Ranking the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions

The Hunt is the arguable frontrunner.

It was announced yesterday that 76 foreign language films - an all-time high - are eligible for the 86th Annual Academy Awards. In honor of this news, I took a foolhardy crack at ranking them according to the likelihood of being nominated. This was far from an exact science, and I kind of hope my bottom pick makes the cut in January. After all, this category is usually a crap shoot.

2012 Foreign Language Film Oscar Shortlist

France's entry makes the cut.

In the latest Academy Award news, the Foreign Language Film category has been reduced to nine eligible films. Four films from my predicted lineup made the cut, with Australia's Lore being left off.

The eligible films are:

     Austria, "Amour," Michael Haneke, director;
     Canada, "War Witch," Kim Nguyen, director;
     Chile, "No," Pablo Larraín, director;
     Denmark, "A Royal Affair," Nikolaj Arcel, director;
     France, "The Intouchables," Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors;
     Iceland, "The Deep," Baltasar Kormákur, director;
     Norway, "Kon-Tiki," Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors;
     Romania, "Beyond the Hills," Cristian Mungiu, director;
     Switzerland, "Sister," Ursula Meier, director.