2010 Foreign Language Film Oscar Nominees

The 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony airs in a month, and linguists and cinephiles around the world are wondering which foreign language film will win the Oscar in 2010.

The Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film is awarded for excellence in world cinema. The category was first introduced in 1956. It is considered one of the most prestigious awards for feature-length, non-English films produced outside of the United States.

Category Rules and Restrictions

Each country can submit one film to the Academy for consideration. Unlike all the other categories in the Oscars, the foreign language films do not need to be released in the US to be eligible.

Until 2006, a country had to submit a film in the official language of the country. Even though that restriction no longer exists, no foreign language films produced in the US can be considered for an Oscar. However, US territories are eligible to submit foreign language films, which lead to Puerto Rico submitting — and getting a nomination — for a film called “Lo que le pasó a Santiago” (“Santiago, the Story of His New Life”) in 1989.

The director of the winning foreign language film accepts the Oscar, but the Academy considers the submitting country as a whole to be the true recipient of the award.

2010 Nominees

This year’s foreign language film category has five films vying for the coveted Oscar. The brief synopses have been adapted from the official Academy Awards website.

“Ajami,” Israel

In Jaffa, Israel, Jews and Arabs live in close — sometimes volatile — proximity. When a young man is accidentally shot in a gang-related revenge killing, his death has repercussions that echo through the lives and relationships of a wide cross-section of the people living in the area. Directed by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani.

“El secreto de sus ojos,” Argentina

Spanish for “The Secret in Their Eyes,” the film centers around Benjamin Esposito, a retired criminal prosecutor, and his plans to write a novel based on a 25-year-old rape and murder case. The resolution of that case has long haunted him, and he turns to his friends and former colleagues, the alcoholic Pablo and the beautiful chief justice Irene, for help. Directed by Juan José Campanella.

“The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru

Known as “La teta asustada” in Peru, the film focuses on Fausta, a withdrawn young woman. In the aftermath of Peru’s violent and repressive former regime, many women bear emotional scars that have been passed on to them by their victimized mothers. This unwanted legacy is a crippling burden that affects the most intimate aspects of Fausta’s life. Directed by Claudia Llosa.

“Un Prophète,” France

“A Prophet” is about a petty criminal named Malik who begins a six-year prison term and finds himself trapped in a dangerous world of warring criminal factions. As the young man seeks his place in this violent society, the balance of power begins to shift from the old-style Corsican mobsters to the more recently formed French-Arab gangs. Directed by Jacques Audiard.

“The White Ribbon,” Germany

“Das weisse Band,” the winner of the 2010 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, was shot in black and white and tells a story of a rural village in pre-World War I Germany. A series of disturbing and violent incidents has devastating effect on the village children and hints at a dark reality beneath the community’s placid, repressive surface. Directed by Michael Haneke.

Tune into the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7 to find out which country takes home the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar!

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