List of submissions to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
Encyclopedia
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
every year since the award was created in 1956. The award is handed out annually by the Academy to a feature-length
motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English
dialogue. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films.
For the 81st Academy Awards
, the Academy invited 96 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Only one film was accepted from each country, and the deadline by which copies of all submitted films must be sent to the Academy was October 1, 2008. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released its official list of submissions on October 17, 2008. Submission of a film does not mean automatic qualification for competition: the Academy has the final word on eligibility and has in the past disqualified several submissions.
The Oscar Foreign Film Committee began screening the foreign film entries on October 17, 2008. A shortlist of nine semi-finalists was announced January 13, 2009. Due to a new rule, only six films on the shortlist were decided based on the votes of the at-large committee. The other three were selected by the Academy's foreign film executive committee.
The official nominees were announced on January 22, 2009. The winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Japan
's Departures
.
.
's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched an open call for films to represent the country, but only received one entry - Vuong Duc's Rừng đen (Black Forest). On September 29, the Ministry decided not to send any film since Forest did not meet Oscar requirements to have run one consecutive week in a commercial cinema.
Among the around 30 other countries invited, only six - Australia
, Cuba
, Indonesia
, Iraq
, Nepal
and Peru
- have had films accepted to the competition three or more times in the last ten years.
submitted a film for the first time and Latvia
returned to the competition after a 15-year absence. In addition, the South Korean submission Crossing
was initially in question when it was accused of plagiarism
by a rival writer. The Korean Film Council said it would select another submission if Crossing was found guilty, but the case was ultimately dismissed and the film was retained.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
every year since the award was created in 1956. The award is handed out annually by the Academy to a feature-length
Feature length
Feature length is motion picture terminology referring to the length of a feature film. According to the rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a feature length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes to be eligible for an Academy Award.The term may also...
motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dialogue. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films.
For the 81st Academy Awards
81st Academy Awards
The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
, the Academy invited 96 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Only one film was accepted from each country, and the deadline by which copies of all submitted films must be sent to the Academy was October 1, 2008. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released its official list of submissions on October 17, 2008. Submission of a film does not mean automatic qualification for competition: the Academy has the final word on eligibility and has in the past disqualified several submissions.
The Oscar Foreign Film Committee began screening the foreign film entries on October 17, 2008. A shortlist of nine semi-finalists was announced January 13, 2009. Due to a new rule, only six films on the shortlist were decided based on the votes of the at-large committee. The other three were selected by the Academy's foreign film executive committee.
The official nominees were announced on January 22, 2009. The winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Departures
Departures (film)
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Shine of Snow I" 1:12#"Nohkan" 3:10#"Kaisan" 0:53#"Good-Bye Cello" 2:16#"New Road" 1:15#"Model" 0:47#"First Contact" 1:51#"Washing" 0:34#"Kizuna I" 1:57#"Beautiful Dead I" 3:12#"Okuribito " 1:51...
.
Submissions
The following is based upon the official list by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.
| Submitting country | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language(s) | Director(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opium War Opium War (2008 film) Opium War is a 2008 Afghan black comedy film directed by Siddiq Barmak. The film was shot entirely in Afghanistan and revolves around the experiences of two American soldiers , who crash their helicopter in the Afghan desert and find themselves at the mercy of the natural elements and an eclectic... |
Opium War | Dari Dari (Eastern Persian) Dari or Fārsī-ye Darī in historical terms refers to the Persian court language of the Sassanids. In contemporary usage, the term refers to the dialects of modern Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and hence known as Afghan Persian in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
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| The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider, also known as The Sadness of Mrs. Schneider or The Sadness of Mrs. Snajdrova is an Albanian-Czech romantic drama film directed by Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani. It is a movie of strong autobiographical elements and includes a three national Albanian-Czech-Italian cast... |
Trishtimi i zonjës Shnajder | Albanian Albanian language Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece... , Czech Czech language Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century... |
Eno Milkani and Piro Milkani | ||
| Masquerades | Mascarades | Algerian Arabic Algerian Arabic Algerian Arabic is the variety or varieties of Arabic spoken in Algeria. In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has a vocabulary mostly Arabic, with significant Berber substrates, and many new words and loanwords borrowed from French, Turkish and... , French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
