9 Foreign Language Films Advance in Oscar Race

Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 88th Academy Awards®. Eighty films had originally been considered in the category.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2015 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 14. 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 category’s five nominees by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and London. They will spend Friday, January 8, through Sunday, January 10, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

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

Belgium, The Brand New Testament, Jaco Van Dormael, director

Colombia, Embrace of the Serpent, Ciro Guerra, director

Denmark, A War, Tobias Lindholm, director

Finland, The Fencer, Klaus Härö, director

France, Mustang, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, director

Germany, Labyrinth of Lies, Giulio Ricciarelli, director

Hungary, Son of Saul, László Nemes, director

Ireland, Viva, Paddy Breathnach, director

Jordan, Theeb, Naji Abu Nowar, director