Oscar foreign submissions 2013
The movies submitted to the Foreign Language category at the Academy Awards for 2013 (February 2014)
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- DirectorBarmak AkramStarsWajma BaharMustafa AbdulsatarHaji Gul AserIt's snowing in Kabul, and gregarious waiter Mustafa charms a pretty student named Wajma. The pair begins a clandestine relationship - they're playful and passionate but ever mindful of the societal rules they are breaking. After Wajma discovers she is pregnant, her certainty that Mustafa will marry her falters, and word of their dalliance gets out. Her father must decide between his culturally held right to uphold family honor and his devotion to his daughter.Afghanistan (no previous nominations)
- DirectorRobert BudinaStarsMarvin TafajGuliem KotorriIsavela KogevinaTwo Albanian brothers migrate to Greece and try, each in his own way, to integrate into their host country by following two different lifestyles.Albania (no previous nominations)
- DirectorLucía PuenzoStarsAlex BrendemühlDiego PerettiGuillermo PfeningThe story of an Argentine family who lived with Josef Mengele without knowing his true identity, and of a girl who fell in love with one of the biggest criminals of all time.Argentina (6 previous nominations, 2 wins ("The Secret in Their Eyes" [2009] and "The Official Story" [1985])
- DirectorKim MordauntStarsSitthiphon DisamoeLoungnam KaosainamSuthep Po-ngamLaos. In a land ravaged by war and exploitation, a boy whose family believe he is cursed must redeem himself by taking part in a dangerous rocket competition.Australia (no previous nominations)
- DirectorJulian PölslerStarsMartina GedeckLuchs von KyffhäuserbachKarlheinz HacklA woman finds herself inexplicably cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the landscape.Austria (4 previous nominations, 2 wins ("Amour" [2012] and "The Counterfeiters" [2007])
- DirectorShamil AliyevStarsBahruz VagifolguSalome DemuriaVidadi HesenovOn the steppe, an old man and a young guy live far away from the people, selling the wool of the camels they look after. After the death of the older man, a girl with short hair comes out and adds her own story to the life of the younger man and changes his life.Azerbaijan (no previous nominations) - as part of Soviet Union, see Russia
- DirectorMostofa Sarwar FarookiStarsShahir Huda RumiChanchal ChowdhuryNusrat Imrose TishaAs a leader of the local community, Chairman Amin bans every kind of image in his water-locked village in rural Bangladesh. He even goes on to claim that imagination is also sinful since it gives one the license to infiltrate into any prohibited territory. But change is a desperate wind that is difficult to resist by shutting the window. The tension between this traditional window and modern wind grows to such an extent that it starts to leave a ripple effect on the lives of a group of typically colorful, eccentric, and emotional people living in that village. But at the very end of the film, Television, which he hated so much, comes to the rescue and helps Chairman Amin reach a transcendental state where he and his God are unified. A new twist to the story makes him embrace IMAGE and IMAGINATIONBangladesh (no previous nominations)
- DirectorFelix van GroeningenStarsVeerle BaetensJohan HeldenberghNell CattrysseElise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He's a romantic atheist, she's a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial.Belgium (6 previous nominations) - NOMINATED
- DirectorDanis TanovicStarsNazif MujicSenada AlimanovicSemsa MujicA Roma family lives far from the urban centres of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The father Nazif salvages metal from old cars and sells it to a scrap-dealer. The mother Senada keeps the house tidy, cooks, bakes and cares for their two small daughters. One day, she feels a sharp pain in her abdomen. At the hospital she is told there is something wrong with the baby she is carrying: "They say it's dead." She is at risk of septicaemia and they must operate immediately. But Senada has no medical insurance; since the operation will cost much more than the family can afford the hospital's head refuses to treat her. A race against time together with a mounting sense of hopelessness played by a cast of non-professional actors re-enacting an episode from their own lives. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix and the Silver Bear for best actor at the Berlin Film Festival 2013.Bosnia & Herzegovina (1 previous nomination, 1 win ("No Man's Land" [2001]) - as part of Yugoslavia 6 nominations - FINAL 9
- DirectorKleber Mendonça FilhoStarsAna Rita GurgelCaio AlmeidaMaeve JinkingsThe lives of the residents of a Brazilian apartment building and the security guards who get the job guarding the surrounding streets.Brazil (4 previous nominations) - Available on Netflix US
- DirectorEmil ChristovStarsLilia AbadjievaKasiel Noah AsherMihail BilalovBatko becomes the spider in his own invisible web of informants by recruiting a group of intellectuals to spy on each other. He builds his own secret archive. After the fall of communism, he uses it to wreak havoc on the government.Bulgaria (no previous nominations)
- DirectorRithy PanhStarsRandal DoucJean-Baptiste PhouRithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.Cambodia (no previous nominations) - NOMINATED
