Films From 61 Countries Vying For Oscar Nod

61 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 79th Academy Awards, Academy President Sid Ganis announced Thursday. The complete list is published below, but lacks Aki Kaurismaki’s “Lights in the Dusk,” which was submitted by Finland but subsequently withdrawn by the filmmaker. The Academy said in a statement Thursday that an AMPAS rep is in conversations with Kaurismaki to persuade him to change his mind. The nominations for the 79th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 and the Oscars will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007.

In his latest World Cinema column, Anthony Kaufman surveyed the early foreign language Oscar race.

The 2006 Foreign Language Film submissions are:

Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director

Argentina, “Family Law,” Daniel Burman, director

Australia, “Ten Canoes,” Rolf de Heer, director

Austria, “You Bet Your Life,” Antonin Svoboda, director

Bangladesh, “Forever Flows,” Abu Sayeed, director

Belgium, “Someone Else’s Happiness,” Fien Troch, director

Bolivia, “American Visa,” Juan Carlos Valdivia, director

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Grbavica,” Jasmila Zbanic, director

Brazil, “Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures,” Marcelo Gomes, director

Bulgaria, “Monkeys in Winter,” Milena Andonova, director

Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director

Chile, “En la Cama,” Matiaz Bize, director

China, “Curse of the Golden Flower,” Zhang Yimou, director

Colombia, “A Ton of Luck,” Rodrigo Triana, director

Croatia, “Libertas,” Veljko Bulajic, director

Cuba, “El Benny,” Jorge Luis Sanchez, director

Czech Republic, “Lunacy,” Jan Svankmajer, director

Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director

Egypt, “The Yacoubian Building,” Marwan Hamed, director

France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director

Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director

Greece, “Chariton’s Choir,” Grigoris Karantinakis, director

Hong Kong, “The Banquet,” Feng Xiaogang, director

Hungary, “White Palms,” Szabolcs Hajdu, director

Iceland, “Children,” Ragnar Bragason, director

India, “Rang De Basanti,” Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, director

Indonesia, “Love for Share,” Nia Dinata, director

Iran, “Transit Cafe,” Kambozia Partovi, director

Iraq, “Dreams,” Mohamed Al-Daradji, director

Israel, “Sweet Mud,” Dror Shaul, director

Italy, “Golden Door,” Emanuele Crialese, director

Japan, “Hula Girls,” Sang-il Lee, director

Kazakhstan, “Nomad,” Sergei Bodrov, Talgat Temenov, Ivan Passer, directors

Korea, “King and the Clown,” Lee Jun-ik, director

Kyrgyzstan, “The Wedding Chest,” Nurbek Egen, director

Lebanon, “Bosta,” Philippe Aractingi, director

Lithuania, “Before Flying Back to Earth,” Arunas Matelis, director

Macedonia, “Kontakt,” Sergei Stanojkovski, director

Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director

Morocco, “The Moroccan Symphony,” Kamal Kamal, director

Nepal, “Basain,” Subash Prasad Gajurel, director

The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director

Norway, “Reprise,” Joachim Trier, director

Peru, “Madeinusa,” Claudia Llosa, director

Philippines, “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros,” Auraeus Solito, director

Poland, “Retrieval,” Slawomir Fabicki, director

Portugal, “Alice,” Marco Martins, director

Puerto Rico, “Thieves and Liars,” Ricardo Mendez Matta, director

Romania, “The Way I Spent the End of the World,” Catalin Mitulescu, director

Russia, “9th Company,” Fyodor Bondarchuk, director

Serbia, “Tomorrow Morning,” Oleg Novkovic, director

Slovenia, “Gravehopping,” Jan Cvitkovic, director

Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director

Sweden, “Falkenberg Farewell,” Jesper Ganslandt, director

Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director

Taiwan, “Blue Cha Cha,” Cheng Wen-tang, director

Thailand, “Ahimsa Stop to Run,” Leo Kittikorn, director

Turkey, “Ice Cream, I Scream,” Yuksel Aksu, director

Ukraine, “Aurora,” Oxana Bayrak, director

Venezuela, “Maroa,” Solveig Hoogesteijn, director

Vietnam, “Story of Pao,” Ngo Quang Hai, director

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