86 minutes. Dari.
Drama

A girl from an Islamic family gets pregnant before marriage. Won a screenwriting prize at Sundance. (Afghanistan started submitting in 2002.)

106 minutes. Albanian.
Family/crime drama.

a violent tale of two Albanian migrants trying to adjust to life in Greece.

93 minutes
Spanish. German. Hebrew.
Historical Thriller

This film is about a family who unwittingly lived with a Nazi war criminal 

Argentina's previous winners: The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) and
The Official Story (1985)

96 minutes. Lao.
Childhood Drama

This Lao film about a bad luck boy guiding his family and friends to a new home could be Australia's first nomination. They came close with Samson and Delilah (2009).

108 minutes
German. Fantastical Drama

LAST YEAR'S WINNING COUNTRY! This year another challenging entry, a film about a woman who is inexplicably cut off from civilization, accompanied only by her dog

previous winners
The Counterfeiters (2007), Amour (2012)

80 minutes. Azerbaijani
Drama 

A young man schooled in the ways of steppe life meets a young woman after his father's death

106 minutes. Bengali.
Social Satire.

Bangladeshi may be the world's 7th-largest country (by population) but their films rarely make a mark on the international festival circuit. But Television was The Closing Film at the Pusan Film Festival

111 minutes
Flemish & English
Romantic Music Drama.

This is about a couple (who are musicians) who have to deal with their daughter's life-threatening illness. (Groeningen has been submitted once before with The Misfortunates )

74 minutes
Bosnian. Romany. Drama

Tanovic directed the Bosnian Oscar winner"No Man's Land" This is the story of a Gypsy laborer struggling to afford medical treatment for his pregnant wife.

131 minutes.
Portuguese, Mandarin, English & Persian. Dramatic Thriller

This acclaimed debut, which already received a US release, is about a new security firm and the residents of an apartment complex. 

Surprisingly NOT selected: Lush period drama Time of the Wind co-stars former Best Actress nominee Fernanda Montenegro. 

closest they came to winning
Central Station (1998)

111 minutes
Bulgarian. Black & White Comedy

The closest they came to a nomination was the surprise finalist The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008). Will this bizarre comedy about a secret-police department based on the novel "Zincograph" change their Oscar fate?

Not selected: Alienation, a drama about a Greek couple who come to Bulgaria to adopt

90 minutes
French. Memoir Documentary

They rarely submit but did just last year with Lost Loves. This documentary with carved figurines has been a sensation on the film festival circuit. It's about the death of one man's entire family during the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge genocide and reeducation of the populace into Communism

104 minutes.
French. Drama

A young musically gifted woman with Williams disease falls in love with a man at her recreation center. (Canada has been doing well in this category recently with frequent finalists and nominees)

previous win
The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

101 minutes.
French & Arabic. Drama 

A young man with a paralyzed leg drams of becoming a dancer commits crimes to survive when his father takes ill.

110 minutes
Dramedy.
In Spanish

A free spirited woman of a certain age meets a former naval officer out clubbing in this acclaimed drama. Will they take this chance at late in life love or will families intervene?

Have you seen Chile's EXCELLENT nominee last year "No"? If not get to it.

145 minutes. English & Mandarin.

A drought in 1942 takes its toll on China during their war with Japan. Adrien Brody and Tim Robbins co-star!

Not Selected: Touch of Sin is a festival hit but it was always an unlikely submission.

Their only nominees:
Ju Duo (1990)
Hero (2002)

88 minutes. Spanish.
Family Drama.

A young man searches for his missing brother in the city.

They've been submitting since 1980 and though they've never been nominated they obviously would have been in 2004 ifMaria Full of Grace had not been disqualified

93 minutes. Bosnian & Croatian.
Grief Drama

A Muslim woman seeks out her niece to help her transport the dead body of her son home.

Croatia has been submitting regularly since 1992 but still waiting for its first nomination

Variable minutes depending on which version Oscar received.
Czech. Civil Rights Epic.

REVIEWED

Oscar intermittently has love affairs with Czech cinema. We're in a down period but Holland has been nominated before. If the film is disqualified (likely given it was originally a miniseries) expect to take it's place. Not selected: Jan Hrebejk's family secret drama Honeymoon (reviewed)

115 min. Danish. Drama

Mads Mikkelsen won Best Actor at Cannes in 2012 for this film about a schoolteacher accused of abuse. I loved Denmark's last two entries SuperClásico (made the finals) and A Royal Affair (nominated).

Not selected: which they also considered for their submission choice.

87 minutes
Romantic Comedy

A man and a woman who never commit and never like to be the one not in control fall in love. Will they change their ways?

100 min
Spanish

A wild young man carries on with drugs and an affair with a married woman until he and his brother decide to steal a porcelain horse to buy more drugs. This has a much longer stranger title in Spanish.

94 min
Arabic

TFE columnist Tim reviewed this film last year at CIFF

100 min.
Estonian.

Though their earliest submission was in the 90s they have only been annual hopefuls since 2007

93 minutes. Finnish.
Period Drama

Set in 1939 and focused on the rivalry fo teenage boys living on an island in the Batlic Sea 

only nomination
The Man Without a Past (2003)

111 minutes. French. Period Drama. Biopic.

Renoir's son returns home after a war injury. A young woman inspires both the father and the son.

Asghar Farhadi's The Past and the Palme D'Or winning lesbian drama Blue Is... were not selected (the latter due to its release date). France hasn't won since Indochine (1992) but still leads all countries in nominations

102 minutes. Georgian. Coming of Age Drama

Two young girls attempt to escape their dysfunctional family lives in Tblisi, circa 1992

only nomination
A Chef in Love (1996)

97 minutes
Drama

They've chosen Two Lives (Zwei Leben) This film co-stars Liv Ullman!!! It's about a woman (Juliane Köhler who starred in the German Oscar winner Nowhere in Africa), born to a Norwegian woman and a German soldier who becomes involved in war crime trials. 

previous winners
The Tin Drum (1979)
Nowhere in Africa (2002)
The Lives of Others (2006)

80 minutes
Allegorical Drama

Greece has yet to win but they ended a very long nomination drought with Dogtooth (2010). The new submission is about an impoverished man going to extreme lengths for survival.

most famous nominee
Iphigenia (1977)

Submission guess TBA

Their two nominee are bonafide can't-miss classics:  Raise the Red Lantern (1991) and Farewell My Concubine (1993)

100 minutes
War Drama

Hungary has become famous for truly outre contenders but Oscar hasn't said yes since the 80s. This year could change all that since they've chosen a war film about two young boys learning to withstand pain and fear

Hungary's lone Oscar Win:
Mephisto (1981)

85 min
Icelandic

only nominee
Children of Nature (1991)

92 min
Gujarati. Childhood Drama

India surprised many by submitting this one instead of The Lunchbox starring Irrfan Kahn.

Bollywood is grossly underrepresented at the Oscars given the size of that industry. All three of their nominees are well worth spending time with

only nominees
Mother India (1957)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Lagaan (2001)

??? min. Indonesian, Japanese.

They've been submitting since 1987 and annually since 2005

Despite boycotting the Oscars the year after their Oscar win for A Separation, Iran has opted to submit again, returning to the director of their...

Awesome Winner
A Separation (2011)

CONTINUE ON TO

KAZAKHSTAN through VIETNAM

99 min
Hebrew & Arabic

Israel has the most nominations without a win! They always send the Ophir winner. This year of the nominees Bethlehem had the largest nomination tally and also won.

must see snubbee
Late Marriage (2001)