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89th Oscars. Oscar Contenders of 2016 - For prediction, discussion, entertainment purposes only

 discuss on the blog

PART 1 - ALBANIA TO ESTONIA
25 of 85 Official Submissions
Updated October 12th
SEE ALL THE TRAILERS

Finland to The Netherlands 30 Submissions
New Zealand to Vietnam 30 Submissions

 

Albania
never nominated
(subitting since 1996)

CHROMIUM
Dir. Bujar Alimania
78 minutes
Albanian
Trailer

a family drama about a father, his two sons, and some sort of mine they work in.

Algeria
5 noms | 1 win (subitting since 1969)

THE WELL
Dir. Lotfi Bouchouchi
96 minutes
French & Arabic
Official Site | Trailer

Villagers are beseiged by soldiers and can't escape. 

Argentina
7 noms | 2 wins (submitting since 1961)

THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN
Dir. Gaston Duprat & Mariano Cohn
118 minutes
Spanish
Trailer

Oscar Martinez (Wild Tales) won Best Actor in Venice for this drama about a Nobel Laureate returning home

Not Selected:
Incident Light  and Long Night of Francisco Sanctis

Last year:
The Clan

Australia
never nominated (submitting since 1996)

TANNA
Martin Butler, Bentley Dean
Official Site  | Trailer

Currently playing in select cities in the US

100 minutes
Nauvhal

The Yakel tribe performs a story about a sister's loyalty and a forbidden romance. Glenn wrote about this for Paradise magazine

Austria
4 noms | 2 wins (submitting since 1961)

STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE
Dir. Maria Schrader
106 minutes
German, French, Spanish, English
Trailer 

Joseph Hader stars as the famous writer. Maria Schrader, who starred in the LGBT Golden Globe nominee Aimee & Jaguar (1999) directs the film!

Last Year:
Goodnight Mommy

 

Bangladesh
never nominated (submitting since 2002)

THE UNNAMED
Dir  Tauquir Ahmed 
100 minutes
Bengali
Official Site | Trailer

A coffin has the wrong body inside. A search for the identity intensifies

Belgium
7 noms | 0 wins (submitting since 1967)

THE ARDENNES
Dir Robin Pront 
96 minutes
Flemish / French
Trailer 

This is a drama about two home robbing brothers, one of whom is just out of prison. This is Pront's debut feature. 

(Belgium generally trades off between Dutch & Flemish films each year)

Bolivia
never nominated
(submitting since 1995)

SEALED CARGO
Dir. Julia Vargas-Weise
107 minutes
Spanish
Official Site | Trailer

An environmentally aware thriller about corrupt cops, and crates carrying toxic minerals and more - information on this one is confusing though THR calls it "highly energetic"

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina
1 nom | 1 win
(submitting since 1994)

DEATH IN SARAJEVO
Dir. Danis Tanovic
85 minutes
Bosnian, French, English
Trailer 

REVIEWED

This drama is based on the play "Hotel Europe" by Bernard-Henri Levy (which he hopes help Bosnia enter the EU). This is Tanovic's 4th submission from 16 films Bosnia has submitted over the years. He previously won the Oscar for No Man's Land (2001) and made the Finalist list for A Day in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013)

 

Brazil
4 noms | 0 wins (submitting since 1960)

LITTLE SECRET
Dir. David Schurmann
??? minutes
Portuguese
Official Site | Trailer

Three families are connected by a secret

Not Selected:
Brazil announced 16 finalists (we don't have the full list) and among the titles Aquarius  was the buzzy internationally acclaimed film that came under political fire at home. Here's a good article in English mapping out the controversy

Last Year:
The Second Mother

 

Bulgaria
never nominated (submitting since 1971)


LOSERS
Dir. Ivaylo Ristov
97 minutes
Bulgarian 
Trailer

A high school movie about four inseparable best friends. In black and white.

Cambodia
1 nomination (submitting since 1994)


BEFORE THE FALL
Dir. Ian White
98 minutes
Kmer, French, English
Trailer 

Set during the 1970s in the seige on Phnom Penh. A singer and her two lovers try to escape the city.

