The Academy narrows down the full slate of submitted foreign language films to nine from which the final five nominees will be selected. Below is the press release from the Academy indicating which nine made it. There are a few surprises.

This list conveys a deep divide in the foreign language film selection committee. A few years ago, the foreign language film committee revised its rules to prevent glaring omissions from appearing. It has largely worked in recent years. Their goal is to keep the committee’s desires intact, but rescue a few submissions that might have gotten left off otherwise. There must have been a very poor pool of selections if films like Wadjda and The Past can’t make it through. Films from Israel, Serbia, Lithuania, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France and Poland were on many lists as potential nominees. From the five I originally predicted, only Belgium, Denmark and Italy remain with Hong Kong one of my runners-up. That so many unexpected or less-than-expected selections made it through is rather surprising.

9 Foreign Language Films Advance in Oscar® Race

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 86th Academy Awards®. Seventy-six films had originally been considered in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;
Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;
Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;
Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;
Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;
Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;
Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;
Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2013 are being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 16. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 10, through Sunday, January 12, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.