From Oscars.org: A record 92 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 90th Academy Awards®. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants.
- Afghanistan, “A Letter to the President,” Roya Sadat
- Albania, “Daybreak,” Gentian Koçi
- Algeria, “Road to Istanbul,” Rachid Bouchareb
- Argentina, “Zama,” Lucrecia Martel
- Armenia, “Yeva,” Anahit Abad
- Australia, “The Space Between,” Ruth Borgobello (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/the-space-between/)
- Austria, “Happy End,” Michael Haneke
- Azerbaijan, “Pomegranate Orchard,” Ilgar Najaf
- Bangladesh, “The Cage,” Akram Khan
- Belgium, “Racer and the Jailbird,” Michaël R. Roskam
- Bolivia, “Dark Skull,” Kiro Russo
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Men Don’t Cry,” Alen Drljević
- Brazil, “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” Daniel Rezende
- Bulgaria, “Glory,” Petar Valchanov, Kristina Grozeva
- Cambodia, “First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie
- Canada, “Hochelaga, Land of Souls,” François Girard
- Chile, “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony/a-fantastic-woman/)
- China, “Wolf Warrior 2,” Wu Jing (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/wolf-warrior-2/)
- Colombia, “Guilty Men,” Iván D. Gaona
- Costa Rica, “The Sound of Things,” Ariel Escalante
- Croatia, “Quit Staring at My Plate,” Hana Jušić
- Czech Republic, “Ice Mother,” Bohdan Sláma
- Denmark, “You Disappear,” Peter Schønau Fog
- Dominican Republic, “Woodpeckers,” Jose Maria Cabral
- Ecuador, “Alba,” Ana Cristina Barragán
- Egypt, “Sheikh Jackson,” Amr Salama
- Estonia, “November,” Rainer Sarnet
- Finland, “Tom of Finland,” Dome Karukoski (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/tom-of-finland/)
- France, “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Robin Campillo (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/bpm-beats-per-minute/)
- Georgia, “Scary Mother,” Ana Urushadze
- Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/in-the-fade/)
- Greece, “Amerika Square,” Yannis Sakaridis
- Haiti, “Ayiti Mon Amour,” Guetty Felin
- Honduras, “Morazán,” Hispano Durón
- Hong Kong, “Mad World,” Wong Chun
- Hungary, “On Body and Soul,” Ildikó Enyedi
- Iceland, “Under the Tree,” Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
- India, “Newton,” Amit V Masurkar (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/newton/)
- Indonesia, “Turah,” Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo
- Iran, “Breath,” Narges Abyar
- Iraq, “Reseba – The Dark Wind,” Hussein Hassan
- Ireland, “Song of Granite,” Pat Collins
- Israel, “Foxtrot,” Samuel Maoz
- Italy, “A Ciambra,” Jonas Carpignano
- Japan, “Her Love Boils Bathwater,” Ryota Nakano
- Kazakhstan, “The Road to Mother,” Akhan Satayev
- Kenya, “Kati Kati,” Mbithi Masya
- Kosovo, “Unwanted,” Edon Rizvanolli
- Kyrgyzstan, “Centaur,” Aktan Arym Kubat
- Lao People’s Democratic Republic, “Dearest Sister,” Mattie Do
- Latvia, “The Chronicles of Melanie,” Viestur Kairish
- Lebanon, “The Insult,” Ziad Doueiri
- Lithuania, “Frost,” Sharunas Bartas
- Luxembourg, “Barrage,” Laura Schroeder
- Mexico, “Tempestad,” Tatiana Huezo
- Mongolia, “The Children of Genghis,” Zolbayar Dorj
- Morocco, “Razzia,” Nabil Ayouch
- Mozambique, “The Train of Salt and Sugar,” Licinio Azevedo
- Nepal, “White Sun,” Deepak Rauniyar
- Netherlands, “Layla M.,” Mijke de Jong
- New Zealand, “One Thousand Ropes,” Tusi Tamasese
- Norway, “Thelma,” Joachim Trier (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thelma/)
- Pakistan, “Saawan,” Farhan Alam
- Palestine, “Wajib,” Annemarie Jacir
- Panama, “Beyond Brotherhood,” Arianne Benedetti
- Paraguay, “Los Buscadores,” Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori
- Peru, “Rosa Chumbe,” Jonatan Relayze
- Philippines, “Birdshot,” Mikhail Red
- Poland, “Spoor,” Agnieszka Holland, Kasia Adamik
- Portugal, “Saint George,” Marco Martins
- Romania, “Fixeur,” Adrian Sitaru
- Russia, “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev
- Senegal, “Félicité,” Alain Gomis (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/felicite/)
- Serbia, “Requiem for Mrs. J.,” Bojan Vuletic
- Singapore, “Pop Aye,” Kirsten Tan (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/pop-aye/)
- Slovakia, “The Line,” Peter Bebjak
- Slovenia, “The Miner,” Hanna A. W. Slak
- South Africa, “The Wound,” John Trengove
- South Korea, “A Taxi Driver,” Jang Hoon (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/a-taxi-driver/)
- Spain, “Summer 1993,” Carla Simón
- Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/the-square-2017/)
- Switzerland, “The Divine Order,” Petra Volpe (https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/the-divine-order/)
- Syria, “Little Gandhi,” Sam Kadi
- Taiwan, “Small Talk,” Hui-Chen Huang
- Thailand, “By the Time It Gets Dark,” Anocha Suwichakornpong
- Tunisia, “The Last of Us,” Ala Eddine Slim
- Turkey, “Ayla: The Daughter of War,” Can Ulkay
- Ukraine, “Black Level,” Valentyn Vasyanovych
- United Kingdom, “My Pure Land,” Sarmad Masud
- Uruguay, “Another Story of the World,” Guillermo Casanova
- Venezuela, “El Inca,” Ignacio Castillo Cottin
- Vietnam, “Father and Son,” Luong Dinh Dung
Knowing almost nothing about any of these films, I will take a stab at the nomination predictions just from word-of-mouth, who’s in them or behind them, and personally which films just feel right from the trailers that I’ve seen.
NOMINATION PREDICTIONS
- Cambodia, “First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie (even though it’s Netflix, I believe Jolie can push it)
- Sweden, “The Square,” Ruben Östlund (this is probably the most widely known release and with Elizabeth Moss)
- Austria, “Happy End,” Michael Haneke (the Academy loves Haneke with two previous nominations: “Amour” & “The White Ribbon”)
- Norway, “Thelma,” Joachim Trier (there’s been minor buzz about this film and trailer is very intriguing)
- Germany, “In the Fade,” Fatih Akin (Diane Kruger looks phenomenal in this role)