Central Asian / Caucasian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
by kingwilson | created - 30 Apr 2011 | updated - 27 May 2011 | PublicThe USSR will be in another list, just to keep things simple.
The tally is:
Afghanistan 6
Armenia 3
Azerbaijan 3
Georgia 9
Kazakhstan 6
Kyrgyzstan 5
Tajikistan 2
Mongolia (EDIT: ADDED LATER) 2
None, as far as I can tell, from either Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan.
If you haven't seen many films from these countries, you're not the only one!
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1. Firedancer (2002)
79 min | Drama
A young Afghan-American on a journey of "self-discovery".
Directors: Ashok Nanda, Jawed Wassel | Stars: Baktash Zaher, Mariam Weiss, Yunis Azizi, Samira Cameron
Votes: 34
Afghanistan
2. Osama (2003)
PG-13 | 83 min | Drama
After the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the restriction of women in public life, a pre-teen girl is forced to masquerade as a boy in order to find work to support her mother and grandmother.
Director: Siddiq Barmak | Stars: Marina Golbahari, Zubaida Sahar, Khwaja Nader, Mohammad Arif Herati
Votes: 9,530 | Gross: $1.13M
Afghanistan
3. Earth and Ashes (2004)
102 min | Drama
Elderly Dastaguir and his newly deaf 5-year-old grandson Yassin hitchhike and walk, but mostly walk, as they make their way to the coal mine where Dastaguir's son Murad works. Dastaguir ... See full summary »
Director: Atiq Rahimi | Stars: Abdul Ghani, Jawan Mard Homayoun, Sher Agah, Malik Akhlaqi
Votes: 586
Afghanistan
4. Opium War (2008)
90 min | Drama, War
Two American soldiers wounded in the Afghanistan desert stumble across a Russian tank which has a group of Afghanis living inside.
Director: Siddiq Barmak | Stars: Peter Bussian, Joe Suba, Fawad Samani, Jawanmard Paiez
Votes: 170
Afghanistan
5. 16 Days in Afghanistan (2007 Video)
Not Rated | 60 min | Documentary
16 Days in Afghanistan is a documentary that documents the state of Afghan people after the fall of the Taliban.
Director: Anwar Hajher
Votes: 15
Afghanistan
6. The Black Tulip (2010)
Unrated | 116 min | Drama
The Mansouri family opens up a new restaurant after the fall of the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan only to be subsequently targeted by factional Taliban elements.
Director: Sonia Nassery Cole | Stars: Haji Gul Aser, Sonia Nassery Cole, Leo Solomon, Somajia Razaya
Votes: 115
Afghanistan
7. Symphony of Silence (2001)
110 min | Drama
Today, Mel Divan is a successful American businessman with a terminal illness. But long ago he was an infamous criminal who escaped from a mental institution in Communist Armenia. With the ... See full summary »
Director: Vigen Chaldranyan | Stars: Michael Poghosian, Karen Dzhanibekyan, Jean-Pierre Nshanian, Nino Kasradze
Votes: 92
Armenia
8. Vodka Lemon (2003)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
In a remote, isolated Yazidi Kurdish village in post-Soviet Armenia, Hamo, a widower with a pitiful pension and three worthless sons, travels daily to his wife's grave. There he meets the ... See full summary »
Director: Hiner Saleem | Stars: Romen Avinian, Lala Sarkissian, Ivan Franek, Ruzan Mesropyan
Votes: 2,135 | Gross: $0.06M
Armenia
9. Autumn of the Magician (2009)
53 min | Documentary
Scriptwriter, author, artist, sculptor, dramatist, architect, journalist, constructor, philanthropist, pedagogue, metalworker, inventor, public figure, agriculturist, gardener, chemist and ... See full summary »
Directors: Ruben Gevorkyants, Vahe Kevorkov | Star: Tonino Guerra
Votes: 27
Armenia
10. Kavkaz (2007)
90 min | Drama
After her husband's death, a widow returns to Moscow with her mother-in-law, unaware that a depressed passenger is determined to blow up the train en route.
