A record 67 countries, including first-time entrant Jordan, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 81st Academy Awards®, Academy President Sid Ganis announced today. The 2008 submissions are: Afghanistan, “Opium War,” Siddiq Barmak, director; Albania, “The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider,” Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani, directors; Algeria, “Masquerades,” Lyes Salem, director; Argentina, “Lion’s Den,” Pablo Trapero, director; Austria, “Revanche,” Gotz Spielmann, director; Azerbaijan, “Fortress,” Shamil Nacafzada, director; Bangladesh, “Aha!,” Enamul Karim Nirjhar, director; Belgium, “Eldorado,” Bouli Lanners, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Snow,” Aida Begic, director; Brazil, “Last Stop 174,” Bruno Barreto, director; Bulgaria, “Zift,” Javor Gardev, director; Canada, “The Necessities of Life,” Benoit Pilon, director; Chile, “Tony Manero,” Pablo Larrain, director; China, “Dream Weavers,” Jun Gu, director; Colombia, “Dog Eat Dog,” Carlos Moreno, director; Croatia, “No One’s Son,” Arsen Anton Ostojic, director; Czech Republic, “The Karamazovs,” Petr Zelenka, director; Denmark, “Worlds Apart,” Niels Arden Oplev, director; Egypt, “The Island,” Sherif Arafa, director; Estonia, “I Was Here,” Rene Vilbre, director; Finland, “The Home of Dark Butterflies,” Dome Karukoski, director; France, “The Class,” Laurent Cantet, director; Georgia, “Mediator,” Dito Tsintsadze, director; Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director; Greece, “Correction,” Thanos Anastopoulos, director; Hong Kong, “Painted Skin,” Gordon Chan, director; Hungary, “Iska’s Journey,” Csaba Bollok, director; Iceland, “White Night Wedding,” Baltasar Kormakur, director; India, “Taare Zameen Par,” Aamir Khan, director; Iran, “The Song of Sparrows,” Majid Majidi, director; Israel, “Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman, director; Italy, “Gomorra,” Matteo Garrone, director; Japan, “Departures,” Yojiro Takita, director; Jordan, “Captain Abu Raed,” Amin Matalqa, director; Kazakhstan, “Tulpan,” Sergey Dvortsevoy, director; Korea, “Crossing,” Tae-kyun Kim, director; Kyrgyzstan, “Heavens Blue,” Marie Jaoul de Poncheville, director; Latvia, “Defenders of Riga,” Aigars Grauba, director; Lebanon, “Under the Bombs,” Philippe Aractingi, director; Lithuania, “Loss,” Maris Martinsons, director; Luxembourg, “Nuits d’Arabie,” Paul Kieffer, director; Macedonia, “I’m from Titov Veles,” Teona Strugar Mitevska, director; Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out,” Roberto Sneider, director; Morocco, “Goodbye Mothers,” Mohamed Ismail, director; The Netherlands, “Dunya & Desie,” Dana Nechushtan, director; Norway, “O’Horten,” Bent Hamer, director; Palestine, “Salt of This Sea” Annemarie Jacir, director; Philippines, “Ploning,” Dante Nico Garcia, director; Poland, “Tricks,” Andrzej Jakimowski, director; Portugal, “Our Beloved Month of August,” Miguel Gomes, director; Romania, “The Rest Is Silence,” Nae Caranfil, director; Russia, “Mermaid,” Anna Melikyan, director; Serbia, “The Tour,” Goran Markovic, director; Singapore, “My Magic,” Eric Khoo, director; Slovakia, “Blind Loves,” Juraj Lehotsky, director; Slovenia, “Rooster’s Breakfast,” Marko Nabersnik, director; South Africa, “Jerusalema,” Ralph Ziman, director; Spain, “The Blind Sunflowers,” Jose Luis Cuerda, director; Sweden, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director; Switzerland, “The Friend,” Micha Lewinsky, director; Taiwan, “Cape No. 7,” Te-Sheng Wei, director; Thailand, “Love of Siam,” Chookiat Sakveerakul, director; Turkey, “3 Monkeys,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director; Ukraine, “Illusion of Fear,” Aleksandr Kiriyenko, director; United Kingdom, “Hope Eternal,” Karl Francis, director; Uruguay, “Kill Them All,” Esteban Schroeder, director; Venezuela, “The Color of Fame,” Alejandro Bellame Palacios, director. Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academys Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide. Show Comments |