Nine films have progressed to the next stage of voting in next year’s foreign language Oscar competition, selected from the 80 considered eligible. The list now includes The Brand New Testament (Belgium), Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia), A War (Denmark), The Fencer (Finland), Mustang (France), Labyrinth of Lies (Germany), Son of Saul (Hungary), Viva (Ireland) and Theeb (Jordan).
These will be further whittled to five official nominees, which will be announced along with the other category contenders on 14 January, ahead of the awards on 28 February.
This leaves a number of much-fancied movies out of the race, including Muhammad: The Messenger of God, a controversial biopic of the prophet from Iran, as well as A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, which won the Golden Lion at Venice last year, and Cannes hits Rams (Iceland) and The Assassin (Taiwan).
Such omissions mean that another Cannes success, Laszlo Nemes’s Auschwitz-set drama Son of Saul, will be many pundits’ tip for the top. The film has featured in many best of year lists, including at the top of the Guardian’s 50 best films of the year in the US.
