That’s right, the director of this January’s Mark Wahlberg-led Contraband has made the Academy Award shortlist for Best Foreign Film. No, Baltasar Kormákur won’t be repping that crime thriller, but rather another film he shot, the Icelandic boat disaster drama The Deep. Drawn from over 70 films, the list is now down to just nine remaining features, also including Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or-winning Amour and France’s massive hit The Intouchables (the two frontrunners, if you ask me). Notably absent are Germany’s Barbara and Venice winner, the South Korean drama Pieta, but they can’t all make it. Check out the remaining nine below.

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

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Who do you think should win? Who will win?

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