This debut feature about one man's hellish journey through a Nazi concentration camp has received raves ever since it debuted in Cannes, both for its dramatic storyline and for its groundbreaking, subjective visual style. The film from the director who used to work for Bela Tarr is perhaps the only foreign-language entry considered a lock for an Oscar nomination.
Tobias Lindholm's latest might prove his international breakthrough, especially if the Academy shortlists the Afghan war drama. A two-hander, it looks at a war zone decision made by a Danish commander in Afghanistan (Pilou Asbaek) and the personal repercussions back home.
A brutal, but also morosely comic, portrait of bad priests exiled to a distant monastery, only to find they cannot escape the sins of their past, the latest from the Chilean director (Oscar-nominated for No in 2013), won the Grand Jury Silver Bear when it debuted in Berlin.
A twist on the German Holocaust film, an Oscar standby, this drama looks at a forgotten piece of history: the attempt by German prosecutors in the 1950s to expose, and punish, some 8,000 people that worked at Auschwitz. It features rising star Alexander Fehling, who features in the new season of Homeland.
The conclusion to Roy Andersson's quirky, sardonic trilogy on the quiet absurdity of modern life is hardly typical Oscar fare but the Swedish master has been slowly growing his international fan base and this collection of stylish, often very funny skits could be this season's dark horse.
Jaco Van Dormael's latest drama, which imagines God as a cranky retiree living in Brussels, is wacky, sacrilegious and very, very funny. It will rely on Dormael's name, and the subject matter, as well as a performance by Catherine Deneuve, as a female Apostle, to attract Academy attention.
An art-house treatment of the Mexican drug crisis, this debut from Gabriel Ripstein (son of auteur Arturo) features Tim Roth as an ATF agent who lands on the wrong side of the border. 600 Miles has gotten mixed reviews but its timely subject matter and Roth's name could attract awards attention.
Like the wild horses of the title, five Turkish sisters fight for their independence against a repressive society that wants to tame them into traditional female roles. A surprise choice for France, Mustang comes with strong word of mouth and a string of awards, including Cannes' Label Europa Cinema honor.
The first martial arts film from auteur director Hou Hsiao-Hsien (Flight of the Red Balloon) combines some impressive swordplay with slower, more poetic passages, a mix that has intrigued critics but might divide Academy voters.
A nuanced addition to the school of South American cinema exploring the region's violent past – NN literally digs up the evidence of Peru's brutal military killings of the 1980s and 90s via a plot involving a forensic pathologist tasked with identifying a body from a mass grave.