2015 Oscars Primer: Best Foreign Language Film

Get yourself set for the Oscars by learning more about the contenders.

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Poland

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Starring: 
Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Joanna Kulig
What's it about?
In 1960s Poland, an 18-year-old novitiate learns she is a Jewish orphan. Before she takes her vows, she meets her only living relative, and together, they discover a dark family secret dating back to the Nazi occupation.

Russia

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Starring:
 Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Aleksey Serebryakov
What's it about: 
A searing critique of the entrenched corruption that plagues contemporary Russia, the Golden Globe winner tells the story of a villager in North Russia, who is embroiled in a dispute with the corrupt mayor of the town.

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Estonia

Director: Zaza Urushadze
Starring:
 Misha Meskhi, Giorgi Nakashidze, Elmo Nüganen
What's it about?
An Estonian village is the flashpoint for tensions in the war in Georgia, when two sole villagers take in a pair of wounded soldiers.

Mauritania

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako
Starring: 
Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara, Hichem Yacoubi
What's it about?
The inhabitants of a village in Mali have their lives come under increasing surveillance as extremists seek to implement Sharia Law. Two unwed parents in Aguelhok face the dire prospect of death by stoning.


Argentina

Director: Damián Szifron
Starring:
 Rita Cortese, Ricardo Darín, Liliana Ackerman
What's it about?
Each revenge fantasy is more ludicrous than the last in this madcap series of shorts from Argentina: In one, a road rage incident has an extraordinary ending; in another, an explosives expert wages war with inept bureaucrats; and in the finale, a pair of newlyweds barely make it out of their reception alive.



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