wave from Norway), more documentaries than usual already including animated and 3D offerings (Palestine, Switzerland, and Panama), alongside your more usual type of competitor like World War II focused entries (Germany and Hungary, which I'm currently predicting for nominations) and historical epics (South Korea)
The foreign film charts are a major project each year behind the scenes and we're so proud to have raised the profile of this awards category over the past 15 years. The Film Experience was literally the first website to cover it in detail (all the way back to our humble beginnings) and slowly but surely the fever spread. As did all things Oscar. Now, everyone does it! It's no longer "ours" so to speak -- not that one can own an Oscar topic -- but we're still justified in feeling the pride of original adoption. And if we don't pat ourselves on the back who will since we get no damn respect from the larger online film culture. Ahem.
Greece's XENIA and South Korea's THE THRONE
MAIN FOREIGN FILM PAGE
• Current Predictions and All Time Stats & Trivia on This Category
SUBMISSION CHARTS
• Afghanistan through Estonia
Will Brazil send The Second Mother? Will Argentina send festival-premiering crime drama The Clan? Info on Official entries from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, and Croatia.
• Ethiopia through The Netherlands
Mexico has a 14 film shortlonglist. Info on official entries from Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Luxembourg
• New Zealand through Vietnam
Speculation on The Philippines. Info on official entries from Norway, Palestine, Panama, Romania, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and Venezuela
AFTER THE JUMP... TRAILERS FOR 16 OF THE 21 SUBMISSIONS (THE ONES I COULD FIND) IF YOU'RE INTERESTED
AUSTRIA'S GOODNIGHT MOMMY
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA'S OUR EVERYDAY LIFE
CHINA'S WOLF TOTEM
CROATIA'S THE HIGH SUN
FINLAND'S THE FENCER
GREECE'S XENIA
HUNGARY'S SON OF SAUL
SON OF SAUL / SAUL FIA - Trailer from laokoon on Vimeo.
IRAQ'S MEMORIES ON STONE
LUXEMBOURG'S BABY (A) LONE
NORWAY'S THE WAVE
PALESTINE'S THE WANTED 18
PANAMA'S BOX 25
SOUTH KOREA'S THE THRONE
SWEDEN'S A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE
SWITZERLAND'S IRAQI ODYSSEY
Iraqi Odyssey Trailer ENGLISH from Iraqi Odyssey on Vimeo.
VENEZUELA'S GONE WITH THE RIVER
Lo que lleva el río (Gone with the river) from mario crespo.filmaker.cubano on Vimeo.
Reader Comments (23)
This has become one of my favorite features on TFE. Thank you!
Iraqi Odyssey!!!!! One of the two best movies I saw last year, period. So glad to see it resurface! Bet it won't get nominated but sure hope it does. Andersson would be such a delight, and maybe on the edge of possibility if the Dogtooth crowd gets behind it?
I found Xenia strained and misshapen, despite its interesting and culturally specific take on camp, but was on a jury that otherwise loved it across the board. So I want to say it's a nonfactor here, but who can say.
On China's submission: "Mountains May Depart" could have been too "English language" movie for the "foreign" Oscar because the third part of this film takes place in Australia.
I also love this feature and am always amazed at how quick your updates are.
Interesting guess for Hong Kong. We don't really have a big obvious choice (read: Ann Hui or Wong Kar-Wai), so I am guessing one of the following 3:
Little Big Master (Adrian Kwan) -- huge local sensation about a kindergarten principal
To the Fore (Dante Lam) -- Cycling drama. Lam was probably be selected with Unbeatable if it was not for Grandmaster.
Office (Johnnie To) -- film's going to Toronto; Johnnie To is still frequently submitted, even bypassing films from the actual calendar year of 2012 with Life without Principle.
Ooh, I was already intrigued by "Goodnight Mommy"; seems like a very atypical Oscar contender.
Small correction: you list Cambodia as having never been nominated, but it actually got its first nomination two years ago with The Missing Picture.
A few more thoughts:
I think Chile will submit The Club, about priests suspected of sexual abuse. It's apparently a difficult watch, but they've submitted Pablo Larrain twice before, and his last submission (No) got nominated.
