Oscar foreign-language submissions bursting with flavor as deadline arrives

-- Azerbaijan: "Buta," "the tale of an orphan befriended by an elderly man who loved, but lost, the boy's grandmother long ago."

-- Bangladesh: "Ghetuputra Kamola," about boy actors perfecting an old performance art form. 

-- Belgium: "Our Children," an unhappy and controversial family drama.

-- Bosnia: "Children of Sarajevo," about postwar life in the city.

-- Brazil: "O palhaco" (The Clown), in which director Selton Mello also plays a man who has an existential crisis while working with his father as a clown in the circus, and trades it all in for a regular job.

-- Bulgaria: "Sneakers,"  a film "about six youngsters escaping the dreary city for a long summer break on clean, pristine beaches."

-- Cambodia: "Lost Loves," its first entry in 18 years.

-- Canada:  "War Witch," revolving around child soliders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

-- Chile: "No," the Pablo Larrain film starring Gael Garcia Bernal as an ad executive who improbably becomes a key figure in the attempt to end the Pinochet dictatorship in 1988.

-- Colombia: "El Cartel de los sapos" (The Cartel of Snitches), Carlos Moreno's pic "based on the life story of former drug trafficker Andres Lopez."

-- Croatia: "Cannibal Vegetarian," a "disturbing story of an ambitious and amoral gynecologist."

-- Czech Republic: "In the Shadow of the Horse," a 1950s political thriller.

-- Denmark: "Royal Affair," Nikolaj Arcel's historical drama set in 18th-century Denmark and centering on an affair between the queen (Alicia Vikander, "Anna Karenina") and the king's physician (Mads Mikkelsen, "Casino Royale).

-- Dominican Republic: "Jaque Mate" (Checkmate), Jose Maria Cabral's feature depicting "events that follow when a TV host receives a call from his family's kidnappers while he's on air."

-- Estonia: "Mushrooming," debut helmer Toomas Hussar's "black comedy of modern political and celebrity manners."

-- Finland: "Purge," directed by Antti Jokinen and based on an international bestselling novel by Sofi Oksanen "about two women from different eras linked by separate tales of deceit, desperation and fear."

-- France: "The Intouchables," the crowdpleaser from Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache about the unexpected bond between a wealthy quadriplegic and from-a-different-world caregiver.

-- Georgia: "Keep Smiling," "a deeply cynical comedy about a corrupt mom on a TV beauty and talent contest" from debut director Rusudan Chkonia.

-- Germany: "Barbara," a story of "a doctor who finds love in a provincial hospital after being harshly reprimanded for wanting to leave the GDR."

-- Greece: "Unfair World," focused on "a disillusioned policeman who sets out to distribute justice by his own humanitarian standards."

-- Hong Kong: "Life," Johnnie To's suspense-thriller focusing "on a bank teller turned financial analyst, a petty thief trying to make it big in the futures market and a middle-class police officer suddenly in need of a cash injection, whose lives intersect when a swag bag of cash pops up."

-- Hungary: "Just the Wind," Bence Fliegauf's "disturbing story of modern day murder squads."

-- Iceland: "The Deep," Baltasar Kormakur's based-on-a-true-story film about the sole survivor of a sunk fishing boat who "washes ashore,  only to find himself on a deadly lava field."

-- India: "Barfi," a love triangle directed by Anurag Basu "between a man who cannot speak or hear, an autistic woman and a fully abled woman."

-- Indonesia: "The Dancer," "a dramatic love story set in the country's politically turbulent 1960s" from director Ifa Isfansyah.

-- Israel: "Fill the Void," a romantic comedy from first-time director Rama Burshtein about a replacement bride in the ultra-religious world of Tel Aviv.

-- Italy: "Caesar Must Die," a film directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani and set in Rome's maximum-security Rebibbia penitentiary, where convicts perform Shakespeare.

-- Japan: "Our Homeland," Yang Yong-hi's debut film "about a Korean man's visit to his family in Japan after a long exile in North Korea." 

