Nine films are still in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. As expected, the Golden Globe winner from Germany, The White Ribbon, by Michael Hanake is among them, as is France’s A Prophet by Jacques Audiard.

Screen Daily notes that the omission of South Korea’s widely admired entry, Bong Joon-ho’s Mother, is a surprise. And Entertainment Weekly muses that Spain’s Pedro Almodovar may get some satisfaction out of seeing the list – Almodovar’s acclaimed Broken Embraces was not chosen as Spain’s official entry and the film that they did choose, The Dancer and the Thief, failed to make the cut.

The final five nominees will be announced on February 2.

The shortlisted films in alphabetical order by country are:

El Secreto De Sus Ojos (Argentina). Juan Jose Campanella

Samson & Delilah (Australia). Warwick Thornton

The World Is Big And Salvation Lurks Around The Corner (Bulgaria). Stephan Komandarev

A Prophet (France). Jacques Audiard

The White Ribbon (Germany). Michael Haneke

Ajami (Israel). Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani

Kelin (Kazakhstan). Ermek Tursunov

Winter In Wartime (The Netherlands). Martin Koolhoven

The Milk Of Sorrow (Peru). Claudia Llosa

(Photo by PR Photos)

Story provided by the Dish Information Corporation