I'd be surprised if Taiwan went for anything other than The Assassin. It might not get nominated, but it's extremely high-profile and acclaimed.
Will the U.K. submit Stephen Daldry's Trash? I don't know how much of that movie is actually in Portuguese, or whether anyone thinks the movie is actually any good, but the U.K. can't have that many options.
Denmark released their shortlist today, and surprisingly enough, Billie August wasn't there. The shortlisted titles are Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence, Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chickens, and Tobias Lindholm's A War. I assume Lindholm is the favorite here, unless Denmark wants to make up for not submitting Oppenheimer's last doc.
Just saw the chart and I was so thrilled by seen Paraguay on the list!
The film Cloudy Times (Tiempo Nublado) sadly I couldn't see yet, but only hear raves from every person who saw it.
You deserve all the respect in the world, Nat. NO ONE covers this as well as you do, and I'd bet other sites that cover it have your charts bookmarked ;)
Ann -- i don't know what to make of Larrain since i HATED Tony Manero but LOVED No... so... i'm schizophrenic with him thus far. thanks for noting Cambodia. i knew this of course - loved Missing Picture ! -- but so easy to make booboos on templates.
Chatan -- are you from Paraguay? if so do you know the other 3 films they were thinking about? i can't find the titles.
Is the US eligible to submit a Foreign Language film? And have we ever?
Paul - we are not, no. I believe the subject has been broached a couple of times -- i remember chatter around Mel Gibson movies and their dead languages and Eastwood's Iwo Jima -- but it's a no.
I don't think Australia will be submitting this year. Not based on insider knowledge, but on the lack of foreign language movies that have come out. There was a fair amount of Sherpa language in the documentary SHERPA, but I'm not sure if there is enough. (I thought PARTISAN, a drama about child assassins set in an unspecified (probably Eastern European) country, might be, but I think that was mainly in English (plus it was ordinary beyond belief, apart from it's cinematography) so it wouldn't get far).)
Nat, according to the local news, there were five films in the running. Tiempo nublado (selected), Costa Dulce, Lunas de Cigarras, Latas Vacias and Mangore.
Tiempo Nublado was the best reviewed. Luna de cigarras and Latas Vacias were good enough. Costa Dulce is probably the one has heard of it. Then Mangore about the most famous paraguayan guitarrist in the world, te most expensive film ever made in this country, killed by critics. Oddly, all of them(besides Costa Dulce) got standard comercial teatrical release, but Cloudy Times only got a one week arthouse release. t
A small update from Southeast Asia :)
I saw Cambodia's THE LAST REEL last week in Bangkok ASEAN film festival showcasing films from countries in the region. I love its subject which is about the golden era of pre-Khmer rouge Cambodian cinema and how the war affected the industry, the people and the country. It's heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. It will be released in Cambodia later this month which is just in time to qualify. I hope they submit it even though I guess it won't be a big player in the race.
I also saw Myanmar's GOLDEN KINGDOM and Vietnam's BIG FATHER, SMALL FATHER AND OTHER STORIES, both of which screened at Berlinale this year (Big Father was in main Competition). They would be interesting representatives of their countries but unfortunately I don't have information about their release date in home. Golden Kingdom, which is about 4 little monks living alone in the monastery far away in the forest is actually directed by American. I don't know if the recently-opened country like Myanmar (which I believe has no film industry) would care to consider participating. Big Father's tone and storytelling style is not unlike Apichatpong Weerasethakul's work where sensual visual and mood are more important than narrative. It's about the lives of many blue-collars during the change of economic and social landscape of Vietnam (mainly Saigon) in the 90s.
For Thailand, there're 2 LGBT-related films in contention (based on my hunch and critical consensus at home) called HOW TO WIN AT CHECKERS (EVERYTIME) and THE BLUE HOUR, both screened at Berlinale in Panorama section. If the committee pick any of them, I'll be very happy. Checkers is a coming-of-age tale of 2 brothers after one of them got drafted by military. The Blue Hour is inspired by actual events of a dangerous relationship of two teens which lead to homicidal consequences. This one is a beautiful nightmare.
