Afghanistan among 81 foreign Oscar hopefuls-Paraguay

First-time participant Paraguay is one of 81 countries which range from Afghanistan to Vietnam entering pictures for the foreign language Oscar, Academy Award organisers said Thursday.

The quantity of films is marginally submitted last year. The deadline for entries — one per nation — was October 1.

Remarkable entries include Austria’s “Good Night Mommy,” which has garnered great reviews in the United States.

China will likely be represented by “Go Away Mr. Tumor” from director Han Yan about a young woman coping with cancer, while Japan’s entry is Masaharu Take’s “100 Yen Love” revolves around a self-conscious woman who takes up boxing.

Paraguay’s entry is “Cloudy Times,” a documentary depicting director Arami Ullon’s relationship along with her ageing mother.

Afghanistan’s “Utopia” is about an Afghan woman who travels to Britain for artificial insemination, while Vietnam’s “Jackpot” is of a lottery ticket vendor’s moral dilemma.

France will be represented for the first time in decades by a non French-language movie. France’s entry, “Mustang,” is the primary feature film of Franco-Turkish director Deniz Gamze Erguven about five sisters surviving in a hamlet in northern Turkey.

The past time France submitted a non French-language film was in 1960, when its Portuguese-language entry, “Black Orpheus,” won the Oscar.

Rules require that pictures were shown in theatres in their home countries a year ago and September 30 in 2013.

The list will likely be trimmed to nine challengers per week before the January 14 announcement of nominations for all categories in the Oscars, the climax of Hollywood’s annual awards season.
The Academy Awards is televised live in more than 225 nations around the globe.