We have 10 official submissions for the foreign language race thus far. With the October 2nd deadline looming, expect more news regularly. As a quick reminder or 101 guide for newbies, to qualify for Oscar Foreign Race you have to a) open in your home country theatrically between October 1st of the previous year and September 30th of the Oscar submission year b) be chosen as the submission by your country (only one per country no matter how many films your country makes) and c) be in a non-English language for at least 50% of the dialogue and d) and this is where it often gets tricky... be primarily, on a creative level, from your submitting country. That is to say your cast or crew or at least your director needs to be from the country that's submitting you.
Official Submissions Thus Far
Can a third Matthias Schoenaerts picture snag a foreign film Oscar nod?
- Azerbaijan's Pomegranate Orchard which is based on Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard
- Belgium's Racer and the Jailbird with international sensation Matthias Schoenearts and Blue is the Warmest Color's breakout Adele Exarchopoulos. Schoenaerts is something of an awards good luck charm: He's been in two previous Foreign Film Oscar Nominees (Daens in 1992 and Bullhead in 2011), a traditional Oscar player (The Danish Girl), a nominated short film (Death of a Shadow) and two acclaimed pictures that had significant awards runs even though they didn't end up snagging Oscar noms (The Netherland's Black Book in 2006 and France's Rust & Bone in 2012). It helps to be insanely hot, very talented, and speak multiple languages
- Bosnia's Men Don't Cry
- Dominican Republic's Woodpeckers
- Germany's In the Fade which netted Diane Kruger the Best Actress prize at Cannes is about a woman dealing with the aftermath of a neo-Nazi attack. This unfortunately timely film is planning a US theatrical release in time to qualify for all Oscar categories.
- Iraq's The Dark Wind
- Sweden's The Square which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The buzzy film is expected to open in US theaters in late October which means it will probably be eligible for Oscar in all categories, not just foreign film. The film is directed by Ruben Östlund who was famously Oscar-snubbed for his last popular Cannes prize winner submitted for this category (Force Majeure)
- Switzerland's The Divine Order
- Turkey's Ayla: The Daughter of War
The Foreign Film Charts (with heaping helpings of information) have all been updated.
Foreign Film Predictions & Stats
Submissions Afghanistan to Egypt
Submissions Finland to Norway
Submissions Pakistan to Yemen
P.S. if you're a fan of Schoenaerts, this interview from last year on a Dutch TV show "24 Hours With..." is unmissable.
He talks about all the languages he speaks "I'm a sponge," he talks quite a lot about his father (who was a legendary stage actor in Europe but had regular mental health episodes), he admits that he turned down Batman vs Superman (as Batman no less) and does quite a few Heath Ledger impersonations. The interviewer even brings up his steamy sex scenes in Rust and Bone as a way of discussing spontaneity in acting and rooting yourself in character --in-depth interviews like this are too rare!