'Aballay,' out of Oscars' foreign film shortlist

Argentina’s gaucho western “Aballay,” directed by Fernando Spiner, did not pass the last pre-selection of the films that will compete for “Best Foreign Film” in the next Academy Awards. Nine were nominated, but none of them is Spanish-speaking.

The Iranian film “A Separation” and Germany’s “Pina” are among the nine films that will compete, a communiqué released by Hollywood’s Academy stated.

The rest of the films selected are: Belgium’s “Bullhead,” directed by Michael R. Roskam; Canadian "Monsieur Lazhar", by Philippe Falardeau; Danish “Superclásico” by Ole Christian Madsen and Israel’s “Footnote,” by Joseph Cedar.

Also compete Morocco's "Omar Killed Me;" Taiwan's "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," and Polish “In Darkness.”

The shortlist will be winnowed down by special committees in New York and Los Angeles to five nominees for the best foreign language film Oscar.

Along with Argentina’s nominee, other films that were left out of the Awards are: Mexican “Miss Bala;” Peruvian “Octubre;” Chilean “Violeta se fue a los cielos;” Cuban “Habanastation;” Colombia’s “Los colores de la montaña;” Dominican “La hija natural;” Venezuela’s “El rumor de las piedras;” Brazilian “Tropa de Elite 2” and Spain’s “Pa negre.”