Albania
never nominated | 
submitting since 1996

🇦🇱

A CUP OF COFFEE AND NEW SHOES ON
dir Gentian Koçi
No US Distribution Yet

99 minutes
Albanian 

Deaf and mute twin brothers (played by twin brothers Rafael and Edward Morais) learn that they will go blind. Koci was previously submitted by Albania for Daybreak in 2017.

recent key submissions
2021 -Two Lions
2020 -Open Door
2019 -The Delegation
2017 - Daybreak
2016 - Chromium

Algeria
5 noms | 1 win | submitting since 1969

🇩🇿

OUR BROTHERS
dir Rachid Bouchareb
No US Distribution Yet

92  minutes
French

A 22 year old is killed (believed to be by police) after student protests against university reform. Bouchareb is Algeria's most famous director and has been nominated in this category three times.

recent key submissions
2021 - Heliopolis
2019 - Papicha
2018 -Until the End of
2017 - Road to Istanbul
2016 - The Well

Argentina
7 noms | 2 wins |  submitting since 1961

🇦🇷

ARGENTINA, 1985
dir. Santiago Mitre
Amazon in US, Sept 30th

REVIEW

140 minutes
Spanish

recent key submissions
2021 The Intruder
2018 - El Angel
2017 - Zama
2015 - The Clan
2014 - Wild Tales

Armenia
never nominated | 
submitting spottily since 2001

🇦🇲

AURORA'S SUNRISE
dir Inna Sahakyan
No US Distribution Yet

96 minutes
Armenian

An animated documentary about a genocide survicor who became a star in the silent film era

recent key submissions
2021 Should the Wind...

Australia
1 nomination | 
submitting since 1996

🇦🇺

YOU WON'T BE ALONE
dir Goran Stolevski

US theatrical release complete

108 minutes
Macedonian

A young girl in a mountain village is kidnapped and transformed by a witch. Surprisingly, despite acclaim, this film was entirely shut out of the AACTA nominations

not selected
nude Tuesday

recent key submissions
2016 -Tanna
2014 - Charlie's Country
2012 - Lore
2009 -Samson & Delilah
2006 -Ten Canoes

Austria
4 noms | 2 wins | +1 finalist | submitting since 1961

🇦🇹

CORSAGE
dir Marie Kreutzer
December 23rd, IFC Films

REVIEW, QUICK TAKE

113 minutes
French, German, Hungarian, English

A fictional biopic about the Empress of Austria in the 18th century. Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) stars

not selected
Other Austrian films of note this year were 
Matter Out of PlaceL , 
Mutzenbacher, Sparta, and Sonne

recent key submission
2021 - Great Freedom
2017 - Happy End
2015 - Goodnight Mommy
2012 - Amour

Azerbaijan
never nominated | 
submitting spottily since 2007

🇦🇿

CREATORS
dir. Shamil Aliyev
No US Distribution

61 minutes
Azerbaijan

A documentary about ???

not selected:
Sermon to the Fish

recent key submissions
2021 The Island Within
2017 - Pomegranate
2013 -Steppe Man

Bangladesh
never nominated | submitting since 2002

🇧🇩

HAWA
dir Mejbaur Rahman Sumon
Official Site
now playing in the US

131 minutes
Bengali

A mystery involving miracles and a fisherman

recent key submissions
2021 - Rehana
2018 No Bed of Roses

Belgium
7 noms | 0 wins | + 2 finalists | submitting since 1967

🇧🇪

CLOSE
dir Lukas Dhont
A24 in the US, TBA

REVIEW

105 minutes
French

A boys intimate friendship is interrupted. Tied for the Grand Prize at Cannes

not selected
Other possibilities this year felt like Eight Mountains (an Italian coproduction), Rebel, and the Dardennes Tori and Lokita

recent key submissions
2021 - Playground
2018 - Girl
2013 Two Days One Night
2012 Broken Circle
2011 Bullhead

Bolivia
never nominated
| submitting spottily since 1995

🇧🇴

UTAMA
dir Alejandro Loayza Grisi
Official Site
Kino Lorber, TBA

REVIEW

87 minutes
Spanish, Quechua

An elderly couple in the Bolivian highlands faces a long drought.

not selected
We thought another option might have been 
Robe of Gems though multiple coutnries were involved in that one.

recent key submissions
2021 - Great Movement
2019  - Tu Me Manques
2009 - Zona Sur
2003 - Sexual Dependency

Bosnia & Herzegovina
2 noms | 1 win | + 1 finalist | submitting since 1994

🇧🇦

A BALLAD 
dir Aida Begic
No US Distributor Yet

120 minutes
Bosnian

A contemporary story of a woman in her problems with an ex partner and family

recent key submissions
2020 - Quo Vadis Aida
2016 - Death in Sarajevo
2013 An Episode in the...
2006 Grbavica: Land of...

