Countries Submit for Foreign Language Film Oscar®

Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® announced today that 65 countries have submitted films for nomination consideration in the Foreign Language Film category (BFLF) for the 82nd Academy Awards®, honoring the BFLF for 2009. This is down from last year when a record 67 countries submitted.

Selected committees will now select a short list from which five films will be nominated by those in the full Academy membership who can certify they have seen all five films nominated. Last year's winner was DEPARTURES, Japan, directed by Yojiro Takita.

Here are the submissions by County, Title and Director:

Albania, ALIVE, Artan Minarolli;
Argentina, EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS, Juan Jose Campanella;
Armenia, AUTUMN OF THE MAGICIAN, Rouben Kevorkov and Vaheh Kevorkov;
Australia, SAMSON & DELILAH, Warwick Thornton;
Austria, FOR A MOMENT FREEDOM, Arash T. Riahi;
Bangladesh, BEYOND THE CIRCLE, Golam Rabbany Biplob;
Belgium, THE MISFORTUNATES, Felix van Groeningen;
Bolivia, ZONA SUR, Juan Carlos Valdivia;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, NIGHTGUARDS, Namik Kabil;
Brazil, TIME OF FEAR, Sergio Rezende;
Bulgaria, THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LURKS AROUND THE CORNER, Stephan Komandarev;
Canada, I KILLED MY MOTHER, Xavier Dolan;
Chile, DAWSON, ISLA 10, Miguel Littin;
China, FOREVER ENTHRALLED, Chen Kaige;
Colombia, THE WIND JOURNEYS, Ciro Guerra;
Croatia, DONKEY, Antonio Nuic;
Cuba, FALLEN GODS, Ernesto Daranas;
Czech Republic, PROTEKTOR, Marek Najbrt;
Denmark, TERRIBLY HAPPY Henrik Ruben Genz;
Estonia, DECEMBER HEAT, Asko Kase;
Finland, LETTERS TO FATHER JACOB, Klaus Haro;
France, UN PROPHETE, Jacques Audiard; **
Georgia, THE OTHER BANK, George Ovashvili;
Germany, THE WHITE RIBBON, Michael Haneke; **
Greece, SLAVES IN THEIR BONDS, Tony Lykouressis;
Hong Kong, PRINCE AND TEARS, Yonfan;
Hungary, CHAMELEON, Krisztina Goda;
Iceland, REYKJAVIK-ROTTERDAM, Oskar Jonasson;
India, HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY, Paresh Mokashi;
Indonesia, JAMILA AND THE PRESIDENT, Ratna Sarumpaet;
Iran, ABOUT ELLY, Asghar Farhadi;
Israel, AJAMI, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani;
Italy, BAARIA, Giuseppe Tornatore; **
Japan, NOBODY TO WATCH OVER ME, Ryoichi Kimizuka;
Kazakhstan, KELIN, Ermek Tursunov;
Korea, MOTHER, Joon-ho Bong;
Lithuania, VORTEX, Gytis Luksas;
Luxembourg, REFRACTAIRE, Nicolas Steil;
Macedonia, WINGLESS, Ivo Trajkov;
Mexico, BACKYARD, Carlos Carrera;
Morocco, CASANEGRA, Nour-Eddine Lakhmari;
The Netherlands, WINTER IN WARTIME, Martin Koolhoven;
Norway, MAX MANUS, Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning;
Peru, THE MILK OF SORROW, Claudia Llosa;
Philippines, GRANDPA IS DEAD, Soxie H. Topacio;
Poland, REVERSE, Borys Lankosz;
Portugal, DOOMED LOVE, Mario Barroso;
Puerto Rico, KABO AND PLATON, Edmundo H. Rodriguez;
Romania, POLICE, ADJECTIVE, Corneliu Porumboiu;
Russia, WARD NO. 6, Karen Shakhnazarov;
Serbia, ST. GEORGE SHOOTS THE DRAGON, Srdjan Dragojevic;
Slovakia, BROKEN PROMISE, Jiri Chlumsky;
Slovenia, THE LANDSCAPE NO. 2, Vinko Moderndorfer;
South Africa, WHITE WEDDING, Jann Turner;
Spain, THE DANCER AND THE THIEF, Fernando Trueba; **
Sri Lanka, THE ROAD FROM ELEPHANT PASS, Chandran Rutnam;
Sweden, INVOLUNTARY, Ruben Ostlund;
Switzerland, HOME, Ursula Meier;
Taiwan, NO PUEDO VIVIR SIN TI, Leon Dai; **
Thailand, BEST OF TIMES, Yongyoot Thongkongtoon;
Turkey, I SAW THE SUN, Mahsun Kirmizigul;
United Kingdom, AFGHAN STAR, Havana Marking; **
Uruguay, BAD DAY FOR FISHING, Alvaro Brechner;
Venezuela, LIBERADOR MORALES, EL JUSTICIERO, Efterpi Charalambidis;
Vietnam, DON'T BURN IT, Dang Nhat Minh.

** First films I shall comment on later, because I have questions that must be answered first. For instance, (1) Why is a foreign language film being submitted by the United Kingdom when it is a co-production with Afghanistan? (2) Why is that film a documentary, and not a feature film accepted for this category? (3) Why does the film submitted by Taiwan carry a title in Spanish? And (4) Will the Cannes winner, THE WHITE RIBBON, make short list for nomination, or be ignored by the selecting committees as was the acclaimed 2007 Romania movie, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS, directed by Cristian Mungiu?

The link to this list is posted on the right sidebar of this blog and will remain there until this time next year when submissions are made for the 83rd Academy Awards, honoring the BFLF for 2010.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, 7 March 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.