Chile's ‘Gloria' joins Oscar foreign-language entries: The full list (so far)

By Steve Pond LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Gloria," a Chilean drama featuring a remarkable performance from actress Paulina Garcia, is one of the new entries in this year's Oscar race in the Best Foreign Language Film category. With its submission of Sebastian Lelio's film on Wednesday, the country hopes to score back-to-back nominations after "No" won the Academy's favor at the 2012 Oscars. Other countries to announce their entries in recent days include defending champion Austria, Bulgaria, Singapore, Turkey and three-time winner Germany. Countries have until September 30 to submit entries for consideration in the category. The Academy's Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee will review all submissions to make sure the films are eligible and announce the complete list of contenders in early October. Last year, a record 71 countries were eligible. TheWrap will continue to update this list as additional countries announce their submissions. AUSTRIA "The Wall" Director: Julian Polsler A year after winning the Oscar for Michael Haneke's "Amour," Austria has gone in a very different direction with a sci-fi-tinged film based on the Marlen Haushofer novel about a woman suddenly cut off from the world by an invisible wall. (Shades of CBS's "The Dome?") Martina Gedeck, who starred in the Oscar-winning "The Lives of Others," has won raves for her lead performance. BULGARIA "The Color of the Chameleon" Director: Emil Hristov A dark comedy about domestic spying? Hristov's film might strike a few chords on these shores, but it deals with a former stage agent from the Communist era whose freelance efforts at espionage and subversion reportedly go to ridiculous lengths. CHILE "Gloria" Director: Sebastian Lelio The title character is a vibrant divorcee in her mid-50s trying to find a space in a society that barely notices her, and Chilean actress and theater director Paulina Garcia gives a bold and nuanced performance that won her the best-actress award at this year's Berlin Film Festival. A nominee last year for "No," Chile could pop up again in the race with this subtly gripping drama, which Roadside Attractions plans to release in the U.S. FINLAND "Disciple" Director: Ulrika Bengts A coming-of-age drama set on the eve of World War II, "The Disciple" deals with a teenage boy who goes to work for a lighthouse keeper on an island in the Baltic Sea and whose friendship with the lighthouse keeper's son gradually turns to rivalry. GERMANY "Two Lives" Director: Georg Maas Based on a true story about the reverberations from the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, "Two Lives" stars Juliane Kohler as a German woman living in Norway, who after the fall of the Berlin Wall is threatened by the false identity under which she's been living. Norwegian cinema icon Liv Ullman also appears in the film. GEORGIA "In Bloom" Directors: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross A look through this year's foreign-language submissions is something of a tour of the effect of war on a variety of different countries, and Georgia is no exception. Lika Babluani and Mariam Bokeria shared the best-actress award at the Sarajevo Film Festival for their portrayals of teenage girls coming of age during the country's post-Soviet civil war. GREECE "Boy Eating the Bird's Food" Director: Ektoras Lygizos Greece scored a shocking but provocative nomination with its aggressively weird "Dogtooth" in 2010 and since then has submitted other purposefully surreal films to the Oscars without success. "Boy Eating the Bird's Food" is reportedly less weird, but also a stark and challenging work of social realism that uses three days in the life of a starving young man to stand in for the ravaged state of contemporary Greece. HUNGARY "The Notebook" Director: Janosz Szasz A coming-of-age story set in World War II, Szasz's film was a prize-winner at this summer's Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Based on the 1986 bestseller by Agota Kristof, it follows two teenage brothers sent to live with their grandmother during the war. MONTENEGRO "Bad Destiny" Director: Draska Djurovic Like Serbia's entry, Montenegro's submission looks back to the Balkan civil wars of the 1990s. The drama focuses on a former member of a paramilitary group who is trying to escape to Italy while being pursued by his former comrades; American actor Michael Madsen co-stars in the film. NEPAL "Soongava: Dance of the Orchids" Director: Subama Thapa For its first-ever entry, Nepal chose another first: the first lesbian-themed film ever produced in the country. A romance between a dance teacher and one of her students, the film stirred up additional controversy because director Subama Thapa is a naturalized French citizen. "I am trying to break through the stereotypes that exist in Nepali filmmaking today," said Thapa in a statement. ROMANIA "Child's Pose" Director: Calin Peter Netzer This family drama was a big hit in Romania, which despite a recent wave of critically acclaimed films that includes "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," "Police, Adjective" and "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" has yet to land a nomination. It took the top award at Berlin Film Festival, as well as the FIPRESCI critics' award. Star Luminita Gheorghiu was also in two previous Romanian submissions, both from director Christian Mungiu, "4 Months … " and "Behind the Hills." SERBIA "Circles" Director: Srdan Golubovic A drama that begins during the Balkan civil wars of the early 1990s and deals with the reverberations from that violence, "Circles" won a jury prize at Sundance this year. Golubovic uses three interlocking stories to examine the fallout from an act of brutality in 1993, in a drama that was based on a true story. SINGAPORE "Ilo Ilo" Director: Anthony Chen Winner of the Camera d'Or as the best first feature at this year's Cannes Film Festival, "Ilo Ilo" is a family drama set against the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Film Movement acquired North American rights to the film in May and plans a 2014 release after a Toronto Film Festival booking. SOUTH KOREA "Juvenile Offender" Director: Kang Yi-kwan Still vying for its first Oscar nomination despite the presence of acclaimed auteurs like Kim Ki-duk and Hong Sang-soo, South Korea is still looking for its first Oscar nomination. This year's entry, selected from a shortlist of nine, focuses on a mother whose son has just been released from jail. TURKEY "The Butterfly's Dream" Director: Yilmaz Erdogan A big hit in its native country, Erdogan's romance follows two poetry students who are forced into coal mining in wartime Turkey, and who compete for the affections of a young woman by writing poetry. Erdogan has said his film is a tribute to the country's "diversified narrative culture," which was fading before a new wave of Kurdish and Turkish directors brought it back.