Canada
7 noms | 1 win
(submitting since 1971)

IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD
Dir. Xavier Dolan
97 minutes
French  
Official Site | Trailer

Dolan's love it or hate it family drama. This is the third time Canada has submitted a Dolan film after I Killed My Mother and Mommy. He has yet to be nominated.

Last Year:
Felix & Meira 

Chile
1 nom | 0 wins (submitting since 1990)

NERUDA
Dir. Pablo Larraín
107 minutes
Spanish
Trailer 

REVIEWED

Opening in the US on December 16th

An inspector (Gael Garcia Bernal) hunts down the poet, Pablo Neruda, in the 1940s. Larraín also has an English language feature which will likely be vying for Oscar this year in Jackie

China
2 nominations (submitting since 1979)

XUAN ZANG
Dir. Jianqi Huo
90 minutes
Chinese & Sanskrit
Trailer

A biopic of a famous Buddhist monk and scholar during the Tang Dynasty starring Xiaoming Huang (who costarred in Ip Man 2 and who is married to the popular actress Angelababy)

 

 

Colombia
1 nomination
(submitting since 1980)

ALIAS MARIA
Dir. Jose Luis Rugeles Gracia 
91 minutes
Spanish 
Official Site | Trailer

A drama about a pregnant female soldier

Not Selected: Finalists: Anna, The Seed of Silence, and Oscuro Animal

Coverage of Last Year's Nominee:
Embrace of the Serpent 
 (their first nomination!)

Costa Rica
never nominated
(submitting since 2005)

ABOUT US
Dir. Hernan Jimenez
87 minutes
Spanish 
Official Site | Trailer

A romantic dramedy about a man trying to save his relationship with a beach getaway

Croatia
2 nominations *
(submitting since 1992 as Croatia)

ON THE OTHER SIDE
Zrinko Ogresta
85 minutes
Croatian
Trailer

A mother secret threatens to be revealed. Ogresta was submitted once before for Red Dust (1999)

* Croatia has not received a nomination yet as an independent country but there were two Croatian films nominated from within the former Yugoslavia The Road a Year Long (1958) and The Ninth Circle (1960)

Cuba
1 nomination
(submitting since 1978)

THE COMPANION
Pavel Giroud
Trailer

104 minutes
Spanish

A boxer accused of doping becomes is forced to become companion to a soldier who contracted AIDS in Africa

Coverage of last year's submission:
Behavior

Czech Republic
9 noms* | 2 wins* (submitting since 1994 as Czech Republic)

LOST IN MUNICH
Dir. Petr Zelenka
105 minutes
Czech
Trailer 

Comedy. A 90 year old parrot, prepared to give his "account" of history is kidnapped by a journalist

*These stats include all but one of the nomineees from the former Czechoslovakia. Without their Oscar tally is 3 nominations with 1 win

 

Denmark
13 nominations | 3 wins (submitting since 1956)

LAND OF MINE
Dir. Martin Zandvliet
100 minutes
Danish & German
Trailer 

German POWS in Denmark during World War II. Denmark's been on quite a run this decade with 4 noms and 1 win

Not SelectedThe Commune & Walk With Me

Coverage of Last Year's Nominee:
A War 

Dominican Republic
never nominated (submitting since 1983)

FLOR DE AZUCAR
Dir. Fernando Baez Mella
110 minutes
Spanish 
Official Site | Trailer

A peasant who has been in hiding risks returning to his family after killing a soldier

Last year's submission: Sand Dollars

Ecuador
never nominated (submitting since 2000)

SUCH IS LIFE IN THE TROPICS
Dir. Sebastian Cordero
??? minutes
Spanish
Trailer 

plot unknown

Ecuador has only submitted a handful of times but this is the second time they've gone with Cordero. 

Egypt
never nominated (submitting since 1958)

CLASH
Dir. Mohamed Diab
97 minutes
Arabic
Trailer 

This is a drama set entirely in a police van as various people are arrested during street protests. 

Estonia
1 nomination
(submitting since 1992)

MOTHER
Dir. Kadri Kõusaar 
89 minutes
Estonian
Official Site | Trailer

REVIEWED 

The downtrodden mother/caretaker of a man in a coma from a mysterious attack has secrets of her own in this dark comedy

 

Foreign Film Index

or continue on to...

Finland to The Netherlands 30 Submissions

New Zealand to Yemen 30 Submissions