The Official Foreign Oscar Race: 63 Titles to Compete with A Prophet and White Ribbon

Finally. With a disqualification here and there, the official list of countries competing for a nomination and then Oscar gold have been submitted and now its time to make some prognostications as to who among 65 will make the final five, or final three, since Sony Pictures Classics have a slam dunk in Palme d’or winner Haneke’s The White Ribbon and Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet – a “second place” winner at Cannes. If you asked me what films I’d like to see in the final 5 tally, I would love to see the Academy embrace non-mainstream items such as the Romanian pic from Corneliu Porumboiu (Police, Adjective) and Bong Joon-ho’s Mother (South Korea), but in all likelihood, the remaining three slots will be a toss up between Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s hard edged Ajami (Israel’s entry), Oscar-voter favorite Giuseppe Tornatore’s epic Baaria (Italy’s entry) might slip by and then you have this cluster of Spanish speaking films that should be a part of the festivities from Peru (Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of Sorrow), Colombia (Ciro Guerra’s The Wind Journeys), Argentina (Juan Jose Campanella’s El Secreto de Sus Ojos) and Spain (Fernando Trueba’s The Dancer and the Thief). Here’s the complete list below:

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 of 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, “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, “Libertador Morales, El Justiciero,” Efterpi Charalambidis
Vietnam, “Don’t Burn It,” Dang Nhat Minh.