NINE foreign-language films have made the cut and will now compete for a nomination for the best foreign-language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced Thursday.

    The shortlist of nine films includes some of the expected frontrunners in the category, such as Germany’s “Toni Erdmann,” director Maren Ade’s 162-minute comedy about a free-wheeling dad out to shake up the life of his more corporate-minded daughter, which was greeted as a critical favorite when it debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and Iran’s “The Salesman,” a psychological thriller about a strained marriage from director Asghar Farhadi, who received a previous Oscar nomination for writing 2011’s “A Separation,” which also won the foreign-language Oscar.

    But there are also a number of omissions that prove controversial, such as France’s “Elle,” Paul Verhoeven’s drama about a woman who confronts her rapist in unexpected ways; Chile’s “Neruda,” a portrait of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda directed by Pablo Larrain; and Spain’s “Julieta,” directed by Pedro Almodovar.

    Among the films that did win a place on the shortlist, Switzerland scored with an animated feature, Claude Barras’ “My Life As a Zucchini,” which follows a young boy who discovers a sense of family in an orphanage.

    There are two films from countries where English is spoken — under current rules, a foreign-language film does not have to be in a country’s dominant language. Australia is represented by “Tanna,” Bentley Dean and Martin Butler’s film set on a remote South Pacific island where the tribespeople who participated in the film speak Nauvhal; and Canada is repped by the French-speaking “It’s Only the End of the World,” a drama about a young man facing death from bad-boy director Xavier Dolan.

    World War II figures in three of the films: Russia’s “Paradise,” Andrei Konchalovsky’s drama about a noblewoman who sheltered Jewish children, which won Konchalovsky best directing honors at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Denmark’s “Land of Mine,” directed by Martin Zandvliet, about German prisoners forced to clear the Danish coastline of mines; and Norway’s “The King’s Choice,” Erik Poppe’s film set during the German invasion of Norway.

    Sweden’s “A Man Called Ove,” directed by Hannes Holm, is about a curmudgeon dealing with a Persian family who has moved in next door.

    The nine films were chosen from 85 that were submitted by their respective countries.

    The nine films on the shortlist will now screen for committees in New York, Los Angeles and London, who will cast the ballots for the film nominees in the category, to be announced Jan. 24.(SD-Agencies)