Beverly Hills, CA — Nine films will advance in the voting process in the Foreign Language Film category for the 79th Academy Awards®. Sixty-one films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:


Algeria, “Days of Glory,” Rachid Bouchareb, director
Canada, “Water,” Deepa Mehta, director
Denmark, “After the Wedding,” Susanne Bier, director
France, “Avenue Montaigne,” Daniele Thompson, director
Germany, “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director
Mexico, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, director
The Netherlands, “Black Book,” Paul Verhoeven, director
Spain, “Volver,” Pedro Almodovar, director
Switzerland, “Vitus,” Fredi M. Murer, director


Foreign Language Film nominations for 2006 are being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 61 eligible films and their ballots determined the shortlist.

A Phase II committee, made up of ten randomly selected members from the Phase I group, joined by additional ten-member contingents in New York and Los Angeles, will view the shortlisted films and select the five 2006 nominees for the category.

Phase II screenings will take place from Friday, January 19, through Sunday, January 21, in both Hollywood and New York City. "

My predictions:

Days of Glory
Water
The Lives of Others
Pan's Labyrinth
Volver

Black Book will make it as well, methinks.

So, my list is the same as xiayun's, only with Black Book instead of Days of Glory.

I agree. It's Verhoeven's return to his country, and they looove comebacks... I can't decide between Days of Glory and Water though... I guess they'll pick Water in the end, because it's closer to home and Canadian films have a good tradition getting in?