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| Lion's Den | Leonera | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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| Revanche Revanche (film) Revanche is a 2008 Austrian thriller film written and directed by Götz Spielmann. It centers on the ill-fated love story between a Viennese ex-con and a Ukrainian prostitute who get involved in a bank robbery.... |
Revanche | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
Nominee | ||
| Fortress | Qala | Azeri | |||
| Aha! | আহা! | Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
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| Eldorado | Eldorado | French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
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| Snow Snow (2008 film) Snow is the 2008 début film by Aida Begić.- Synopsis :The movie takes place in autumn 1997, in the small Bosniak village of Slavno, in central Bosnia. Only the women and girls are left, along with an old grandfather and a little boy... |
Snijeg | Bosnian Bosnian language Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina.... |
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| Last Stop 174 | Última Parada 174 | Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095... |
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| Zift Zift (film) Zift is 2008 black-and-white Bulgarian film that combines neo-noir and black comedy with socialist retro motifs; it is based on Vladislav Todorov's 2006 eponymous novel who also wrote the script... |
Дзифт | Bulgarian Bulgarian language Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the... |
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| The Necessities of Life | Ce qu'il faut pour vivre Inuujjutiksaq |
French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... , Inuktitut Inuktitut Inuktitut or Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian Inuit language is the name of some of the Inuit languages spoken in Canada... |
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| Tony Manero | Tony Manero | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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| Dream Weavers | 筑梦 | Mandarin | |||
| Dog Eat Dog | Perro come Perro | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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| No One's Son | Ničiji Sin | Croatian Croatian language Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries... |
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| The Karamazovs Karamazovi The Karamazovs is a 2008 Czech film directed by Petr Zelenka with a soundtrack by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. It tells the story of a group of Czech actors who come to Polish steelworks to perform a stage adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov at an alternative drama festival... |
Karamazovi | Czech Czech language Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century... , Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... |
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| Worlds Apart Worlds Apart (2008 film) Worlds Apart is a 2008 Danish drama directed by Niels Arden Oplev and written by Oplev and Steen Bille. The film stars Rosalinde Mynster and Pilou Asbæk. Based upon a true story, the film is about a 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness girl who struggles to reconcile her faith and her secret romance with... |
To verdener | Danish Danish language Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language... |
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| The Island | الجزيرة | Egyptian Arabic | |||
| I Was Here I Was Here (film) I Was Here is an Estonian feature film, based on a novel . The story is about a 17-year-old boy who becomes a drug dealer, the decision that draws him into turbulent events he can't control. The movie was directed by René Vilbre and written by Ilmar Raag... |
Mina olin siin. Esimene arest | Estonian Estonian language Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities... |
René Vilbre René Vilbre René Vilbre is an Estonian film director born on 17 May 1970 in Rakvere, Estonia René Vilbre has received the Children's Film Prize of the Nordic Film Institutes at the Lübeck Nordic Film Days in 2005 and the Don Quixote Award - Special Mention at the Molodist International Film Festival in... |
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| The Home of Dark Butterflies | Tummien perhosten koti | Finnish Finnish language Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a... |
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| The Class The Class (2008 film) The Class is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which translates literally to "Between the walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau... |
Entre les murs |
French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
Nominee | ||
| Mediator | Mediator | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... , Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
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| The Baader Meinhof Complex Der Baader Meinhof Komplex The Baader Meinhof Complex is a 2008 German film by Uli Edel. Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, it stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck and Johanna Wokalek. The film is based on the 1985 German best selling non-fiction book of the same name by Stefan Aust... |
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
Nominee | ||
| Correction | Διόρθωση | Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... |
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| Painted Skin Painted Skin (2008 film) Painted Skin is a 2008 supernatural fantasy film directed by Gordon Chan, starring Donnie Yen, Chen Kun, Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei, Betty Sun and Qi Yuwu.... |
畫皮 | Mandarin | |||
| Iska's Journey Iska's Journey Iszka utazása is a |2007 Hungarian film directed by Csaba Bollók and stars newcomer Mária Varga. The film is the result of director Bollók's accidental meeting with a 14-year-old street child, Maria Varga, living in a coal mining town of the Southern Carpathians.- Synopsis :The story follows her... |
Iszka utazása | Hungarian Hungarian language Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe.... |
