2015 Oscars Poll: Which Five Foreign Language Film Finalists Will Be Oscar Nominated?

The finalists for the Foreign Language Film Oscar are in and not without some surprising inclusions (the Golden Globe-nominated Tangerines from Estonia) and some shocking snubs (Canada’s Mommy, Belgium’s Two Days, One Night and Turkey’s Winter Sleep).

Film: Wild Tales, ARGENTINA

Oscar History: 6 nominations with 2 wins. The only Latin American winning country.
First time by director Damien Szifron.
Since 2001, Ricardo Darin, one of the leads, has starred in 7 Argentinian submissions.

Film: Tangerines, ESTONIA

Oscar History: First time Estonia has made the shortlist and first potential nomination.
Second time for director Zaza Urushadze.
The previous Zaza Urushadze submission was from his homeland. Georgia.

Film: Corn Island, GEORGIA

Oscar History: 1 previous nomination in 1996.
First time for director Giorgi Ovashvili.
Georgia is one of the three ex USSR-nominated countries in this category alongside Russia and Kazakhstan.

Film: Timbuktu, MAURITANIA

Oscar History: First time Mauritania has made the shortlist and first potential nomination.
First time for Abderrahmane Sissako.
If nominated, Mauritania will be the third Sub-saharian country after Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa.

Film: Accused, THE NETHERLANDS

Oscar History: 7 nominations and 3 wins.
Second time for Paula van der Oest. The only director from the shortlist who was previously nominated; in 2002 for Zus & Zo.
Since last nomination in 2003, The Netherlands was only in the 2009 shortlist.

Film: Ida, POLAND

Oscar History: 9 nominations with 0 wins.
First time for Paweł Pawlikowski.
If Poland loses after being nominated, it will be tied with Israel as the biggest loser in this category.

Film: Leviathan, RUSSIA

Oscar History: 5 nominations with 1 win (Only counted for Russian submissions)
Second time for Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Russia returned to the fight after 2007. That time it was nominated alongside another ex-USSR country (Kazakhstan).

Film: Force Majeure, SWEDEN

Oscar History: 14 nominations with 3 wins (All the wins thanks to Ingmar Bergman).
Second time by Ruben Östlund.
Since their last nomination in 2003, Sweden was in 2008 and 2010 shortlists.

Film: The Liberator, VENEZUELA

Oscar History: First time Venezuela has entered in the shortlist and first potential nomination.
Third time for Raul Arevalo.
If Venezuela is nominated it will be the fifth South American country, after Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile. Sixth, if you include Uruguay’s disqualified nom.

Other trivia:
-14 submissions directed by women, including the Israeli submission, but only Netherlands made it to the shortlist.
-The most famous faces, by international cinephiles, came from Latin American submissions. Edgar Ramirez and Danny Huston from Venezuelan film and Ricardo Darin, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Dario Grandinetti from Wild Tales. Recently, Agata Kulesza made headlines thanks to Ida‘s popularity.
-For first time in the shortlist, Western Europe didn’t dominate. This time, half of the submissions came from Eastern Europe: Poland, Estonia, Russia and Georgia.
-Spanish is the dominant language.

Who do you think will be Oscar nominated on January 15th, 2015?

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