BY BEN DALTON  12 OCTOBER 2018

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards are not until Tuesday January 22, but the 87 submissions for best foreign-language film have now been announced.

Last year saw a record 92 submissions for the award, which were narrowed down to a shortlist of nine. This was cut to five nominees, with Sebastián Lelio’s transgender drama A Fantastic Woman ultimately taking home the gold statue.

Screen’s interview with Mark Johnson, chair of the Academy’s foreign-language film committee, explains the shortlisting process from submission to voting.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between October 1 2017 and September 30 2018.

Europe

Austria: The Waldheim Waltz (Ruth Beckermann)

Veteran director Beckermann’s latest is a biographical drama about former UN Secretary General Kurt Josef Waldheim, and the controversy of his participation and role in the Nazi regime during the Second World War. This is Austria’s 42nd foreign language award submission; they have four previous nominations, with two wins in 2008 for Stefan Ruzowitsky’s The Counterfeiters, and in 2013, for Michael Haneke’s Amour (which won the previous year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes). The Waldheim Waltz won the original documentary award at Berlinale 2018.
Contact: Wide House

Belarus: Crystal Swan (Darya Zhuk)

Darya Zhuk’s debut is about a wannabe DJ growing up in post-Soviet Belarus in the 1990s, who dreams of moving to the US but makes a tiny error on her visa application throwing her plans into disarray. Produced by Demarsh Films, Crystal Swan opened the East of the West competition at Karlovy Vary in June. Speaking to Screen about the film, Zhuk said, “I was trying to capture this certain female cool.” Paris’ Loco Films handling international sales.
Contact: Loco Films

Belgium: Girl (Lukas Dhont)

Dhont’s debut feature was a success at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d’Or and the Queer Palm, as well as the Un Certain Regard jury award for best performance for Victor Polster. The story concerns a young girl born in a boy’s body, who longs to be a ballerina. Dhont spoke to Screen in May about the genderless casting process he undertook for the lead role. The film is Belgium’s 43rd submission to the foreign-language award; the country has submitted an entry for the last 28 years in a row, and achieved 7 nominations in total, most recently for Felix Van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown in 2013.
Contact: The Match Factory

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Never Leave Me (Aida Begić)

Begić’s first feature since 2012 Cannes Un Certain Regard selection Children Of Sarajevo - which was also a Bosnian Oscar entry - centres three Syrian refugee boys who live in the mythical Turkish city of Sanliurfa, and are searching for recovery from a traumatic past. It premiered at Antalya Film Festival in 2017, and has played at festivals including Dubai in 2017 and Edinburgh in 2018. This is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 18th foreign language award entry; the country picked up the top award for Danis Tanović’s No Man’s Land in 2002. Begić’s Snow was also the country’s entry for the 2009 awards.
Contact: Besir Dernegi, Film House Sarajevo 

Bulgaria: Omnipresent (Ilian Djevelekov)

Djevelekov’s film centres on advertising agency owner Emil, who loses track of an innocent hobby and ends up spying on his family, friends and employees. The film received the FIPRESCI prize at the 2018 Sofia Film Festival, as well as five awards at Bulgaria’s Golden Rose Film Festival, including best film and the audience award. This is Bulgaria’s 29th Oscar submission; the country’s best result to date came in 2010, when Stephan Komandarev’s The World Is Big And Salvation Lurks Around The Corner made the January shortlist.
Contact: Miramar Film

Croatia: The Eighth Commissioner (Ivan Salaj)

Croatia has submitted an entry to the foreign language award every year since 1992 (the country achieved independence in 1991), and is yet to score a nomination. Salaj’s comedy, based on Renato Baretić’s novel, sees a disgraced politician sent to the isolated island of Trećić, where he is given the troublesome task of organising the local elections. This is Salaj’s sophomore feature, after 2016’s Transmania.
Contact: Alka Film 

Czech Republic: Winter Flies (Olmo Omerzu)