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| White Night Wedding White Night Wedding White Night Wedding is a 2008 Icelandic film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The bittersweet comedy, about the never-ending search for love and happiness, takes place in Flatey, Breiðafjörður, western Iceland. The film is loosely based on the play Ivanov by Anton Chekhov.-Plot:The film opens with... |
Brúðguminn | Icelandic Icelandic language Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the... |
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| Taare Zameen Par Taare Zameen Par Taare Zameen Par is a 2007 Bollywood drama film directed by Aamir Khan, written by Amole Gupte, and produced by Aamir Khan Productions. Gupte initially developed the idea with his wife Deepa Bhatia, who served as the film's editor... |
Taare Zameen Par तारे ज़मीन पर |
Hindi | |||
| The Song of Sparrows The Song of Sparrows The Song of Sparrows is a 2008 Iranian movie directed by Majid Majidi. It tells the story of Karim, a man who works at an ostrich farm until he is fired because one of the ostriches fled. He finds a new job in Tehran, but he faces new problems in his personal life... |
آواز گنجشکها | Persian Persian language Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence... |
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| Waltz with Bashir Waltz with Bashir Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War.... |
ואלס עם באשיר | Hebrew Hebrew language Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such... |
Nominee | ||
| Gomorra Gomorra (film) Gomorrah is a 2008 Italian film directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the book by Roberto Saviano. It deals with the Casalesi clan, a crime syndicate within the Camorra — a traditional criminal organization based in Naples and Caserta, in the southern Italian region of Campania.-Plot summary:The... |
Gomorra | Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
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| Departures Departures (film) All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.#"Shine of Snow I" 1:12#"Nohkan" 3:10#"Kaisan" 0:53#"Good-Bye Cello" 2:16#"New Road" 1:15#"Model" 0:47#"First Contact" 1:51#"Washing" 0:34#"Kizuna I" 1:57#"Beautiful Dead I" 3:12#"Okuribito " 1:51... |
おくりびと | Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... |
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| Captain Abu Raed Captain Abu Raed Captain Abu Raed is a 2007 Jordanian Film directed and written by Amin Matalqa. It was the first feature film produced in Jordan in more than 50 years. The Royal Film Commission of Jordan endorsed Captain Abu Raed to be submitted to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the... |
كابتن أبو رائد | Jordanian Arabic Jordanian Arabic Jordanian Arabic is a set of dialects of Levantine Arabic that are originated in the Jordanian Kingdom and are spoken by Jordanians. Jordanian Arabic has a Semitic language structure, with lexical influence of English, Turkish and French. It is spoken by more than 6 million people, and understood... |
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| Tulpan Tulpan Tulpan is a 2008 Kazakh drama film. The film is directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy and distributed by . Tulpan is Kazakhstan's 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign Language Film category... |
Тюльпан | Kazakh Kazakh language Kazakh is a Turkic language which belongs to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages, closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak.... |
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| Heavens Blue | Тенгри | Kyrgyz Kyrgyz language Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan... |
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| Defenders of Riga | Rīgas sargi | Latvian Latvian language Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language... |
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| Under the Bombs Under the Bombs Under the Bombs is a 2007 Lebanese drama film by the Lebanese director Philippe Aractingi. The film is set in the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon War, and follows Zeina , a Lebanese woman who with help of taxi driver Tony tries to locate her son in the chaos that follows the end of the conflict.The... |
Sous les Bombes تحت القصف |
Lebanese Arabic Lebanese Arabic Lebanese or Lebanese Arabic is a variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages, and is in some ways unique from other varieties of Arabic... , French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
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| Loss Loss (film) Loss is a 2008 film directed, co-written and co-produced by Latvian film director Maris Martinsons. In October 2008, it was announced that the film was Lithuania's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the 81st Academy Awards, becoming the first Lithuanian feature film... |
Nereikalingi žmonės | Lithuanian Lithuanian language Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they... |
Maris Martinsons Maris Martinsons (director) For the Latvian-Canadian professor of management, business research director and international business consultant, please see Maris Martinsons.Maris Martinsons is a Latvian film director, producer and screenwriter... |
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| Nuits d'Arabie | Nuits d'Arabie | French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... , Letzebuergesch |
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| I'm From Titov Veles | Јас сум од Титов Велес | Macedonian Macedonian language Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora... |
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| Tear This Heart Out | Arráncame la vida | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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| Goodbye Mothers | Adieu Mères | French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... , Moroccan Arabic |
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| Dunya and Desi Dunya and Desi Dunya and Desie is a 2008 Dutch film directed by Dana Nechushtan. The film is based on the Dutch television series Dunya en Desie , which aired in three series from 2002 to 2004, about the friendship between two Dutch teenage girls. The film was chosen as the Netherlands' official submission to... e |
Dunya en Desi in Marokko | Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... , Moroccan Arabic |
