The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the foreign language film category for the 85th Academy Awards. Originally, 71 films had qualified in the category.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Austria – Amour directed by Michael Haneke
Canada – War Witch directed by Kim Nguyen
Chile – No directed by Pablo Larraín
Denmark – A Royal Affair directed by Nikolaj Arcel
France – The Intouchables directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano
Iceland – The Deep directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Norway – Kon-Tiki directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg
Romania – Beyond the Hills directed by Cristian Mungiu
Switzerland – Sister directed by Ursula Meier
Foreign language film nominations are determined in two phases. The phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 71 eligible films between mid-October and Dec. 17. 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 Jan. 4-6, viewing three films a day and then casting their ballots.
The nominations will be announced Jan. 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
