A beautiful Afghan tends to her comatose husband in their bomb-shelled home. Based on the director's own bestselling novel

Apparently this was the only Balkan feature that met requirements this year and was therefore a unanimous submission. It's the story of a pharmacist who dreams of creating a cure for unhappiness and falls for a nurse who works for his father.

A biopic about Ahmed Zabana, a young nationalist who became a political hero after being executed by the French in 1956. 

This is the story of a young boy and his militant parents living by false names during a dictatorship. 

Not Selected: The runner up finalists were "El último Elvis" which was narrowly defeated and "Elefante banco."

A young woman wants to plant a tree by her father's grave but discovers his burial site is beyond the Armenian border.

The story of five siblings travelling a long distance to their grandmother after their Nazi parents are arrested.

REVIEW

This instant classic drama of old age, love and death from the internationally reknowned Michael Haneke is more than just a Best Foreign Film surety, it could be a multiple nom threat.

REVIEW

Oscar's second favorite story in this category (the first being anything WW II) is one in which a young child is befriended by an old person. In this case it's an orphan and the old man who once loved the orphan's grandma.

This is a musical I believe. It's about a traditional form of theater where young boys play the female roles.

This film features both stars of recent Foreign Film nominee "Un Prophete" but it's Emilie Dequenne who wins the raves and awards as a stressed out mother who takes drastic actions against her children.

CAPSULE REVIEW

on the EFA Long List

Nominated last year for "Bullhead"

A woman caring for her teenager brother years after the war becomes religious.

on the EFA Long List

a father/son clown team are coming apart: the son no longer thinks himself funny and wants to quit the business

This is about a group of friends vacationing on the shore together

on the EFA Long List

A mother tries to protect her family during the Khmer Rouge genocide in the 1970s. The director and lead actress are married. This is Cambodia's first submission since 1994.

This film about a child soldier was a major depressive hit at the Tribeca Festival.

Not selected: Xavier Dolan's TIFF winning entry Laurence Anyways. Canada was nominated last year for"Monsieur Lazhar"

Gael García Bernal, a staple of this category, stars in this gripping entertaining political true story about an ad man who helps spark a Democratic Revolution

REVIEW

Finalists: Bonsai, Old Cats, and Sal

This is about privacy issues on the internet

An action movie about a man running drugs for a cartel. The title's loose translation is a Cartel of Snitches.

said to be filled with "explicit sex, abortions, and animal violence" so AMPAS presumably won't go anywhere near this shocker about an evil gynecologist beyond their requisite screening.

Finalists: Daddy, Flower Square, Koko & the Ghosts, Night Boats and Spots

This mystery is sometimes referrred to by an abbreviated title "In the Shadows". It's a film about a detective investigated what at first seems like a mundane robbery. Starring acclaimed Czech star Ivan Trojan and Sebastian Koch (from The Lives of Others)

"A Royal Affair" which has been a hit on the festival circuit and is on the EFA Long List . Starring Mads Mikkelsen as a mad king's doctor. 

The director is only 24 years old! It's about a talk show host who receives a live on air phone call that his family is being held hostage in their home.

a tormented young girl and an elderly woman who takes her in discovers a shared history. Based on the book of the same name

Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Finnish-Estonian author Sofi Oksanen, it's about two women confronting their brutal past during the Soviet occupation of Estonia 

"The Intouchables" is a huge feel good global hit and therefore a threat to the actual win here.

on the EFA Long List

Not Selected: "Rust & Bone" which will have to console itself with Best Actress Possibility

A black comedy about a beauty pageant for moms set in impoverished Tbilisi.

A doctor (Nina Hoss) in East Germany is in trouble with the regime in 1980.

REVIEW

This is a black comedy about a jaded policeman who decides to deliver his own justice.

on the EFA Long List

A 16 year old boy, who is sent to a home meets a polar bear hunter willing to train him on the hunt... "an original road movie on the sea ice" 

Sean Lau Ching-wan, Lo Hoi-pang, and So Hang-Shuen, star in a dark look at financial opportunism involving a loan shark who takes 10 million out of the bank

Finalists: Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (currently in release in the states) andSilent War.

 Hungary often makes controversial submissions "Just the Wind", which won prizes in Berlin, is about a series of racist murders.

on the EFA Long List

Not selected: "The Exam"

A survival story about a fisherman in the freezing ocean. From Baltasur Koramakur who has made a name for himself internationally with films like Contraband, 101 Reykjavik and Jar City. 

Finalists: Black's Game, City State, Frost, and Legends of Valhalla: Thor

This is a romantic comedy about a deaf man in Darjeeling (former "Sexiest Man Alive, India edition", the goofy Ranbir Kapoor) trying to woo an autistic young woman. 

The finalists for submission were: Veer Hamirji, Arjun Warrior Prince, The Dirty Picture, Ferrari Ki Sawaarri, Gangs of Wasseypur, Gattu, Heroine, Jalpari: Desert Mermaid, Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar, Akashaninthe Niram, Alms for a Blind Horse, Deool, 7Aum Arivu, Vazhakku Enn 18/9 and Eega

Set during the anti-communist massacre that heralded the start of the New Order era in 1960s Indonesia, the title refers to a villager (played by Prisia Nasution) who dreams of becoming a dancer.

KENYA through VIETNAM  
33 more submissions!

Thank you to the magical elves that helped The Film Experience with these charts:
Cinelamour, Dani, Daniel, Dusan, Dzong, Guy, Ivan, Marcos, Patrick, Tiago, and Yonatan

Caesar

Finalists: Big Heart of Girls,A Criminal Education, Don't Clean Up This Blood, Dormant Beauty, E Stato Il Figlio, Gli Equibilistri, Magnifica Prezensa, Posti in Piedi in Paradiso and Reality

Well, AMPAS liked Mongol and this one looks like another bloody war epic