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| O' Horten O' Horten O' Horten is a 2007 Norwegian film directed by Bent Hamer. The film's title character Odd Horten is a habit-bound train driver, who is about to retire. On the day of his retirement he ends up in an unexpected situation, and is forced to reconsider his life. As in other films by Hamer, the themes... |
O' Horten | Norwegian Norwegian language Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language... |
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| Salt of this Sea Salt of this Sea Salt of this Sea is a 2008 Palestinian film directed by Annemarie Jacir. It is Palestine's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film-Awards:* FIPRESCI PRIZE - INTERNATIONAL CRITICS AWARD... |
ملح هذا البحر | Palestinian Arabic Palestinian Arabic Palestinian Arabic is a Levantine Arabic dialect subgroup spoken by Palestinians and the majority of Arab-Israelis. Rural varieties of this dialect exhibit several distinctive features; particularly the pronunciation of qaf as kaf, which distinguish them from other Arabic varieties... |
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| Ploning Ploning Ploning is a 2008 Philippine romantic family drama film based on a popular Cuyonon song of the same title about a girl's hidden feelings in a man's point of view. It starred veteran actress Judy Ann Santos and was directed by Dante Nico Garcia, who won a directing award in Singapore through the film... |
Ploning | Cuyonon Cuyonon language Cuyonon is a language spoken on the coast of Palawan, and the Cuyo Islands in the Philippines.-External links:*, cuyonon.org... , Filipino Filipino language This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:... , Tagalog Tagalog language Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila... , Taiwanese |
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| Tricks Tricks Tricks, is a 2007 Polish film written, directed and produced by Andrzej Jakimowski starring Damian Ul, Ewelina Walendziak and Tomasz Sapryk. Tricks is Andrzej Jakimowski's follow up to Squint Your Eyes , his 2002 debut.-Plot:... |
Sztuczki | Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... |
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| Our Beloved Month of August Our Beloved Month of August Our Beloved Month of August is a 2008 Portuguese film directed by Miguel Gomes.-Reception:As of October 31, 2008, the film has grossed more than €89,000.It won the Critics Award at the 2008 São Paulo International Film Festival... |
Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto | Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095... |
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| The Rest is Silence | Restul e tăcere | Romanian Romanian language Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova... |
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| Mermaid | Русалка | Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... |
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| The Tour | Turneja | Serbian Serbian language Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries.... |
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| My Magic My Magic My Magic is a 2008 Singaporean Tamil language drama film directed by Eric Khoo and produced by Zhao Wei Films in association with Infinite Frameworks. My Magic was the 1st Singapore film to be nominated for the Palme D'Or, the top award for film at the Cannes Film Festival. Its has been also... |
My Magic | Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
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| Blind Loves | Slepé lásky | Slovak Slovak language Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people... |
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| Rooster's Breakfast Rooster's Breakfast Rooster's Breakfast is a Slovenian romantic comedy released in 2007. It is an adaptation of less known novel of the same name by Feri Lainšček... |
Petelinji zajtrk | Slovene | |||
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Jerusalema | Afrikaans Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape... , English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... , Zulu Zulu language Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population... , Xhosa Xhosa language Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said... |
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Los girasoles ciegos |
Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
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Alejandro Bellame |
Not Submitting
and , formally announced at the end of September that they would not be participating in this year's competition.'s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched an open call for films to represent the country, but only received one entry - Vuong Duc's Rừng đen (Black Forest). On September 29, the Ministry decided not to send any film since Forest did not meet Oscar requirements to have run one consecutive week in a commercial cinema.
Among the around 30 other countries invited, only six - Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
- have had films accepted to the competition three or more times in the last ten years.
Other Notes
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that a "record 67-strong" list of films were submitted for the competition. The Middle Eastern kingdom of JordanJordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
submitted a film for the first time and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
returned to the competition after a 15-year absence. In addition, the South Korean submission Crossing
Crossing (2008 film)
Crossing is a 2008 South Korean film directed by Kim Tae-gyun. It has been selected as South Korea's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.-Plot:...
was initially in question when it was accused of plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
by a rival writer. The Korean Film Council said it would select another submission if Crossing was found guilty, but the case was ultimately dismissed and the film was retained.
See also
- List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best Foreign Language Film
- 81st Academy Awards81st Academy AwardsThe 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2008 and took place February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST...
- List of Academy Award-winning foreign language films