Oscar 2013 Nominations Predictions: Chile's 'No' Among Top Nine Foreign Film Finalists

On December 21, the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences announced that 9 foreign films that were shortlisted for the final rounds for the Oscars.

Among the nine was the film "No" by Pablo Larrain from Chile. It became the only Latin American film to make the final round this year. Chile has never been nominated for a foreign film Oscar and Larrain's film is one of the strongest candidates to emerge this year. "No" was a huge success at the Cannes Film Festival where it won a number of awards and received great reviews.

Also among the finalists is Austria's "Amour" by Michael Haneke which has already won a number of precursor awards and the Palm' Or at the Cannes Film Festival. If the film is nominated the country will receive its 4^th nomination.

France's "The Intouchables" and Denmark's "A Royal Affair" also made the final round. Both these films are also strong contenders as they will not only compete in the foreign film category but are also eligible for various other categories because they were released in the USA this year. "Amour" is also eligible for those categories. If France is nominated, it will receive its 37^th nomination. Denmark would receive it 9^th nomination.

The other contenders will only compete in the Foreign Film Category. Norway's "Kon Tiki" was a huge surprise, as it was not expected to make the final nine but considering the Weinstein Company will release it, the film obtained a huge push. Norway will vie for its 6^th nomination, Iceland will compete for its 2^nd, and Switzerland for its 6^th. Romania's "Beyond the Hills" is the final contestant and the country could receive its first nomination.

Finally Canada's "War Witch" could get the country's 6^th nomination.

Among the films that were eliminated were Spain's "Blanca Nieves", Germany's "Barbara," Israel's "Fill the Void," South Korea's "Pieta" and Italy's "Cesar Must Die."

Full List of Contenders

•  Austria, "Amour," Michael Haneke, director
•  Canada, "War Witch," Kim Nguyen, director
•  Chile, "No," Pablo Larraín, director
•  Denmark, "A Royal Affair," Nikolaj Arcel, director
•  France, "The Intouchables," Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors
•  Iceland, "The Deep," Baltasar Kormákur, director
•  Norway, "Kon-Tiki," Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors
•  Romania, "Beyond the Hills," Cristian Mungiu, director
•  Switzerland, "Sister," Ursula Meier, director