Brazil
4 noms | 0 wins | + 1 finalist | submitting since 1960

🇧🇷

MARS ONE
dir Gabriel Martins
Magnolia TBA

REVIEW, INTERVIEW

115 minutes
Portuguese

After a right wing leader is elected a black family struggles with the political reality

not selected
The other finalists were Charcoal, The Mother, Pacified, Paloma, and Pedro Between... the very well reviewed doc The Territory was not among them (we assume too American in its origins.)

recent key submissions
2021 - Private Desert
2019 - Invisible Life
2015 - Second Mother
2014 - The Way He Looks

Bulgaria
never nominated |  submitting since 1971

🇧🇬

IN THE HEART OF THE MACHINE
dir Martin Makariev
No US Distribution Yet

115 minutes
Bulgarian

Originally the selection was tbe documentary "Mother" but it was declared ineligible so they're sending this thriller instead.

not selected
The other finalists were Escape, Mother, Petya of my Petya, Phi 1.618, Shakespeare like a dog, Speculators , and To Put It Midly

recent key submissions
2021 Fear
2017 Aga
2009 - The World is Big...

Cambodia
1 nomination | submitting since 1994

🇰🇭

RETURN TO SEOUL

dir. Davy Chou
No US Distribution

115 minutes
Korean, French, English

A young woman returns to Korea to search for her birth parents after being raised in France

not selected
Everything Will Be OK

recent key submissions
2021 - White Building
2018 - Grave Without...
2013 -Missing Picture

Cameroon
never nominated | submitting infrequently since 1980

🇨🇲

THE PLANTER'S PLANTATION

dir. Dingha Young Eystein
No US Distribution

129 minutes
English (?)

This is a dramatic musical about a girl in the 1960s fighting to protect her father's legacy on a colonial plantation.

recent key submissions
2021 - Hidden Dreams

Canada
7 noms | 1 win | + 3 finalists | submitting since 1971

🇨🇦

ETERNAL SPRING
dir Jason Loftus
Official Site
No US Distributor Yet

86 minutes
Mandarin

Centered around the experiences of the comic book artist Daxiong who fled China due to violent repression of the Falun Gong spiritual group.

Not Selected
Other non English language titles this year included Falcon Lake, Babysitter, Coyote, and  Blind Willow Sleeping Woman

recent key submissions
2021 - Drunken Birds
2016 It's Only the End...
2014 - Mommy
2012 - War Witch
2011 - Monsieur Lazhar
2010 - incendies

Chile
2 noms | 1 win | + 1 finalist | submitting since 1990

🇨🇱

BLANQUITA
dir. Fernando Guzzoni
No US Distributor Yet

94 minutes
Spanish

A girl in the foster system becomes a key witness in  a sexual abuse scandal. 

Not Selected
The other films that were considered were: 1976, Ardiente Pacienca, Cow Who Sang Into the Future, El Castigo, Immersion, El Pace De..., Karnawai, Place Called Dignity, La Provisoria, 130 Hermanos, Gaucho Americano, Imaginary Country, and Songs of Repression. 

recent key submission
2021 - White on White
2020 - The Mole Agent
2017 - A Fantastic Woman
2016 - Neruda
2015 - The Club
2013 - Gloria
2012 - No

China
2 nominations | 
submitting since 1979

🇨🇳

NICE VIEW
dir. Wen Muye
No US Distributor Yet

106 minutes
Mandarin

A young man struggles to pay for his sisters expensive surgeries in this dramedy

recent key submissions
2021 - Cliff walkers
2020 - Leap
2011 - Flowers of War
2006 - Curse of  Golden 
2004 - House of Flying Daggers

Colombia
1 nomination | + 1 finalist | submitting since 1980

🇨🇴

KINGS OF THE WORLD
dir. Laura Mora Ortega
Netflix in the US. TBA

103 minutes
Spanish

The adventures of five young marginalized men. Won three awards at San Sebastian Film Festival

not selected
Another Colombian film that got some attention this year was A Male

recent key submissions
2021 - Memoria
2020 - Forgotten We'll Be
2018 -Birds of Passage
2015 -Embrace of Serpent

Costa Rica
never nominated | 
submitting since 2005

🇨🇷

DOMINGO AND THE MIST
dir Ariel Escalante
Official Site
No US Distributor Yet

86 minutes
Spanish

The inhabits of the town of Domingo are an obstacle for a developer who wants a highway there. Meanwhile a widower is visited by the ghost of his wife in the mist.

