Road to 2014: 76 Foreign Language Contenders Announced

Asghar Farhadi’s The Past is an Early Frontrunner

Today the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 76 foreign language films eligible to compete at next year’s Academy Awards, and as normal they like to make a few headlines. This year sees a record number of films, beating last year’s record of 71, and also sees several new countries enter the fray. Moldova (All God’s Children) and Saudi Arabia (Wadjda) are Oscar newbies, and this will no doubt give them an early lead in the head-turning race. Pakistan is back in the race after a 50 year hiatus, while the UK also has an entry with Sean Ellis’ Metro Manila.

Though this category is notoriously difficult to predict, with last year an exception as Amour stormed ahead of its competition, there are a few that jump out as early favourites. Peter Knegt at Indiewire earmarks Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong (The Grandmaster), France (Renoir) and Belgium (The Broken Circle Breakdown) as ones to watch, but Peter and many other websites are all talking about Iran’s entry The Past. Director Asghar Farhadi won the Oscar two years ago for A Separation, and his latest film is claiming a lot of attention.

A shortlist of 9 films will be voted on at the end of the year before a final list of nominees is chosen and announced on January 16th. Right now it’s difficult to call. The 76 films competing for Best Foreign Language Film are:

Afghanistan, “Wajma – An Afghan Love Story,” Barmak Akram, director;
Albania, “Agon,” Robert Budina, director;
Argentina, “The German Doctor,” Lucía Puenzo, director;
Australia, “The Rocket,” Kim Mordaunt, director;
Austria, “The Wall,” Julian Pölsler, director;
Azerbaijan, “Steppe Man,” Shamil Aliyev, director;
Bangladesh, “Television,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;
Brazil, “Neighboring Sounds,” Kleber Mendonça Filho, director;
Bulgaria, “The Color of the Chameleon,” Emil Hristov, director;
Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;
Canada, “Gabrielle,” Louise Archambault, director;
Chad, “GriGris,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director;
Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio, director;
China, “Back to 1942,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
Colombia, “La Playa DC,” Juan Andrés Arango, director;
Croatia, “Halima’s Path,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director;
Czech Republic, “The Don Juans,” Jiri Menzel, director;
Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;
Dominican Republic, “Quien Manda?” Ronni Castillo, director;
Ecuador, “The Porcelain Horse,” Javier Andrade, director;
Egypt, “Winter of Discontent,” Ibrahim El Batout, director;
Estonia, “Free Range,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;
Finland, “Disciple,” Ulrika Bengts, director;
France, “Renoir,” Gilles Bourdos, director;
Georgia, “In Bloom,” Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, directors;
Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;
Greece, “Boy Eating the Bird’s Food,” Ektoras Lygizos, director;
Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;
Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;
Iceland, “Of Horses and Men,” Benedikt Erlingsson, director;
India, “The Good Road,” Gyan Correa, director;
Indonesia, “Sang Kiai,” Rako Prijanto, director;
Iran, “The Past,” Asghar Farhadi, director;
Israel, “Bethlehem,” Yuval Adler, director;
Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;
Japan, “The Great Passage,” Ishii Yuya, director;
Kazakhstan, “Shal,” Yermek Tursunov, director;
Latvia, “Mother, I Love You,” Janis Nords, director;
Lebanon, “Blind Intersections,” Lara Saba, director;
Lithuania, “Conversations on Serious Topics,” Giedre Beinoriute, director;
Luxembourg, “Blind Spot,” Christophe Wagner, director;
Mexico, “Heli,” Amat Escalante, director;
Moldova, “All God’s Children,” Adrian Popovici, director;
Montenegro, “Ace of Spades – Bad Destiny,” Drasko Djurovic, director;
Morocco, “Horses of God,” Nabil Ayouch, director;
Nepal, “Soongava: Dance of the Orchids,” Subarna Thapa, director;
Netherlands, “Borgman,” Alex van Warmerdam, director;
New Zealand, “White Lies,” Dana Rotberg, director;
Norway, “I Am Yours,” Iram Haq, director;
Pakistan, “Zinda Bhaag,” Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, directors;
Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director;
Peru, “The Cleaner,” Adrian Saba, director;
Philippines, “Transit,” Hannah Espia, director;
Poland, “Walesa. Man of Hope,” Andrzej Wajda, director;
Portugal, “Lines of Wellington,” Valeria Sarmiento, director;
Romania, “Child’s Pose,” Calin Peter Netzer, director;
Russia, “Stalingrad,” Fedor Bondarchuk, director;
Saudi Arabia, “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al Mansour, director;
Serbia, “Circles,” Srdan Golubovic, director;
Singapore, “Ilo Ilo,” Anthony Chen, director;
Slovak Republic, “My Dog Killer,” Mira Fornay, director;
Slovenia, “Class Enemy,” Rok Bicek, director;
South Africa, “Four Corners,” Ian Gabriel, director;
South Korea, “Juvenile Offender,” Kang Yi-kwan, director;
Spain, “15 Years Plus a Day,” Gracia Querejeta, director;
Sweden, “Eat Sleep Die,” Gabriela Pichler, director;
Switzerland, “More than Honey,” Markus Imhoof, director;
Taiwan, “Soul,” Chung Mong-Hong, director;
Thailand, “Countdown,” Nattawut Poonpiriya, director;
Turkey, “The Butterfly’s Dream,” Yilmaz Erdogan, director;
Ukraine, “Paradjanov,” Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, directors;
United Kingdom, “Metro Manila,” Sean Ellis, director;
Uruguay, “Anina,” Alfredo Soderguit, director;
Venezuela, “Breach in the Silence,” Luis Alejandro Rodríguez and Andrés Eduardo Rodríguez, directors