-- Kazakhstan: "Myn Bala," Akan Satayev's $10 million-budgeted "true story a group of teenage rebels who rose up against a brutal Mongol army occupying their lands in the early 18th century."

-- Kenya: "Nairobi Half Life," Tosh Gitonga's "gritty but uplifting tale of young hustlers struggling to get by in the Kenyan capital."

-- Macedonia: "The Third Half," one of a number of recent films "about soccer and ethnic and national loyalties during wartime occupation by the Germans."

-- Mexico: "After Lucia" (Despues de Lucia), Michel Franco's drama "After Lucia" (and Un Certain Regard winner) about "the downward spiral of Alejandra (Tessa Ia) brought on by the death of her mother and the brutality of her classmates in her new home."

-- Morocco: "Death for Sale," a neo-noir set in the country's underworld.

-- Netherlands: "Kauwboy," about a child whose relationship with an abandoned bird helps him reconnect with his father.

-- Norway: "Kon-Tiki," following "the 1947 expedition of anthropologist and explorer Thor Heyerdahl."

-- Palestine: "When I Saw You," the 1967-set story "of an 11-year-old boy who runs away from a Palestinian refugee camp in his search for freedom."

-- Peru: "Las malas intenciones" (The Bad Intentions), Rosario Garcia Montera's feature debut, a coming-of-age pic revolving around "a troubled 8-year-old girl who finds solace in the heroes of Peru's turbulent past when her mother announces a baby brother is on the way."

-- Philippines: "Bwakaw," a story (not to be confused with "Beginners") of a gay man who comes out of the closet at the age of 70.

-- Poland: "80 Million," an adventure thriller/political morality tale.

-- Portugal: "Blood of My Blood," a "downbeat tale of adultery, incest and drugs set in a Lisbon slum."

-- Romania: Cannes screenplay winner "Beyond the Hills" from Cristian Mungiu.

-- Russia: "White Tiger," Karen Shakhnazarov's supernatural-infused tale of "a tank officer's obsession with destroying a mysterious, but massive, German tank that leaves a trail of destruction in its wake."

-- Serbia: "When Day Breaks," about "a retired music professor who finds out the truth about his past when a wartime metal box containing a musical score is found near the site of a concentration camp." 

-- Slovakia: "Made in Ash," the feature debut of documentary filmmaker Iveta Grofova that is "a raw look at young Roma girl Dorotka (Dorota Billa) and her rapid descent into exploitation after she goes to the Czech Republic to work in a textile factory."

-- Slovenia: "A Trip," from Nejc Gazvoda "about three friends on a road-trip to the beach before starting adult life."

-- South Korea: Venice champ "Pieta."

-- Spain: "Blancanieves," a black-and-white homage to silent cinema from Pablo Berger.

-- Sweden: "The Hypnotist," helmed by Lasse Hallstrom.

-- Switzerland: "L'enfant d'en haut" (Sister)," the Ursula Meier-directed story of "a poor 12-year-old boy and his teen sister who steal from wealthy tourists at a swanky ski resort in order to survive."

-- Taiwan: "Touch of the Light," Chang Jung-Chi's debut feature "on the life of blind Taiwanese piano prodigy Yu Hsiang, who plays himself."

-- Thailand: "Headshot," a noir thriller from Pen-ek Ratanaruang.

-- Turkey: "Where the Fire Burns," an Ismail Gunes-directed "harrowing story of a father's mission to kill his teenage daughter after she falls pregnant, bringing shame to the family."

-- Ukraine: "Firecrosser," the "true story of a Soviet wartime hero whose life is transformed when he is sent to one of Stalin's Gulags."

-- Venezuela: "Rock, Paper, Scissors," a story of "how an innocent child's game unveils a betrayal that will alter the lives of two families."

-- Vietnam: "The Scent of Burning Grass," a Vietnam War-themed drama from director Nguyen Huu Muoi.