- DirectorLouise ArchambaultStarsGabrielle Marion-RivardAlexandre LandryMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinGabrielle is a young woman with Williams syndrome who has a contagious joie de vivre and an exceptional musical gift. Since she met her boyfriend Martin, at the recreation centre where they are choir members, they have been inseparable. However, because they are "different," their loved ones are fearful of their relationship. As the choir prepares for an important music festival, Gabrielle does everything she can to gain her independence. As determined as she is, Gabrielle must still confront other people's prejudices as well as her own limitations in the hope of experiencing a love far from the "ordinary".Canada (7 previous nominations, 1 win ("The Barbarian Invasions" [2003])
- DirectorMahamat-Saleh HarounStarsSouleymane DéméAnaïs MonoryCyril GueïDespite a paralyzed leg, Grigris, 25 year old, dreams of being a dancer. A challenge. But his dreams are dashed when his stepfather falls critically ill. To save him, Grigris resolves to work for petrol traffickers.Chad (no previous nominations)
- DirectorSebastián LelioStarsPaulina GarcíaSergio HernándezDiego FontecillaA story set in Santiago and centered on Gloria, a free-spirited older woman, and the realities of her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer whom she meets out in the clubs.Chile (1 previous nomination)
- DirectorXiaogang FengStarsGuoli ZhangHanyu ZhangWei FanA deadly drought in 1942 takes its toll on central China's Henan province during the war against Japan.China (2 previous nominations) - Available on Netflix US and Canada
- DirectorJuan Andrés Arango GarciaStarsLuis Carlos GuevaraJamés SolísAndrés MurilloTomas, an Afro-Colombian teenager who fled the country's Pacific coast pushed out by the war, faces the difficulties of growing up in a city of exclusion and racism. When Jairo, his younger brother and closest friend disappears, Tomas plunges into the streets of the city. His search becomes an initiatory journey that compels him to face his past and to leave aside the influence of his brothers in order to find his own identity. Through this journey, Tomas reveals a unique perspective of a vibrant and unstable city that, like Tomas, stands on the threshold between what once was and what might be.Colombia (no previous nominations)
- DirectorArsen A. OstojicStarsAlma PricaOlga PakalovicMijo JurisicIn order to recover the body of her son lost during the war in Bosnia, a grieving, but strong-willed Muslim woman, Halima, must track down her estranged niece, who we find carries a mysterious connection to him.Croatia (no previous nominations) - as part of Yugoslavia (6 nominations)
- DirectorJirí MenzelStarsJan HartlLibuse SafránkováMartin HubaAn opera troupe in a small town decides to perform Mozart's Don Giovanni. The view behind the scenes uncovers the world of opera without the glitter. A tale of love and disappointment, about music and passionate love-making and about people that live their lives in spite of the opera.Czech Republic (3 previous nominations, 1 win ("Kolya" [1996]) - as part of Czechoslovakia (6 nominations, 2 wins ("The Shop on Main Street" [1965], "Closely Watched Trains" [1967])
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.Denmark (9 previous nominations, 3 wins ("Babette's Feast" [1987], "Pelle the Conqueror" [1988] and "In a Better World" [2010) - Available on Netflix UK - NOMINATED
- DirectorRonni CastilloStarsFrank PerozoNashla BogaertMicky MontillaA couple of uncommitted partners just looking for fun get into a battle of egos as they fall in love.The Dominican Republic (no previous nominations)
- DirectorJavier AndradeStarsFrancisco SavinovichVictor ArauzLeovanna OrlandiniPaco Chavez's life is careless and charming. It's a life of illicit drugs and a forbidden love affair he carries with Lucia, his former high school sweetheart, now married to another man. One night, Paco and his younger brother Luis, enter their parent's home to steal a porcelain horse to pawn in order to score more drugs. Their father catches them and a fight ensues. The consequences of that fight will haunt both brothers forever.Ecuador (no previous nominations)
- DirectorIbrahim El-BatoutStarsAmr WakedFarah YusufSalah AlhanafySet against the momentous backdrop of the whirlwind Tahrir Square protests, Winter of discontent poetically explores the anguish of a victim state terror in 2009, presaging and intertwining with the pivotal events in 2011 that changed the face of Egypt. As the stories of the characters unfold, we are propelled headlong into the heady, often surreal atmosphere of terror and uncertainty that characterized the last days of Mubarak's rule.Egypt (no previous nominations)
- DirectorVeiko ÕunpuuStarsLauri LagleJaanika ArumLaura Peterson-AardamThe story of a promising, young man with exciting career opportunities and looming marital bliss.Estonia (no previous nominations) - as part of Soviet Union, see Russia
- DirectorUlrika BengtsStarsErik EngePatrik KumpulainenNiklas GroundstroemIn 1939 the 13-year-old Carl arrives at the lighthouse Lågskär in the Åland Islands, for a position as lighthouse disciple. He is trained by the demanding lighthouse keeper.Finland (1 previous nomination)