The list of 63 eligible foreign-language films for this year’s Academy Awards has been reduced to 9 potential contenders for the best foreign-language film at the 2012 Oscars.

Golden Globe winner “A Separation” made the cut, but China’s Christian Bale-starrer, “Flowers of War,” didn’t make the cut, nor did Mexico’s “Miss Bala.”

The nine contenders are:

Belgium’s “Bullhead,” from director Michael R. Roskam

Canada’s “Monsieur Lazhar,” from director Philippe Falardeau

Denmark’s “SuperClasico,” from director Ole Christian Madsen

Germany’s “Pina,” from director Wim Wenders

Iran’s “A Separation,” from director Asghar Farhadi

Israel’s “Footnote,” from director Joseph Cedar

Morocco’s “Omar Killed Me,” from director Roschdy Zem

Poland’s “In Darkness,” from director Agnieszka Holland

Taiwan’s “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,” from director Wei Te-sheng

Phase two of nominations will involve specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles to spend Friday through Sunday viewing the three films each day and casting their ballots.

The five nominees will be announced Jan. 24.

Sources:
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