After having closed the submission period for the Best Foreign-language Film Oscar in October, the 91st Academy Awards has selected nine films that will advance to the next round of voting in the category. A total of 87 films, five fewer than last year, had been submitted to the Academy (see the news). 

The submissions from three European countries have been selected: Denmark’s The Guilty [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gustav Möller
scheda film], directed by debutant Gustav Möller and one of the year’s biggest hits since its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance; The German Venice competitor Never Look Away [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Florian Henckel von Donner…
scheda film], the second German-language film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who previously won this very statuette with his 2006 title The Lives of Others [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Florian Henckel von Donner…
intervista: Ulrich Muehe
scheda film], one of the most-awarded European titles of its decade; and Poland’s Cannes-awarded Cold War [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film], directed by Pawel Pawlikowksi, who also won the prize back in 2014 with his previous film, Ida [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pawel Pawlikowski
intervista: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film], also one of the most-rewarded films of recent years. 

European input is also present in three other shortlisted submissions: Colombia’s Birds of Passage [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, is a co-production with Denmark; Kazakhstan’s Ayka [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sergey Dvortsevoy
scheda film], directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy, is a co-production with Germany, Poland and Russia; and Lebanon’s Capernaum [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Nadine Labaki was co-produced by France. The selection is rounded off by favourites Roma by Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico), Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan) and Burning by Lee Chang-dong (South Korea).

The Academy has also announced the shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, which, although dominated by US titles, includes Communion [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Poland’s Anna Zamecka, The Distant Barking of Dogs [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Denmark’s Simon Lereng Wilmont, Of Fathers and Sons [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Syrian-born, Berlin-based filmmaker Talal Derki, The Silence of Others [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Almudena Carracedo, Esther…
scheda film] by Spain’s Almudena Carracedo and the USA’s Robert Bahar, and Three Identical Strangers [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Brit Tim Wardle.

Here are the main feature-film shortlists that have just been announced:

Best Foreign-language Film

Colombia: Birds of Passage [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Colombia/Denmark/Mexico)
Denmark: The Guilty [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gustav Möller
scheda film] - Gustav Möller (Denmark)
Germany: Never Look Away [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Florian Henckel von Donner…
scheda film] - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Germany/Italy)
Japan: Shoplifters - Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan)
Kazakhstan: Ayka [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Sergey Dvortsevoy
scheda film] - Sergey Dvortsevoy (Russia/Germany/Poland/Kazakhstan/China)
Lebanon: Capernaum [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Nadine Labaki (Lebanon/France)
Mexico: Roma - Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico/USA)
Poland: Cold War [+leggi anche:
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Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
scheda film] - Pawel Pawlikowksi (Poland/UK/France)
South Korea: Burning - Lee Chang-dong (South Korea) 

Best Documentary Feature

Charm City - Marilyn Ness (USA)
Communion [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Anna Zamecka (Poland)
Crime + Punishment - Stephen Maing (USA)
Dark Money - Kimberly Reed (USA)
The Distant Barking of Dogs [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/Sweden/Finland)
Free Solo - Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (USA)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening - RaMell Ross (USA)
Minding the Gap - Bing Liu (USA)
Of Fathers and Sons [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Talal Derki (Germany/Syria/Lebanon)
On Her Shoulders - Alexandria Bombach (USA)
RBG - Julie Cohen, Betsy West (USA)
Shirkers - Sandi Tan (USA)
The Silence of Others [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Almudena Carracedo, Esther…
scheda film] - Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar (USA/Spain)
Three Identical Strangers [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Tim Wardle (UK)
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? - Morgan Neville (USA)

The final nominees for the Oscars will be revealed on 22 January 2019, and the awards ceremony will take place on 24 February in Los Angeles.