The Class, Gomorra, and Waltz with Bashir among films to beat in Foreign Oscar nom process

So far, about one third (35 countries to be exact) of the 96 invited to submit their entry for the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Picture category have done so. While tomorrow’s list will beef up the finally tally, there are three pictures that first caught everyone’s attention at Cannes this year that are destined to make it to the final five. After last year’s fiasco (the exclusion of Persepolis and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days), I’m hoping that this year’s measures (a new voting system broken into phases) will make sure that voting members don’t mess up once again and If I’d had to handicap the race this early on, I’d say The Class, Gomorra and Waltz with Bashir — all films that are currently being showcased at the 46th NYFF, will each be considered as top tier noms. I’d also love to see Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys in the race — a film that will also be included among my top 20 of the year. In the mean time, I’m crossing my fingers that ingenuity and originality are rewarded this time out. Deadline for submission occurs when the clock strikes 12 tonite, with nominations to be announced Jan. 22, and the 81st awards ceremony takes place on Feb. 22. Here is the list so far:

Argentina: Pablo Trapero’s Lion’s Den
Austria: Gotz Spielmann’s Revanche  
Belgium: Bouli Lanners’s Eldorado 
Brazil: Bruno Barreto’s Last Stop 174
Canada: Benoit Pilon’s Necessities Of Life (Ce Qu’il Faut Pour Vivre)
China: Gun Yu’s Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008
Croatia: Arsen Anton Ostojic’s Niciji Sin (No One’s Son)
Czech Republic: Petr Zelenka’s Karamazovs
Denmark: Niels Arden Oplev’s To verdener (Worlds Apart)  
Finland: Dome Karukoski’s Home of Dark Butterflies
France: Laurent Cantet’s Entre Les murs (The Class)
Germany: Uli Edel’s The Baader Meinhof Complex
Greece: Thanos Anastopoulos’ Diorthosi
Hong Kong: Gordon Chan’s Painted Skin
Hungary: Csaba Bollok’s Iska’s Journey
Iceland: Baltasar Kormakur’s White Night Wedding
India: Aamir Khan’s Taare zameen par
Israel: Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir
Italy: Matteo Garrone’s Gomorra
Japan: Yojiro Takita’s Okuribito (Departures)
Jordan: Amin Matalqa’s Captain Abu Raed
Mexico: Roberto Sneider’s Arrancame la Vida
Norway: Bent Hamer’s O’Horten
Palestine: Annemarie Jacir’s Salt of this Sea
The Netherlands: Dana Nechushtan’s Dunya & Desie
The Philippines: Dante Nico Garcia’s Ploning
Romania: Nae Caranfil’s The Rest Is Silence
Russia: Anna Melikyan’s Mermaid
Singapore: Eric Khoo’s My Magic
Slovenia: Marko Nabersnik’s Rooster’s Breakfast
South Korea: Kim Tae-gyun’s Crossing
Spain: Jose Luis Cuerda’s The Blind Sunflowers
Sweden: Jan Troell’s Everlasting Moments  
Taiwan: Wei Te-sheng’s Cape No. 7
Turkey: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys