Sad to say, “Elle”– starring potential Oscar nominee Isabelle Huppert– is out of the running for Best Foreign Language Film. Nine films have made the latest round, and they will pared to five for final nominations. “Toni Erdmann” is the favorite, from Sony Pictures Classics. But “Elle” is out, and so is France. Huppert can still be nominated for Best Actress, and she should be, so we’ll how that goes. I’m a little surprised that “Elle” was bypassed but the Xavier Dolan film got in. You’d almost like “My Life as a Zucchini” to get in for the title! But we’ll squash that idea now.
Australia, “Tanna,” Bentley Dean, Martin Butler, directors;
Canada, “It’s Only the End of the World,” Xavier Dolan, director;
Denmark, “Land of Mine,” Martin Zandvliet, director;
Germany, “Toni Erdmann,” Maren Ade, director;
Iran, “The Salesman,” Asghar Farhadi, director;
Norway, “The King’s Choice,” Erik Poppe, director;
Russia, “Paradise,” Andrei Konchalovsky, director;
Sweden, “A Man Called Ove,” Hannes Holm, director;
Switzerland, “My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras, director.
