The 2013 Oscars Break Their First Record This Award Season

More than four months before the 85th Annual Academy Awards airs, the awards ceremony has already broken a record for the number of countries that have submitted features for consideration in the foreign-language-film category.
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By Julie Miller, Vanity Fair

2012-10-10-Photo2.jpegLast year's winner, A Separation; Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Just eight days after Seth MacFarlane was announced as the surprise host of the 2013 Oscars, the Academy Awards have made news again--although this time for a reason that probably won't draw complaints from parents groups. More than four months before the 85th Annual Academy Awards airs, the awards ceremony has already broken a record for the number of countries that have submitted features for consideration in the foreign-language-film category. According to the Academy, a record 71 countries have entered films, including first-time entrant Kenya. Submissions include Michael Haneke's Amour (Austria), Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair (Denmark), Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano's The Intouchables (France), and Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills (Romania), which, contrary to its title, does not chronicle members of the cast of MTV's The Hills as they try to resuscitate their careers in Southeastern Europe. Nominations voting will take place between December 17 and January 3, with nominees announced a week later. The 85th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 24. Anyone whose Oscars poll was upset by the same category earlier this year will recall that Iran's A Separation was the 2012 foreign-language-film victor.

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