'The Good Road', a lost and found story of a boy in the desert of Kutch, created some uproar in India after it was chosen over more popular and festivals winner 'The Lunchbox'.
Other notable entries this year include 'The Past', Iranian entry by Oscar-winner Asgar Farhadi, starring 'The Artist' star Berenice Bejo. Farhadi earlier won the best foreign Oscar for his divorce drama 'A Separation'.
Thomas Vinterberg's critically acclaimed 'The Hunt', about a man wrongly accused by a child of molestation, is vying for an Oscar from Denmark with another Cannes favourite --Paolo Sorrentini's 'The Great Beauty' from Italy.
This year, the category has first-time countries in Moldova and Saudi Arabia. Haifaa Al Mansour 'Wadjda', about a young girl's desire to own a bicycle, is Saudi Arabia's entry. Afghanistan has entered 'Wajma - An Afghan Love Story' by director Barmak Akram.
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Argentina has submitted 'The German Doctor' by helmer Lucia Puenzo while Austria, which won the foreign film Oscar last year for Michael Haneke's 'Amour' has entered Julian Polsler's 'The Wall' this year. France's official entry this year is 'Renoir' directed by Gilles Bourdos.
Danis Tanovic, whose 'No Man's Land' won the 2002 Oscar, is in the race again with 'An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker' from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tanovic is directing Emraan Hashmi in his next and co-produced 'The Lunchbox'.
Egypt's entry is director Ibrahim El Batout's 'Winter of Discontent', which deals with events that led up to the Tahrir Square uprising.
Celebrated helmer Wong Kar-wai's 'The Grandmaster', about the life of martial-arts master Ip Man, is Hong Kong's entry to the Oscars while China has entered Feng Xiaogang's patriotic drama 'Back to 1942'.
The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on January 16, 2014 while the award ceremony will take place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.