Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director 

Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 86th Academy Awards. Seventy-six films had originally been considered in the category. The shortlist will eventually be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles.  The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16, 2014,and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014.

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

Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;

Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;

Denmark, “The Hunt,” Thomas Vinterberg, director;

Germany, “Two Lives,” Georg Maas, director;

Hong Kong, “The Grandmaster,” Wong Kar-wai, director;

Hungary, “The Notebook,” Janos Szasz, director;

Italy, “The Great Beauty,” Paolo Sorrentino, director;

Palestine, “Omar,” Hany Abu-Assad, director.