The Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards has been experiencing tremendous growth over the past few years, once again breaking the submissions record with 83 films in 2014. It’s an encouraging sign of a more globalized film market but there is still one continent that remains underrepresented – Africa. History shows that submissions have been scarce outside of South Africa and the Arab-influenced Northern countries, most likely due to underdeveloped film industries and lack of resources to go through the submissions process. There have been some improvements however, with three countries making first-time submissions in the past five years. This year’s crop of African films include one such debut from Mauritania, along with films from Egypt, Ethiopia, Morroco and South Africa. Together, they showcase the continent’s extensive cultural diversity.
Read more at The Awards Circuit