The Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences has announced that nine foreign films have been shortlisted from 76 originally submitted.
The titles included Belgium's "The Broken Circle Breakdown," Bosnia and Herzegovina's "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker," Cambodia's "The Missing Picture," Denmark's "The Hunt," Germany's "Two Lives," Hong Kong's "The Grandmaster," Hungary's "The Notebook," Italy's "The Great Beauty," and Palestine's "Omar."
The shortlist had many of the predicted films including the Italy, Belgium, Hong Kong and Denmark selections. However, the inclusion of Cambodia's selection was surprising given the fact that it is a documentary and most of the films nominated in the category are fiction narratives.
However, the shortlist left out many top contenders pundits believed would win the Oscar. These included Iran's "The Past," Chile's "Gloria," and Saudi Arabia's "Wadjda." Additionally the list also saw Romania's Berlin winner "Child's Pose," Russia's "Stalingrad," Netherland's "Borgman," and the Tribeca Film Festival winner "The Rocket."
The shortlist was made by the foreign-language committee, which screened the 76 films submitted. The Academy allows each country to select its own submission and requires that the film must begin a one-week continuous engagement in its country of origin Oct. 1, 2012-Sept. 30, 2013. The rule prevented France's "Blue is the Warmest Color" from getting nominated because it opened Oct. 1, 2013. The movie, however, has dominated the precursor awards for foreign film making the current field one of the widest open category in years. Another rule for the submission is that the language of the film must be predominantly non-English.
Five films will make the list of finalists when Oscar nominations are unveiled Jan. 16. The awards will be handed out March 2 in ceremonies at the Dolby Theatre.
Previous winners in this category include "Amour," "The Secret in Their Eyes," "A Separation," "In a Better World" and "Departures."
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