I don't think movies from my country will ever be nominated any time soon but I really do hope they select well. Sometimes they just go with big local studio productions or prestige period films which are quite embarrasing choices. Our best bet a few years back was Apichatpong's Uncle Boonmee which is as high profile as we get but again we didn't make it :( His latest film CEMETARY OF SPLENDOUR is rumoured to be banned in Thailand so that's sad we don't even get a proper theatrical release in home.
Thank you so much for this coverage!
I didn't realize this was France's longest dry spell ever.... Already 6 years since A Prophet! I think we'll submit Jacques Audiard again with Dheepan.
As for Colombia, "La Tierra y la Sombra" is a strong bet, as it won the Caméra d'Or in Cannes.
I love your foreign film write-ups every year. I've seen Lav Diaz's From What Is Before, which showed up on MUBI, a streaming platform in the UK for a limited time. It's over five hours long, so a traditional release was never going to happen, but it's absolutely fascinating, immersive and wonderful. It didn't hit quite as hard as Norte, but the scope of it is really something.
I caught the Bosnia & Hercegovina film two days ago at the Montréal World Film Festival. I liked it, but I don't think it's distinctive enough to get a nomination, or even to make the shortlist.
The Venezuelan film is also running at the festival, and I'm hoping to possibly see it tonight.
I agree that "EL CLAN" is a very strong candidate for Argentina. However, there's "REFUGIADO", directed by Diego Lerman and starring Julieta Díaz, released October 30, 2014. It shockingly beat "WILD TALES" to Best Picture at the critic's "Condor de Plata" awards earlier this year. Another possible entry is "LA PATOTA", directed by Santiago Mitre (who helmed EL ESTUDIANTE) and starring Dolores Fonzi and Oscar Martínez. It won the Fripresci prize at Cannes this year.
Thanks, Nathaniel, for this coverage. You're right to be proud of it - even with many of this year's contenders still to be announced you've given us so much to think about.
Like Charlie, I think that France will submit Deephan. It's amazing to me that they have only won once since 1978 (whereas in the 1970s they won four times!). How can this be, when they have such a strong industry? I think they've had a few near-misses - Au Revoir, Les Enfants, Cyrano de Bergerac, Amelie, The Class and Un Prophete probably all came pretty close.
Re: Italy, I wonder if they may also be considering the Taviani brothers' Wondrous Boccaccio.#
Looking forward to it as the other submissions are announced. Despite the annual controversies (real or imagined), this is always one of my favourite Oscar categories.
Thanks, Nathaniel, for this coverage. You're right to be proud of it - even with many of this year's contenders still to be announced you've given us so much to think about.
Like Charlie, I think that France will submit Deephan. It's amazing to me that they have only won once since 1978 (whereas in the 1970s they won four times!). How can this be, when they have such a strong industry? I think they've had a few near-misses - Au Revoir, Les Enfants, Cyrano de Bergerac, Amelie, The Class and Un Prophete probably all came pretty close.
Re: Italy, I wonder if they may also be considering the Taviani brothers' Wondrous Boccaccio.
Looking forward to it as the other submissions are announced. Despite the annual controversies (real or imagined), this is always one of my favourite Oscar categories.
The Dutch submission is The Paradise Suite. It still has to open here later this month and it will be screened in Toronto.
https://www.filmfestival.nl/publiek/nieuws/trailer-the-paradise-suite/
@Edward.L: I'm not going to complain, because France has been the most nominated country ever in this category, but it's true that a French win is very rare these days ;) Only one in my lifetime, I wish I could see another one soon :)
You're right: I think it was very close in 2001 with Amélie. 4 nominations outside the Foreign Language category, & it still lost. Reminds me of Pan's Labyrinth. I read somewhere that some voters were fed up with the Weinstein films that year
Cyrano must have been pretty close too, given that Depardieu was nominated.
In 2008, The Class was "saved" by the new foreign committee, so I'm not sure it was a frontrunner. That would have been Waltz with Bashir since it won the Golden Globe.
A Prophet must have been too gritty for the Academy, and it didn't have the "historical" factor to help him in that condition. I fear the same faces Dheepan.
However it's a good thing that more and more countries got a nomination in this category. I wish Portugal & Columbia get it this year!