Slovenian-born, Prague-based director Omerzu’s third feature premiered at Karlovy Vary in July, where it played in Competition. Omerzu picked up the best director prize at the festival; his film has since gone on to Toronto. The story is a road-trip comedy centring two adolescent boys who steal a car. This is the Czech Republic’s 25th submission to the award since the country formed after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The new state won the full award in 1997 for Jan Svěrák’s Kolya, and was also nominated in 2001 for Jan Hřebejk’s Divided We Fall and in 2004 for Ondřej Trojan’s Želary.
Contact: Cercamon     

Denmark: The Guilty (Gustav Möller)

Möller’s feature debut premiered at Sundance in January 2018, winning the audience award in the world cinema dramatic competition. The whole film is set in the dispatch room of a Copenhagen emergency services station, and is a thriller in which a former police officer (Jakob Cedergren) receives increasingly disturbing calls from a kidnapped woman. Screenspoke to Möller about the Youtube inspiration for the story earlier this year. Denmark is one of the most successful countries in the foreign-language category, with twelve nominations and three wins from 55 previous entries. The top prizes came for Susanne Bier’s In A Better World in 2011; Bille August’s Pelle The Conqueror in 1989; and Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Feastin 1988. Including Bier’s win, the country has six nominations in the last 12 ceremonies. The Guilty is released in the UK on October 26, 2018.
Contact: TrustNordisk

Estonia: Take It Or Leave It (Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo)

Triškina-Vanhatalo’s Take It Or Leave It was produced by experienced Allfilm producer Ivo Felt, whose Tangerines (directed by Zaza Urushadze) earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. The film was produced for the Estonia 100 initiative honouring the countries centenary, and revolves around a young man becoming a single father.
Contact: Allfilm 

Finland: Euthanizer (Teemu Nikii)

Euthanizer premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, before playing around the circuit including at Tokyo and Italy’s Biografilm. Nikin spoke to Screen about the film in 2017, describing it as ”a violent Finnish summer noir”. It centres a 50-year-old mechanic who has a sideline putting sick animals to sleep more cheaply than the local veterinarian. This is Finland’s 32nd submission to the foreign language prize; the country has received one nomination in 2003 for Aki Kaurismäki’s The Man Without A Past, while Klaus Härö’s The Fencer made the December shortlist for the 2016 awards.
Contact: Wide Management

France: Memoir Of War (Emmanuel Finkiel)

The selection of Finkiel’s film by France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC) caused some surprise, with many predicting the choice of one of the other titles on the five-strong shortlist, which included Xavier Legrand’s Custody and Gaspar Noé’s Climax. The story is inspired by French writer Marguerite Duras’ account of her husband Antelme’s return from the Dachau concentration camp after the Second World War, and stars Mélanie Thierry. France is one of the most successful countries in the history of the foreign-language award. It won three honourary awards prior in 1949, 1951 and 1953 prior to the introduction of the current system, and since then has earned 37 nominations and nine victories from 62 submissions. The last win came in 1993 for Régis Wargnier’s Indochine, and the last nomination in 2016 for Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang. Read the full story here.
Contact: TF1 Studio 

Georgia: Namme (Zaza Khalvashi)

Khalvashi’s fourth feature was nominated for prizes at festivals in 2017 including Tokyo International Film Festival and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The film centres a family who must care for a spring of local healing water; of the four children, only youngest daughter Namme is not skeptical of the powers of the spring. This is Georgia’s 17th foreign language award entry; only the first, Nana Jorjadze’s A Chef In Love, achieved a nomination in 1997, while Giorgi Ovashvili’s Corn Island made the January shortlist in 2015.
Contact: Alpha Violet 

Germany: Never Look Away (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)

von Donnersmarck is a previous winner in this category, in 2007 for Cold War spy drama The Lives Of Others. His new film, selected by the German nine-person jury representing different cinema trade associations, follows an art student whose relationship with a fellow student is threatened by her medical professor father. Since the union of West and East Germany, the country has 10 Oscar nominations, with one other win for Caroline Link’s Nowhere In Africa in 2003. Never Look Away premieres in Competition at the 2018 Venice Film Festival. Read the full story here.
Contact: Beta Cinema

