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.

The Past

1. Denmark, "The Hunt," Thomas Vinterberg, director

2. Saudi Arabia, "Wadjda," Haifaa Al Mansour, director

3. Iran, "The Past," Asghar Farhadi, director

4. Canada, "Gabrielle," Louise Archambault, director

5. Romania, "Child’s Pose," Calin Peter Netzer, director

6. Germany, "Two Lives," Georg Maas, director

7. Chile, "Gloria," Sebastián Lelio, director

8. Australia, "The Rocket," Kim Mordaunt, director

9. Austria, "The Wall," Julian Pölsler, director

10. Czech Republic, "The Don Juans," Jiri Menzel, director

Neighboring Sounds

11. Palestine, "Omar," Hany Abu-Assad, director

12. Cambodia, "The Missing Picture," Rithy Panh, director

13. Israel, "Bethlehem," Yuval Adler, director

14. Bangladesh, "Television," Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director

15. Ecuador, "The Porcelain Horse," Javier Andrade, director

16. United Kingdom, "Metro Manila," Sean Ellis, director

17. Georgia, "In Bloom," Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross, directors

18. Brazil, "Neighboring Sounds," Kleber Mendonça Filho, director

19. Kazakhstan, "Shal," Yermek Tursunov, director

20. Colombia, "La Playa DC," Juan Andrés Arango, director

The Grandmaster

21. Italy, "The Great Beauty," Paolo Sorrentino, director

22. Latvia, "Mother, I Love You," Janis Nords, director

23. Moldova, "All God’s Children," Adrian Popovici, director

24. Hong Kong, "The Grandmaster," Wong Kar-wai, director

25. Afghanistan, "Wajma – An Afghan Love Story," Barmak Akram, director

26. Hungary, "The Notebook," Janos Szasz, director

27. Bosnia and Herzegovina, "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker," Danis Tanovic, director

28. Turkey, "The Butterfly’s Dream," Yilmaz Erdogan, director

29. Russia, "Stalingrad," Fedor Bondarchuk, director

30. Croatia, "Halima’s Path," Arsen Anton Ostojic, director

Back to 1942

31. France, "Renoir," Gilles Bourdos, director

32. Albania, "Agon," Robert Budina, director

33. Poland, "Walesa. Man of Hope," Andrzej Wajda, director

34. Sweden, "Eat Sleep Die," Gabriela Pichler, director

35. Lebanon, "Blind Intersections," Lara Saba, director

36. India, "The Good Road," Gyan Correa, director

37. Greece, "Boy Eating the Bird’s Food," Ektoras Lygizos, director

38. Mexico, "Heli," Amat Escalante, director

39. China, "Back to 1942," Feng Xiaogang, director

40. Morocco, "Horses of God," Nabil Ayouch, director

I Am Yours

41. Nepal, "Soongava: Dance of the Orchids," Subarna Thapa, director

42. Slovenia, "Class Enemy," Rok Bicek, director

43. Norway, "I Am Yours," Iram Haq, director

44. Switzerland, "More than Honey," Markus Imhoof, director

45. Belgium, "The Broken Circle Breakdown," Felix van Groeningen, director

46. Azerbaijan, "Steppe Man," Shamil Aliyev, director

47. Egypt, "Winter of Discontent," Ibrahim El Batout, director

48. Japan, "The Great Passage," Ishii Yuya, director

49. Philippines, "Transit," Hannah Espia, director

50. Pakistan, "Zinda Bhaag," Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi, directors

Ilo Ilo

51. Indonesia, "Sang Kiai," Rako Prijanto, director

52. Finland, "Disciple," Ulrika Bengts, director

53. Spain, "15 Years Plus a Day," Gracia Querejeta, director

54. Estonia, "Free Range," Veiko Ounpuu, director

55. Serbia, "Circles," Srdan Golubovic, director

56. Lithuania, "Conversations on Serious Topics," Giedre Beinoriute, director

57. New Zealand, "White Lies," Dana Rotberg, director

58. Singapore, "Ilo Ilo," Anthony Chen, director

59. Venezuela, "Breach in the Silence," Luis Alejandro Rodríguez and Andrés Eduardo Rodríguez, directors

60. Ukraine, "Paradjanov," Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, directors

Anina

61. Taiwan, "Soul," Chung Mong-Hong, director

62. Montenegro, "Ace of Spades - Bad Destiny," Drasko Djurovic, director

63. Iceland, "Of Horses and Men," Benedikt Erlingsson, director

64. Peru, "The Cleaner," Adrian Saba, director

65. South Korea, "Juvenile Offender," Kang Yi-kwan, director

66. Chad, "GriGris," Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director

67. Bulgaria, "The Color of the Chameleon," Emil Hristov, director

68. Portugal, "Lines of Wellington," Valeria Sarmiento, director

69. Uruguay, "Anina," Alfredo Soderguit, director

70. Slovak Republic, "My Dog Killer," Mira Fornay, director

Blind Spot

71. South Africa, "Four Corners," Ian Gabriel, director

72. Argentina, "The German Doctor," Lucía Puenzo, director

73. Netherlands, "Borgman," Alex van Warmerdam, director

74. Luxembourg, "Blind Spot," Christophe Wagner, director

75. Thailand, "Countdown," Nattawut Poonpiriya, director

76. Dominican Republic, "Quien Manda?" Ronni Castillo, director