85 films compete in the international Oscar race, the smallest field in 9 years

Academy members voting in the Best International Feature Film category were given 85 different films for consideration, according to emails sent to voters Friday and obtained by TheWrap.

The 85 films form the smallest field of participants in the category in nine years. Last year there were 88 eligible films, after the total number of eligible films exceeded 90 in five of the previous six years. The record was 93, set in 2000.

At the end of September, all potential voters in the category received emails inviting them to vote in the international category and telling them that those who had signed up would receive emails with their assigned viewing times on Friday, November 1. But those emails came a week early, going out to potential voters on Friday afternoon, October 25, and dividing members into seven separate groups.

Each group was given a list of twelve or thirteen films to watch, either on the Academy members-only screening platform or in the cinema. Voters must see every film in the group for their vote to count, but they are also encouraged to see as many films as they want outside of their group.

Films were not randomly divided into groups, but were chosen to create a mix of regions, genres and running times. For example, Group 1 is the only group with 13 entries and includes five films from Europe (Albania, Estonia, Norway, Italy and Switzerland), three from South and Central America (Bolivia, Paraguay and Costa Rica), one from Africa (Algeria ), three from Asia (Armenia, Cambodia, Malaysia) and one from the Middle East (Iraq).

The list of films assigned to voters is not the final list of eligible films, which the Academy will release at a later date. Occasionally, an assigned film is later determined to be ineligible under the category’s rules, although in most cases there is no difference between the list of assigned films and the final list.

Four films announced as their country’s entries are missing from the list of assigned films. Three of these were documentaries: China’s ‘The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru’, Jordan’s ‘My Sweet Land’ and Uruguay’s ‘The Door Is There’. Haiti’s “Kidnapping Inc.” was the fourth film, was announced as the country’s entry, but it did not make it onto any assignment lists.

The first round of voting will take place from December 9 to 13, with a shortlist of fifteen films to be announced on December 17. A second round of voting will narrow the fifteen films down to the final five nominees.

All eligible films are placed in the Academy Screening Room dedicated to this category, and new films are added every Friday. At the time the group assignments were made, 41 of the 85 titles were available in the cinema, although it did not include such high-profile films as the French ‘Emilia Perez’, the Brazilian ‘I’m Still Here’ and the German ‘The Seed ‘. of the Sacred Fig,” the Italian “Vermiglio,” the Mexican “Sujo,” the Norwegian “Armand,” the Portuguese “Grand Tour,” the Senegalese “Dahomey,” and the British “Santosh.”

Some of the hottest films voters can stream include Austria’s ‘The Devil’s Bath’, Belgium’s ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ‘My Late Summer’, Cambodia’s ‘Meeting With Pol Pot’, ‘Universal Language’ from Canada, the Danish ‘The Girl with the Needle’, the Icelandic ‘Touch’, the Irish ‘Kneecap’, the Japanese ‘Cloud’, the Moroccan ‘Everybody Loves Touda’, the Latvian animated film ‘Flow’ and the Palestinian ‘From Ground Zero’, which consists of 22 short films by directors living in Gaza.

The available films are unevenly distributed across the seven groups. For example, voters in Group 6 only have two films available to them in the cinema, while voters in Group 3 and Group 4 have eight.

The international race has fewer clear favorites this year than in other recent years. Jacques Audiard’s ‘Emilia Perez’ is the standout entry and the standard frontrunner, followed by director Walter Salles’ ‘I’m Still Here’ and Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’.

TheWrap has a full list of eligible films here, with descriptions of each film and links to trailers where available.

Here is the list of films assigned to voters in the Best International Feature Film category:

