Looks like a great list that will bring light to a number of obscurities from around the world. No easy major directorial players (save a few with smaller projects) that I know of. Bela Tarr and Aki Kauismaki will draw attention from cinephiles though I wonder how much sway they have with the Academy.

Iran’s entry, A Separation, is the early favorite.

The 2011 submissions are after the cut:

• Albania, “Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani
• Argentina, “Aballay,” Fernando Spiner
• Austria, “Breathing,” Karl Markovics
• Belgium, “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam
• Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Belvedere,” Ahmed Imamovic
• Brazil, “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” José Padilha
• Bulgaria, “Tilt,” Viktor Chouchkov, Jr.
• Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau
• Chile, “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Andrés Wood
• China, “The Flowers of War,” Zhang Yimou
• Colombia, “The Colors of the Mountain,” Carlos César Arbeláez
• Croatia, “72 Days,” Danilo Serbedzija
• Cuba, “Havanastation,” Ian Padrón
• Czech Republic,”Alois Nebel,” Tomás Lunák
• Denmark, “Superclásico,” Ole Christian Madsen
• Dominican Republic,”Love Child,” Leticia Tonos
• Egypt, “Lust,” Khaled el Hagar
• Estonia, “Letters to Angel,” Sulev Keedus
• Finland, “Le Havre,” Aki Kaurismäki
• France, “Declaration of War,” Valérie Donzelli
• Georgia, “Chantrapas,” Otar Iosseliani
• Germany, “Pina,” Wim Wenders
• Greece, “Attenberg,” Athina Rachel Tsangari
• Hong Kong, “A Simple Life,” Ann Hui
• Hungary, “The Turin Horse,” Béla Tarr
• Iceland, “Volcano,” Rúnar Rúnarsson
• India, “Abu, Son of Adam,” Salim Ahamed
• Indonesia, “Under the Protection of Ka’Bah,” Hanny R. Saputra
• Iran, “A Separation,” Asghar Farhadi
• Ireland, “As If I Am Not There,” Juanita Wilson
• Israel, “Footnote,” Joseph Cedar, director;
• Italy, “Terraferma,” Emanuele Crialese
• Japan, “Postcard,” Kaneto Shindo
• Kazakhstan, “Returning to the ‘A,’” Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky
• Lebanon, “Where Do We Go Now?” Nadine Labaki
• Lithuania, “Back to Your Arms,” Kristijonas Vildziunas
• Macedonia, “Punk Is Not Dead,” Vladimir Blazevski
• Mexico, “Miss Bala,” Gerardo Naranjo
• Morocco, “Omar Killed Me,” Roschdy Zem
• Netherlands, “Sonny Boy,” Maria Peters
• New Zealand,”The Orator,” Tusi Tamasese
• Norway, “Happy, Happy,” Anne Sewitsky (previous post)
• Peru, “October,” Diego Vega and Daniel Vega
• Philippines, “The Woman in the Septic Tank,” Marlon N. Rivera
• Poland, “In Darkness,” Agnieszka Holland
• Portugal, “José and Pilar,” Miguel Gonçalves Mendes
• Romania, “Morgen,” Marian Crisan
• Russia, “Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel,” Nikita Mikhalkov
• Serbia, “Montevideo: Taste of a Dream,” Dragan Bjelogrlić
• Singapore, “Tatsumi,” Eric Khoo, director;
• Slovak Republic,”Gypsy,” Martin Sulík
• South Africa,”Beauty,” Oliver Hermanus
• South Korea,”The Front Line,” Jang Hun
• Spain, “Black Bread,” Agusti Villaronga
• Sweden, “Beyond,” Pernilla August
• Switzerland, “Summer Games,” Rolando Colla
• Taiwan, “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,” Wei Te-sheng
• Thailand, “Kon Khon,” Sarunyu Wongkrachang
• Turkey, “Once upon a Time in Anatolia,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan
• United Kingdom,”Patagonia,” Marc Evans
• Uruguay, “The Silent House,” Gustavo Hernández
• Venezuela, “Rumble of the Stones,” Alejandro Bellame Palacios
• Vietnam, “The Prince and the Pagoda Boy,” Luu Trong Ninh