Greece: Polyxeni (Dora Masklavanou)

Masklavanou has worked extensively as an actor and editor; her first directorial feature since 2005’s Coming As A Friend picked up four prizes at Greece’s Iris awards in 2018, including best actress for Katia Goulioni. The film is a drama about an orphaned Greek girl in 1955, who is adopted by a prominent couple and put towards a brighter future. Greece has no Oscar wins from 38 submissions; their most recent of five nominations was in 2011, for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth.
Contact: Blonde Audiovisual Productions

Hungary: Sunset (László Nemes)

Nemes is back in the Oscar race again, three years after his WWII-set debut Son Of Saul went all the way to the top. Sunset premiered at Venice in September, with Screen’s review calling it “a film dripping with brooding atmosphere that fashions drama out of locations as much as plot or character”. Set in Budapest in 1913, the film focuses on Irisz Leiter, a young woman who arrives in the Hungarian capital hoping to work at a legendary hat store previously owned by her late parents. When she is turned away, she sets on a search for a man who can reveal the truth about a lost past. Screen premiered the first full trailer for the film in August. Son Of Saul was Hungary’s second win in the category, after István Szabó’s Mephisto in 1982. The two wins come from ten total nominations since 1965.
Contact: Playtime 

Iceland: Woman At War (Benedikt Erlingsson)

Erlingsson’s second film - after 2013’s Of Horses And Men - centres on Halla, an independent woman in her late 40s, who is engaged in a war on the local aluminium industry when an orphan unexpectedly enters her life. It premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes 2018, and will play at London Film Festival in October. This is Iceland’s 39th Oscar entry; the country’s best result came in 1992, when Friðrik Þór Friðriksson’s Children Of Nature achieved a nomination. Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep made the January shortlist in 2013.
Contact: Beta Cinema

Italy: Dogman (Matteo Garrone)

Garrone’s first film since 2015’s Tale Of Tales premiered in Competition at Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Actor for Marcello Fonte as well as the Palm Dog. It centres on Marcello (Fonte), a gentle man who finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship with Simone (Edoardo Pesce), a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighbourhood. Italy has a strong history in the foreign language award, winning honourary prizes for its first three entries before it became a competitive category, including for Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief in 1950. From 61 entries in the competitive years, the country has secured 28 nominations and eleven wins, including two further wins for De Sica and four for Federico Fellini. Garrone’s Gomorrah was the Italian entry for the 2009 awards, but did not reach the nomination stage. Read the full story here.
Contact: Rai Com 

Kosovo: The Marriage (Blerta Zeqiri)

Zeqiri’s feature debut won the FIPRESCI award at Tallin Black Nights festival in 2017, while the director won a Sundance jury prize for short film Kthimi in 2012. Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, has made four previous Oscar foreign language submissions, and is yet to receive a nomination. Alban Ukaj, Adriana Matoshi and Genc Salihu star in the story of a husband who holds a secret from his wife - he’s in love with his male best friend. Zeqiri spoke to Screen about the motivation behind telling the story in 2017, saying, “It doesn’t make sense that anyone could forbid love. 
Contact: Wide Management

Latvia: To Be Continued (Ivars Seleckis)

83-year-old director Seleckis’ documentary was chosen by Latvia’s panel from eight submissions. It was made with support from the Latvian National Film Centre as part of the country’s Centenary programme to celebrate 100 years of independence. To Be Continuedfollows seven young children to look at how the future impacts our lives. It is the country’s 11th foreign language award submission; Latvia is yet to receive its first nomination. Released in its home country in March 2018, it has since played at events including Switzerland’s Visions du Réel.
Contact: Mistrus Media

Lithuania: Wonderful Losers: A Different World (Arūnas Matelis)