Director: Farid Gumbatov | Stars: Ada Rogovtseva, Lyubov Tolkalina, Andrey Chernyshov, Hamida Omarova
Votes: 42
Azerbaijan
11. Qala (2008)
83 min | Drama
Director: Shamil Najafzade | Stars: Rasim Balayev, Vidadi Gasanov, Yuliya Peresild, Qorxmaz Alili
Votes: 43
Azerbaijan
12. Sahä (2010)
118 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
The story is set in Baku. A famous photographer has to choose between accepting a valuable job offer in Africa or marrying his fiancee - a young , talented sculptor inspired by images of ... See full summary »
Director: Ilgar Safat | Stars: Zuzu Bejashvili, Melissa Papel, Vaqif Ibrahimoglu, Teymur Odushev
Votes: 134
Azerbaijan
13. A Chef in Love (1996)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Romance
The story of Pascal Ichak, a larger-than-life French traveller, bon vivant, and chef, who falls in love with Georgia and a Georgian princess in the early 1920s. All is well until the ... See full summary »
Director: Nana Dzhordzhadze | Stars: Pierre Richard, Nino Kirtadze, Micheline Presle, Jean-Yves Gautier
Votes: 818 | Gross: $0.60M
Georgia
14. Ak tendeba (1998)
90 min | Drama
The head of the security service is faced with a choice: to continue serving the state or to give up everything in order to save his sick son.
Director: Zaza Urushadze | Stars: Zura Begalishvili, Nino Koberidze, Nino Lejava, Guram Pirtskhalava
Votes: 44
Georgia
15. 27 Missing Kisses (2000)
98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The summer adventures of teenaged Sybilla, who falls in love with a middle-aged father while being romanced by his teenaged son.
Director: Nana Dzhordzhadze | Stars: Nutsa Kukhianidze, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Shalva Iashvili, Pierre Richard
Votes: 1,522
Georgia
16. The Migration of the Angel (2001)
77 min | Drama
A metaphoric depiction of post-Soviet countries. The artificial environment of the USSR, built on an ideology that was not possible outside of theory has crumbled, but in its place the new ... See full summary »
Director: Nodar Managadze | Stars: Amiran Chichinadze, Dimitri Jaiani, Nino Koridze, Zurab Kandelaki
Votes: 10
Georgia
17. Tbilisi-Tbilisi (2005)
87 min | Comedy, Drama
A young filmmaker named Dato has no money to make a movie, so he hangs out drinking and brooding all day in the capital of the former Soviet republic, Georgia. He is also writing a ... See full summary »
Director: Levan Zakareishvili | Stars: Giorgi Maskharashvili, Eka Nijaradze, Rusiko Kobiashvili, Kakha Kintsurashvili
Votes: 114
Georgia
18. Rusuli samkudhedi (2007)
121 min | Thriller
A big Russian city- not necessarily Moscow, but the kind that is bustling with all types of life including criminal so the police are not without business. A young agent by the name of ... See full summary »
Director: Aleko Tsabadze | Stars: Artyom Tkachenko, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Pyotr Mironov, Mikhail Zhonin
Votes: 187
Georgia
19. Mediator (2008)
92 min | Crime, Drama
Director: Dito Tsintsadze | Stars: Ewen Bremner, Levan Doborjginidze, Marika Giorgobiani, Dato Iashvili
Votes: 85
Georgia
20. Gagma napiri (2009)
90 min | Drama
A young refugee and his mother flee war and ethnic cleansing in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, leaving his father behind. After arriving in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, the ... See full summary »
Director: George Ovashvili | Stars: Tedo Bekhauri, Tamar Meskhi, Archil Tabukashvili, Temo Goginava
Votes: 1,339
Georgia
21. Street Days (2010)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
A drug addict is being threatened by jail if he doesn't set up his childhood friend's son.
Director: Levan Koguashvili | Stars: Guga Kotetishvili, Irakli Ramishvili, Giorgi Kipshidze, Zura Begalishvili
Votes: 1,247
Georgia
22. The Fall of Otrar (1992)
176 min | Drama, History, War
This historical epic charts political intrigue among the Kipchaks, a confederation of tribes on the steppes of central Asia, before they were overrun by Genghis Khan.
Director: Ardak Amirkulov | Stars: Dokhdurbek Kydyraliyev, Tungyshpai Zhamankulov, Bolot Beyshenaliev, Abdurashid Makhsudov
Votes: 146
Kazakhstan
23. Nomad: The Warrior (2005)
R | 112 min | Drama, History, War
A historical epic set in 18th-century Kazakhstan, where a young man is destined to unite the country's three warring tribes.
Directors: Sergei Bodrov, Ivan Passer | Stars: Kuno Becker, Jason Scott Lee, Jay Hernandez, Doskhan Zholzhaksynov
Votes: 3,975 | Gross: $0.08M
Kazakhstan
24. Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007)
R | 126 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world in 1206.