Albania: “Waterdrop”, Robert Budina
Algeria: “Algiers”, Chakib Taleb-Bendiab
Argentina: “Kill the jockey,” Luis Ortega
Armenia: “Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev”, Edgar Baghdasaryan
Austria: “The Devil’s Bath”, Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala
Bangladesh: “The Wrestler”, Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury
Belgium: “Julie is silent”, Leonardo Van Dijl
Bolivia: ‘Own hand’, Rodrigo Gory Patino
Bosnia and Herzegovina: “My late summer”, Danis Tanovic
Brazil: “I’m still here”, Walter Salles
Bulgaria: “Triumph”, Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
Cambodia: “Meeting with Pol Pot”, Rithy Panh
Cameroon: “Kismet,” Ngang Romanus
Canada: “Universal Language,” Matthew Rankin
Chile: “In her place”, Maite Alberdi
Colombia: “La Suprema”, Felipe Holguin Caro
Costa Rica: “Memories of a Burning Body,” Antonella Sudasassi
Croatia: “Beautiful evening, beautiful day”, Ivona Juka
Czech Republic: “Waves”, Jiri Madl
Denmark: “The girl with the needle”, Magnus von Horn
Dominican Republic: “Aire: Just Breathe”, Letitia Tonos
Ecuador: “Behind the Fog”, Sebastian Cordero
Egypt: “Flight 404”, Hani Khalifa
Estonia: “8 views of Lake Biwa,” Marko Raat
Finland: ‘Family Time’, Tia Kouvo
France: “Emilia Perez”, Jacques Audiard
Georgia: “The Ancient”, Rusudan Glurjidze
Germany: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof
Greece: “Murderess”, Eva Nathena
Guatemala: “Rita”, Jayro Bustamante
Hong Kong: “Twight of the Warriors: Walled”, Soi Cheang
Hungary: “Semmelweis”, Lajos Koltai
Iceland: “Touch”, Baltasar Kormakur
India: “Lost Ladies”, Kiran Rao
Indonesia: ‘Women of Rote Island’, Jeremias Nyangoen
Iran: “In the arms of the tree”, Babak Lotfi Khajepasha
Iraq: “Baghdad Messi,” Sahim Omar Kalifa
Ireland: “Kneecap”, Rich Peppiatt
Israel: “Come closer,” Tom Nesher
Italy: “Vermiglio”, Maura Delpero
Japan: ‘Cloud’, Kurosawa Kiyoshi
Kazakhstan: “Bauryna Salu,” Askhat Kuchinchirekov
Kenya: “Nawi,” Vallentine Chelluget, Apuu Mourine, Kevin & Toby Schmutzler
Kyrgyzstan: “Paradise at mother’s feet”, Russian Akun
Latvia: “Flow”, Gints Zilbalodis
Lebanon: “Arze,” Mira Shaib
Lithuania: “Drowning dry”, Laurynas Bareisa
Malaysia: “Abang Adik,” Jin Ong
Malta: “Castillo”, Abigail Mallia
Mexico: “Sujo”, Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez
Mongolia: “If only I could hibernate”, Zoljargal Purvedash
Montenegro: “Supermarket”, Nemanja Becanovic
Morocco: “Everyone loves Touda”, Nabil Ayouch
Nepal: “Shambhakam”, Min Bahadur Bham
Netherlands: “Memory Lane”, Jelle de Jonge
Nigeria: “Mai Martaba”
Norway: “Armand”, Halfdan Ullman Tinder
Pakistan: “The Glass Worker”, Usman Riaz
Palestine: “From Ground Zero”, Aws Al-Banna…
Panama: “Wake up mom,” Arianne Benedetti
Paraguay: “The Last”, Sebastian Pena Escobar
Peru: “Yana-Wara”, Oscar Catacora and Tito Catacora
Philippines: ‘And so it begins’, Ramona S. Diaz
Poland: “Under the volcano”, Damian Kocur
Portugal: “Grand Tour”, Miguel Gomes
Romania: “Three kilometers to the end of the world”, Emanuel Parvu
Senegal: “Dahomey”, Mati Diop
Serbia: “Russian consul”, Miroslav Lekic
Singapore: “La Luna”, M. Raihan Halim
Slovakia: “The Hungarian seamstress”, Iveta Grofova
Slovenia: “Family Therapy”, Sonja Prosenc
South Africa: “Old Righteous Blues”, Muneera Sallies
South Korea: “12.12: The Day”, Kim Sung-su
Spain: “Saturn Return”, Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodriguez
Sweden: “The Last Journey”, Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson
Switzerland: “Queens”, Klaudia Reynicke
Taiwan: “Old Fox,” Hsiao Ya-chuan
Tajikistan: “Melody”, Behrous Sebt Rasoul
Thailand: “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies,” Pat Boonnitipat
Tunisia: “Take a breath,” Nada Mezni Hafaiedh
Turkey: “Life”, Zeki Demirkubuz
Ukraine: “La Palisiada,” Philip Sotnychenko
United Kingdom: “Santosh”, Sandhya Suri
Venezuela: “Back to life”, Luis Carlo Hueck and Alfredo Hueck
Vietnam: “Peach Blossom, Pho and Piano”, Phi Tien Son