Not selected
While we don't know if they were considering any other films we wonder if 
Tengo Suenos... was a possibility

recent key submissions
2021 - Clara Sola
2020 - Land of Ashes

Croatia
never nominated | 
submitting since 1992

🇭🇷

SAFE PLACE
dir Juraj Lerotic
No US Distributor Yet

102 minutes
Croatian

24 hours in the life of a suicidal man and his family. It was a success at Locarno The star is also the writer/director.

recent key submissions
2021 - Tereza37
2020 - Extracurricular
2017 -Quit Staring at...
2015 - The High Sun

Czech Republic
3 noms | 1 wins* | + 2 finalists | submitting since 1994 as Czech Republic

🇨🇿

IL BOEMO
dir Petr Václav
Official Site
No US Distributor Yet

130 minutes
Czech, Italian, German

A biopic about Mozart's teacher and an opera he was commissioned to write. 

Not Selected
The other films the Czech ccommittee was considering were Arved, Bethlehem Nights, Borders of Love, Indian, Jan Koller, Last Race, Nightsiren, Ordinary Failures, Princ Mamanek, Shadowplay, Slovo, Somewhere Over..., and Victim. 

recent key submissions
2020 - Charlatan
2019 - The Painted Bird
2017 - Ice Mother

 Denmark
14 noms | 4 wins | + 2 finalists |  submitting since 1956

🇩🇰

HOLY SPIDER
dir Ali Abassi
Utopia in US, TBA

REVIEW, QUICK TAKE

116 minutes
Persian

A female journalist investigates serial killing of sex workers in Tehran. From the director of Border

not selected
The other finalists were As in Heaven and Forever. 

recent key submissions
2021 - Flee
2020 - Another Round
2016 - Land of Mine
2013 - The Hunt
2012 - A Royal Affair

Dominican Republic
never nominated |  submitting since 1983

🇩🇴

BANTU MAMA
dir. Ivan Herrera

REVIEW

77 minutes
French and Spanish

A woman escapes arrest and is hidden by 3 minors becoming their maternal figure in a dangerous neighborhood

recent key submissions
2021 - Holy Beasts
2015 - Sand Dollars

Ecuador
never nominated | submitting since 2000

🇪🇨

UNSEEN
dir Javier Andrade
No US Distribution Yet

83 minutes
Spanish

A woman begins to lose her grip after returning from a pscyhiatric ward. Played at TIFF last season

recent key submissions
2021 -Submersible
2019 - The Longest Night
2018 - A Son of Man

Estonia
1 nomination | 
submitting since 1992

🇪🇪

KALEV
dir Ove Musting
Official Site
No US Distribution Yet

91 minutes
Estonian, Russian

A drama about a basketball championship in 1990 that the Estonian public opposed given the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union

recent key submissions
2021 - On the Water
2019 - Truth and Justice
2017 - November
2014 - Tangerines

Finland
1 nomination | + 2 finalists
| submitting since 1973

🇫🇮

GIRL PICTURE
dir Alli Haapasalo
Currently in US release

INTERVIEW

100 minutes
Finnish

A wonderful movie. A coming of age story about three girls in the same town, two are best friends, the other becomes romantically involved with one of the friends.

not selected
The other Finnish movie that hit the US this year was the horror film Hatching

recent key submissions
2021 - Compartment No 6
2020 - Tove
2017 - Tom of Finland
2016 - Happiest Day in...
2015 -The Fencer

France
3 Honoraries | 37 noms | 9 wins | + 3 finalists | submitting since 1956

🇫🇷

SAINT OMER
dir. Alice Diop
Super (dist) in US, TBA

REVIEW, QUICK TAKE

122 minutes
French

not selected
The other finalists were Full Time, Paris Memories, The Worst Ones, and One Fine Morning starring Lea Seydoux.

not selected 
Other French films of note this year included Athena, Don Juan, The Five Devils, Fire, Green Perfume, Harkis, More Than Ever, Our Ties,  and Other People's Children

recent key submissions
2021 -Titane
2020 - Two of Us
2019 - Les Miserables
2017 - BPM
2016 - Elle
2015 -Mustang

 Georgia
1 nom | 0 wins | 
submitting since 1996

🇬🇪

A LONG BREAK
dir. Davit Pirtskhalava
No US Distribution Yet

110 minutes
Georgian

15 years after high school a man organizes a reunion in the hopes of punishing a former classmate who made his life hell.

recent key submissions
2021 -Brighton 4th
2020 - Beginning
2018 - Namme
2014 - Corn Island

OTHER PAGES

Pt 2 GERMANY to  NORWAY 
34 official submissions 

Pt 3 PAKISTAN to VIETNAM 
30 official submissions