Matelis’ second Oscar submission - after 2006’s Before Flying Back To Earth - is a documentary about the medics and water carriers who assist in professional cycling races without receiving any of the glory. It has picked up several prizes including three Lithuanian Film Awards - best documentary, best score and the audience award. This is Lithuania’s 11th submission, and the country is yet to receive a nomination or have a shortlisted title.
Contact: Deckert Distribution

Luxembourg: Gutland (Govinda Van Maele)

Van Maele’s film premiered at Toronto in 2017, before playing at festivals including Tokyo, Rotterdam and Galway Film Fleadh. It is a surrealist rural noir about a German thief who flees to a small Luxembourg village, only to discover that the locals have secrets of their own. This is Luxembourg’s 15th submission to the foreign language Oscar; the country has no nominations so far.
Contact Stray Dogs

Macedonia: Secret Ingredient (Gjorce Stavreski)

Macedonia came close with their first entry in this category; Milcho Manchevski’s Before The Rain scored a nomination in 1995, after winning the Golden Lion at Venice the year before. It is the only of the country’s 14 total submissions to reach that stage. Stavreski’s film, which he wrote, directed and produced, is his first since 2012’s Skopje Remix, and follows an underpaid train mechanic who gives his father a cake made of stolen marijuana to relieve his cancer pain. He is then sought out by criminals hunting for their drugs. It played at festivals including Thessaloniki and Tallinn Black Nights in 2017, and has picked up prizes including best international feature at Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Contact: Wide Management

Montenegro: Iskra (Gojko Berkuljan)

Berkulijan’s feature debut stars Mirko Vlahovic as retired police detective Petar, who lives for his daughter Iskra. When she disappears, Petar must reach back into his past to help the investigation. Iskra played at Balkan festivals including Montenegro and Belgrade Film Festival. This is Montenegro’s fifth Oscar submission, with their first coming for the 2014 awards; the country is yet to receive a nomination.
Contact: Cinnamon Production

Netherlands: The Resistance Banker (Joram Lursen)

Lursen’s ninth feature is a true-story World War Two drama about Walraven van Hall, who created ways to finance the resistance during Nazi occupation. The film has been nominated for 12 prizes at the Golden Calf awards, the main film ceremony in the Netherlands. Barry Atsma takes the lead role, with Jacob Derwig as his brother Gijs who assisted in the covert operation. The film is the Netherlands 51st submission to the award; the country received the top prize for The Assault (1987), Antonia’s Line (1996) and Character (1998), as three of seven total nominations.
Contact: Zilvermeer Productions

Norway: What Will People Say (Iram Haq)

Often the bridesmaid, never the bride, Norway has five previous Oscar nominations from 39 submissions, but is still waiting for its first gold man. Haq’s sophomore feature after 2013’s I Am Yours is a Norway-Germany-Sweden-France-Denmark co-production, and follows 16-year old Pakistani teenager Nisha, who is sent back from Norway to her native country for supposedly damaging her family’s reputation. The film premiered at Toronto in 2017, and won four prizes at Norway’s 2018 Amanda awards including best film, director, screenplay and actor for Adil Hussain. Screen premiered the first trailer last year, and spoke to Haq about a personal experience she used as inspiration for the film.
Contact: Beta Cinema 

Poland: Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski)

Pawlikowski’s film opened in Cannes Competition in 2018, going on to win him the best director prize. It is a Poland-France-UK co-production and was the only title in Competition with significant UK involvement. It released in the UK through Curzon Artificial Eye at the end of August, and looks set to be the first arthouse foreign-language film to cross £1m in the territory in 2018. The film is a love story between two people of different backgrounds, set against the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris. Pawlikowski won this award in 2015 for Ida - the first of his films to be entered, and the country’s sole success in the category. Cold War is Poland’s 50th entry, and they have acheived nine nominations aside from Ida’s win.
Contact: Protagonist Pictures, mk2 Films

Portugal: Peregrinação (João Botelho)

Peregrinação - which translates as