Best Foreign Language Film Oscar: Record Submissions + Highly Political Movies

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2015 contender ‘Three Windows and a Hanging’: First Kosovo entry.

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2015: Record number of entries

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made public the list of submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2015.

According to the Academy’s press release, a record 83 countries have submitted films for Oscar consideration, among them first-timers Kosovo, Malta, Mauritania, and Panama. Focusing on the newcomers, their submissions are:

• Isa Qosja’s Three Windows and a Hanging (Kosovo), in which a teacher (Irena Cahani) tells a Serbian journalist (veteran Mirjana Karanovic) that she and three other women in her small village were raped by Serbian soldiers. Outraged, the local men begin a hate campaign against the teacher and her small son.
• Rebecca Cremona’s Simshar (Malta), inspired by real-life events about a Maltese fishing family left stranded at sea after their boat sinks – because Italian and Maltese authorities were too busy fighting about which country should take in a group of African migrants rescued by a Turkish vessel.
• Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu (Mauritania), about the dangers – and depraved hypocrisy – of religious fundamentalism. In the film, a peaceful cattle herder (Ibrahim Ahmed) and his family have their lives disrupted by Jihadists.
• Abner Benaim’s Invasion (Panama), a documentary depicting how Panamanians have chosen to remember – or misremember or forget – the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, which led to the arrest and extradition of Panamanian dictator (and former CIA henchman) Gen. Manuel Noriega.

Now, if only all the Best Foreign Language Film entries listed below were made available for online viewing – or at least on DVD (outside of their respective countries).

Oscar 2015: Best Foreign Language Film submissions

• Afghanistan, A Few Cubic Meters of Love. Jamshid Mahmoudi, director.
• Argentina, Wild Tales. Damián Szifrón, director.
• Australia, Charlie’s Country. Rolf de Heer, director.
• Austria, The Dark Valley. Andreas Prochaska, director.
• Azerbaijan, Nabat. Elchin Musaoglu, director.
• Bangladesh, Glow of the Firefly. Khalid Mahmood Mithu, director.
• Belgium, Two Days, One Night. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors.
• Bolivia, Forgotten. Carlos Bolado, director.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, With Mom. Faruk Loncarevic, director.
• Brazil, The Way He Looks. Daniel Ribeiro, director.
• Bulgaria, Bulgarian Rhapsody. Ivan Nitchev, director.
• Canada, Mommy. Xavier Dolan, director.
• Chile, To Kill a Man. Alejandro Fernández Almendras, director.
• China, The Nightingale. Philippe Muyl, director.
• Colombia, Mateo. María Gamboa, director.
• Costa Rica, Red Princesses. Laura Astorga Carrera, director.
• Croatia, Cowboys. Tomislav Mršic, director.
• Cuba, Conducta. Ernesto Daranas Serrano, director.
• Czech Republic, Fair Play. Andrea Sedlácková, director.
• Denmark, Sorrow and Joy. Nils Malmros, director.
• Dominican Republic, Cristo Rey. Leticia Tonos, director.
• Ecuador, Silence in Dreamland. Tito Molina, director.
• Egypt, Factory Girl. Mohamed Khan, director.
• Estonia, Tangerines. Zaza Urushadze, director.
• Ethiopia, Difret. Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, director.
• Finland, Concrete Night. Pirjo Honkasalo, director.
• France, Saint Laurent. Bertrand Bonello, director.
• Georgia, Corn Island. George Ovashvili, director.
• Germany, Beloved Sisters. Dominik Graf, director.
• Greece, Little England. Pantelis Voulgaris, director.
• Hong Kong, The Golden Era. Ann Hui, director.
• Hungary, White God. Kornél Mundruczó, director.
• Iceland, Life in a Fishbowl. Baldvin Zophoníasson, director.
• India, Liar’s Dice. Geetu Mohandas, director.
• Indonesia, Soekarno. Hanung Bramantyo, director.
• Iran, Today. Reza Mirkarimi, director.
• Iraq, Mardan. Batin Ghobadi, director.
• Ireland, The Gift. Tom Collins, director.
• Israel, Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem. Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, directors.
• Italy, Human Capital. Paolo Virzì, director.
• Japan, The Light Shines Only There. Mipo O, director.
• Kosovo, Three Windows and a Hanging. Isa Qosja, director.
• Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains. Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, director.
• Latvia, Rocks in My Pockets. Signe Baumane, director.
• Lebanon, Ghadi. Amin Dora, director.
• Lithuania, The Gambler. Ignas Jonynas, director.
• Luxembourg, Never Die Young. Pol Cruchten, director.
• Macedonia, To the Hilt. Stole Popov, director.

Maltese Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission Simshar.

