Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 81st Academy Awards^®. Sixty-five films had originally qualified in the category.

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

Austria, “Revanche,” Gotz Spielmann, director;
Canada, “The Necessities of Life,” Benoit Pilon, director;
France, “The Class,” Laurent Cantet, director;
Germany, “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director;
Israel, “Waltz with Bashir,” Ari Folman, director;
Japan, “Departures,” Yojiro Takita, director;
Mexico, “Tear This Heart Out,” Roberto Sneider, director; (pictured)
Sweden, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director;
Turkey, “3 Monkeys,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five 2008 nominees by specially selected committees in New York and Los Angeles. The committee members will spend this Friday, Saturday and Sunday viewing three of the films each day.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center^®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

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Foreign language film enthusiasts will have an additional reason to celebrate on Golden Globe Weekend as filmmakers from Germany, Sweden, Israel, France and Italy participate in the Fifth Annual Hollywood Foreign Press Association Foreign Language Film Nominees Symposium on Saturday, January 10 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood at 1:00 pm.

The free round table panel discussion with the five directors of the Golden Globe Award-nominated foreign language films will be moderated by Mike Goodridge, HFPA Vice President and U.S. Editor of Screen International.

The event follows special screenings of the nominated movies at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica January 7-9.

The five nominated foreign language films are:

– France, “I’ve Loved You So Long,” Philippe Claudel, director
– Germany, “The Baader-Meinhof Complex,” Uli Edel, director
– Israel, “Waltz With Bashir,” Ari Folman, director
– Italy, “Gomorra,” Matteo Garrone, director
– Sweden/Denmark, “Everlasting Moments,” Jan Troell, director (pictured)

The seminar and screenings are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres. The seminar is free but there is a ticket charge to view the nominated foreign language films. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.fandango.com. Additional information on the films is available at www.americancinematheque.com.

“The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will take place Sunday, January 11, 2009 at The Beverly Hilton with a live telecast airing on NBC at 8 PM (EST.

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