In the past five years, 4 countries have earned 3 mentions on the shortlist: Denmark, Germany, Mexico and Russia.

If those countries’ past luck with the Academy is an indication of this year’s shortlist, then voters may have a chance to honor Denmark’s Holy Spider, Germany’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Mexico’s Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.

The Russian Film Academy announced Sept. 26 that it would not submit a film for consideration.

Austria’s Corsage, which won actress Vicky Krieps the Un Certain Regard award for best performance at Cannes;

Belgium’s Close, winner of the Cannes Grand Prix and selected by the National Board of Review for best international film;

Cambodia’s Return to Seoul (selected as best film by the Boston Society of Film Critics

France’s Saint Omer, winner of the Venice International Film Festival’s Silver Lion;

Pakistan’s Joyland, winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes;

Poland’s EO, named best international film by the New York Film Critics Circle;

South Korea’s Decision to Leave, which won Park Chan-wook the prize for best director at Cannes

India: Official Submission–Not RRR

One should not expect to see S.S. Rajamouli’s historical action epic RRR on the international feature shortlist.

India’s official Oscar submission is director Pan Nalin’s coming-of-age movie Last Film Show, about a young boy who aspires to become a filmmaker.

But that doesn’t prevent RRR from being an Oscar contender in other categories, especially for the original song heard in its wildly popular dance-battle sequence, “Naatu Naatu.”