• Malta, Simshar. Rebecca Cremona, director.
• Mauritania, Timbuktu. Abderrahmane Sissako, director.
• Mexico, Cantinflas. Sebastián del Amo, director.
• Moldova, The Unsaved. Igor Cobileanski, director.
• Montenegro, The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street. Nikola Vukcevic, director.
• Morocco, The Red Moon. Hassan Benjelloun, director.
• Nepal, Jhola. Yadav Kumar Bhattarai, director.
• Netherlands, Accused. Paula van der Oest, director.
• New Zealand, The Dead Lands. Toa Fraser, director.
• Norway, 1001 Grams. Bent Hamer, director.
• Pakistan, Dukhtar. Afia Nathaniel, director.
• Palestine, Eyes of a Thief. Najwa Najjar, director.
• Panama, Invasion. Abner Benaim, director.
• Peru, The Gospel of the Flesh. Eduardo Mendoza, director.
• Philippines, Norte, the End of History. Lav Diaz, director.
• Poland, Ida. Pawel Pawlikowski, director.
• Portugal, What Now? Remind Me. Joaquim Pinto, director.
• Romania, The Japanese Dog. Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, director.
• Russia, Leviathan. Andrey Zvyagintsev, director.
• Serbia, See You in Montevideo. Dragan Bjelogrlic, director.
• Singapore, Sayang Disayang. Sanif Olek, director.
• Slovakia, A Step into the Dark. Miloslav Luther, director.
• Slovenia, Seduce Me. Marko Šantic, director.
• South Africa, Elelwani. Ntshavheni Wa Luruli, director.
• South Korea, Haemoo. Shim Sung-bo, director.
• Spain, Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed. David Trueba, director.
• Sweden, Force Majeure. Ruben Östlund, director.
• Switzerland, The Circle. Stefan Haupt, director.
• Taiwan, Ice Poison. Midi Z, director.
• Thailand, The Teacher’s Diary. Nithiwat Tharathorn, director.
• Turkey, Winter Sleep. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director.
• Ukraine, The Guide. Oles Sanin, director.
• United Kingdom, Little Happiness. Nihat Seven, director.
• Uruguay, Mr. Kaplan. Álvaro Brechner, director.
• Venezuela, The Liberator. Alberto Arvelo, director.

The 2015 Oscar nominations – including the five Best Foreign Language Film contenders – will be announced live on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 2015 Oscar ceremony will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood. In the U.S., the Oscarcast will be televised live by ABC; additionally, the Oscars will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Oscar: 134 Documentary Features Submitted

Oct. 30 update: One hundred thirty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 87th Academy Awards. Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December.

Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. The 2015 Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The 2015 Oscars® will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

“Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq”
“Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case”
“Algorithms”
“Alive Inside”
“All You Need Is Love”
“Altina”
“America: Imagine the World without Her”
“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs”
“Anita”
“Antarctica: A Year on Ice”
“Art and Craft”
“Awake: The Life of Yogananda”
“The Barefoot Artist”
“The Battered Bastards of Baseball”
“Before You Know It”
“Bitter Honey”
“Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity”
“Botso The Teacher from Tbilisi”
“Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart”
“The Case against 8”
“Cesar’s Last Fast”
“Citizen Koch”
“CitizenFour”
“Code Black”
“Concerning Violence”
“The Culture High”
“Cyber-Seniors”
“DamNation”
“Dancing in Jaffa”
“Death Metal Angola”
“The Decent One”
“Dinosaur 13”
“Do You Know What My Name Is?”
“Documented”
“The Dog”
“E-Team”
“Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me”
“Elena”
“Evolution of a Criminal”
“Fed Up”
“Finding Fela”
“Finding Vivian Maier”
“Food Chains”
“The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden”
“Getting to the Nutcracker”
“Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
“Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia”
“The Great Flood”
“The Great Invisible”
“The Green Prince”
“The Hacker Wars”
“The Hadza: Last of the First”
“Hanna Ranch”
“Happy Valley”
“The Hornet’s Nest”
“I Am Ali”
“If You Build It”
“The Immortalists”
“The Internet’s Own Boy”
“Ivory Tower”
“James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge”
“Jodorowsky’s Dune”
“Journey of a Female Comic”
“Keep On Keepin’ On”
“Kids for Cash”
“The Kill Team”
“Korengal”
“La Bare”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Last Hijack”
“The Last Patrol”
“Levitated Mass”
“Life Itself”
“Little White Lie”
“Llyn Foulkes One Man Band”
“Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles”
“Manakamana”
“Merchants of Doubt”
“Mission Blue”
“Mistaken for Strangers”
“Mitt”
“Monk with a Camera”
“Nas: Time Is Illmatic”
“National Gallery”
“Next Goal Wins”
“Next Year Jerusalem”
“Night Will Fall”
“No Cameras Allowed”
“Now: In the Wings on a World Stage”
“Occupy the Farm”
“The Only Real Game”
“The Overnighters”
“Particle Fever”
“Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes”
“Pelican Dreams”
“The Pleasures of Being Out of Step”
“Plot for Peace”
“Point and Shoot”
“Poverty Inc.”
“Print the Legend”
“Private Violence”
“Pump”
“Rabindranath Tagore – The Poet of Eternity”
“Red Army”
“Remote Area Medical”
“Rich Hill”
“The Rule”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Shadows from My Past”
“She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry”
“A Small Section of the World”
“Smiling through the Apocalypse – Esquire in the 60s”
“Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon”
“The Supreme Price”
“Tales of the Grim Sleeper”
“Tanzania: A Journey Within”
“This Is Not a Ball”
“Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence”
“Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People”
“True Son”
“20,000 Days on Earth”
“Unclaimed”
“Under the Electric Sky”
“Underwater Dreams”
“Virunga”
“Waiting for August”
“Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago”
“Warsaw Uprising”
“Watchers of the Sky”
“Watermark”
“We Are the Giant”
“We Could Be King”
“Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger”
“A World Not Ours”

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) website.

2015 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar potential contender Three Windows and a Hanging image: CMB Productions.

2015 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar potential contender Simshar image: Kukumajsa Productions.