Director: Sergei Bodrov | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Amadu Mamadakov, Khulan Chuluun, Honglei Sun
Votes: 49,173 | Gross: $5.70M
Kazakhstan
25. Tulpan (2008)
Not Rated | 100 min | Comedy, Drama
On the steppes of Kazakhstan, Asa lives in a yurt with his sister Samal, her husband Ondas, and their three children. Ondas is a herdsman, tough and strong. It's dry, dusty, and windy; too ... See full summary »
Director: Sergei Dvortsevoy | Stars: Askhat Kuchinchirekov, Tolepbergen Baisakalov, Samal Yeslyamova, Ondassyn Bessikbassov
Votes: 3,374 | Gross: $0.16M
Kazakhstan
26. Kelin (2009)
82 min | Drama, History
A woman is led by her family to her new husband's home, to live with, presumably, his elderly mother and younger brother. Despite being forced into the marriage, she discovers that he is ... See full summary »
Director: Ermek Tursynov | Stars: Gulsharat Zhubyeva, Turakhan Sadykova, Erzhan Nurymbet, Kuandyk Kystykbaev
Votes: 404
Kazakhstan
27. Strayed (2009)
90 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
The main character, his wife and small son lose their way and become stuck on a country road. As a result, they have to spend the night in their car. The following morning, the main ... See full summary »
Director: Akan Satayev | Stars: Andrey Merzlikin, Tungyshpai Zhamankulov, Ayganim Sadykova, Alma Rulas
Votes: 271
Kazakhstan
28. The Adopted Son (1998)
81 min | Drama
In a Kyrgyz village, five older women adopt an infant foundling. Jump ahead about 12 years: the boy, Beshkempir, is entering puberty, the age, his granny says, when life goes berserk. He ... See full summary »
Director: Aktan Arym Kubat | Stars: Mirlan Abdykalykov, Adir Abilkassimov, Mirlan Cinkozoev, Bakit Dzhylkychiev
Votes: 632
Kyrgyzstan
29. Maimil (2001)
90 min | Drama
A teenager in a Kirgiz provincial town passes the time between his work at the railroad and hanging out with his friends before he has to join the military service.
Director: Aktan Arym Kubat | Stars: Mirlan Abdykalykov, Dzylykcy Dzakypov, Sergey Golovkin, Alexandra Mitrokhina
Votes: 130
Kyrgyzstan
30. Sunduk predkov (2005)
104 min | Comedy, Drama
There is great excitement in Aidar's home one fine day when he comes back from Paris to his mountain village with a charming French girl called Isabelle. Aidar has changed but everything at... See full summary »
Director: Nurbek Egen | Stars: Natacha Régnier, Bolot Tentimyshov, Tynar Abdrazaeva, Melis Sharshenbaev
Votes: 107
Kyrgyzstan
31. Tengri (2008)
96 min | Drama, Romance
This is a love story set in the steppes of Central Asia of today. Temür a thirty year old Kazakh decides to start life again in his ancestral village in the Kyrghyz Mountains. He discovers ... See full summary »
Director: Marie-Jaoul de Poncheville | Stars: Albina Imasheva, Elim Kalmouratov, Hélène Patarot, Taalai Abazova
Votes: 162
Kyrgyzstan
32. The Light Thief (2010)
80 min | Drama
The main hero of the film is an electrician with a far greater effect on the people around him than his job defines. He is the last link in a huge energetic system and he becomes the ... See full summary »
Director: Aktan Arym Kubat | Stars: Aktan Arym Kubat, Taalaikan Abazova, Askat Sulaimanov, Asan Amanov
Votes: 449
Kyrgyzstan
33. Luna Papa (1999)
107 min | Comedy, Drama
The unborn child of Mamlakat (Khamatova) is telling her story. She is 17, beautiful and vivacious, and dreaming secretly of becoming an actress. She lives with her father and brother (... See full summary »
Director: Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov | Stars: Chulpan Khamatova, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ato Mukhamedzhanov, Merab Ninidze
Votes: 3,325
Tajikistan
34. Sex & Philosophy (2005)
105 min | Drama, Romance
On his fortieth birthday, a man engineers a revolt against himself. He telephones his lovers -- all four of them -- and arranges to meet them at his dance school that afternoon. The women ... See full summary »
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Stars: Daler Nazarov, Mariam Gaibova, Farzona Beknazarova, Tahmineh Ebrahimova
Votes: 769
Tajikistan
35. Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel (2003)
PG | 93 min | Documentary, Drama, Family
When a Mongolian nomadic family's newest camel colt is rejected by its mother, a musician is needed for a ritual to change her mind.
Directors: Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni | Stars: Janchiv Ayurzana, Chimed Ohin, Amgaabazar Gonson, Zeveljamz Nyam
Votes: 6,414 | Gross: $1.74M
Mongolia
36. The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)
G | 93 min | Drama, Family
The little Nansal finds a baby dog in the Mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend against all rejections of her parents.
Director: Byambasuren Davaa | Stars: Batchuluun Urjindorj, Buyandulam Daramdadi, Nansal Batchuluun, Nansalmaa Batchuluun
Votes: 3,535 | Gross: $0.14M
Mongolia
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