List of submissions to the 60th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
Submissions
Table:
Submitting country
Film title used in nomination
Language(s)
Original title
Director(s)
Result

Argentina
Man Facing Southeast
Spanish
Hombre mirando al sudeste
Eliseo Subiela

Not Nominated

Austria
Welcome in Vienna
German
Wohin und zurück – Welcome in Vienna
Axel Corti

Not Nominated

Belgium
The Cruel Embrace
French
Les Noces Barbares
Marion Hänsel

Not Nominated

Brazil
Subway to the Stars
Portuguese
Um Trem para as Estrelas
Carlos Diegues

Not Nominated

Canada
Night Zoo
French
Un zoo la nuit
Jean-Claude Lauzon

Not Nominated

China
Hibiscus Town
Chinese
芙蓉镇
Xie Jin

Not Nominated

Cuba
A Successful Man
Spanish
Un hombre de éxito
Humberto Solás

Not Nominated

Czechoslovakia
Forbidden Dreams
Czech
Smrt krásných srnců
Karel Kachyňa

Not Nominated

Denmark
Babette's Feast
Danish, French
Babettes gæstebud
Gabriel Axel

Won Academy Award

Finland
The Snow Queen
Finnish
Lumikuningatar
Päivi Hartzell

Not Nominated

France
Au revoir les enfants
French
Au revoir les enfants
Louis Malle

Nominated

West Germany
Wings of Desire
German
Der Himmel über Berlin
Wim Wenders

Not Nominated

Greece
Theofilos
Greek
Θεόφιλος
Lakis Papastathis

Not Nominated

Hungary
Diary for My Lovers
Hungarian
Napló szerelmeimnek
Márta Mészáros

Not Nominated

Iceland
White Whales
Icelandic
Skytturnar
Friðrik Þór Friðriksson

Not Nominated

India
Nayakan
Tamil
நாயகன்
Mani Ratnam

Not Nominated

Indonesia
Nagabonar
Indonesian
Nagabonar
M.T. Risyaf

Not Nominated

Israel
I Don't Give a Damn
Hebrew
לא שם זין
Shmuel Imberman

Not Nominated

Italy
The Family
Italian
La Famiglia
Ettore Scola

Nominated

Japan
Zegen
Japanese
女衒
Shohei Imamura

Not Nominated

From the given table as well as the context snippets provided at the end.

Provide an answer to this question: Which war film was directed by the director of Hibiscus Town ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

Argentina ( Spanish : [ aɾxenˈtina ] ) , officially the Argentine Republic [ A ] ( Spanish : República Argentina ) , is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America . Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west , the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north , Brazil to the northeast , Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east , and the Drake Passage to the south . With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 ( 1,073,500 sq mi ) , [ B ] Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world , the fourth largest in the Americas , the second largest in South America after Brazil , and the largest Spanish-speaking nation . The sovereign state is subdivided into twenty-three provinces ( Spanish : provincias , singular provincia ) and one autonomous city ( ciudad autónoma ) , Buenos Aires , which is the federal capital of the nation ( Spanish : Capital Federal ) as decided by Congress . The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions , but exist under a federal system . Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica , the Falkland Islands ( Spanish : Islas Malvinas ) , and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . The earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period . The Inca Empire expanded to the northwest of the country in Pre-Columbian times . The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century . Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776 . The declaration and fight for independence ( 1810-1818 ) was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1861 , culminating in the country 's reorganization as a federation of provinces with Buenos Aires as its capital city . The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability , with several waves of European immigration , mainly Italians and Spaniards , radically reshaping its cultural and demographic outlook ; 62.5% of the population has full or partial Italian ancestry , and the Argentine culture has significant connections to the Italian culture .
Man Facing Southeast ( Spanish : Hombre mirando al sudeste ) is a 1986 Argentine drama-science fiction film written and directed by Eliseo Subiela and starring Lorenzo Quinteros and Hugo Soto . The film was selected as the Argentine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee . The themes and story of the 2001 American film K-PAX share a strong resemblance with Man Facing Southeast , and the former has been referenced or claimed as an uncredited remake of the latter .
Spanish ( /ˈspænɪʃ/ ( listen ) ; español ( help·info ) ) , or Castilian ( /kæˈstɪliən/ ( listen ) , castellano ( help·info ) ) , is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula and today has over 483 million native speakers , mainly in Spain and the Americas . It is a global language , the world 's second-most spoken native language , after Mandarin Chinese , and the world 's fourth-most spoken language , after Mandarin Chinese , English and Hindi . Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages , which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century . The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century , and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in the 13th century . Beginning in 1492 , the Spanish language was taken to the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire , most notably to the Americas , as well as territories in Africa , Oceania and the Philippines . A 1949 study by Italian-American linguist Mario Pei , analyzing the degree of difference from a language 's parent ( Latin , in the case of Romance languages ) by comparing phonology , inflection , syntax , vocabulary , and intonation , indicated the following percentages ( the higher the percentage , the greater the distance from Latin ) : In the case of Spanish , it is one of the closest Romance languages to Latin ( 20% distance ) , only behind Sardinian ( 8% distance ) and Italian ( 12% distance ) . Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is derived from Latin , including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek . Spanish vocabulary has been in contact with Arabic from an early date , having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula . With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin , this language makes up the second greatest vocabulary source after Latin itself . It has also been influenced by Basque , Iberian , Celtiberian , Visigothic , and by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages . Additionally , it has absorbed vocabulary from other languages , particularly other Romance languages - French , Italian , Andalusi Romance , Portuguese , Galician , Catalan , Occitan , and Sardinian - as well as from Quechua , Nahuatl , and other indigenous languages of the Americas . Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations .
Eliseo Alberto Subiela ( December 27 , 1944 - December 25 , 2016 ) was an Argentine film director and writer . His works are considered to be in the 'magic realism ' genre . [ citation needed ] Subiela was the father of actress , Guadalupe Subiela ( who acted in her father 's film , Pequeños Milagros ) . He has won and been nominated for awards at the Toronto , Montreal , Berlin , Istanbul and Havana film festivals , among others .
Austria ( /ˈɒstriə/ ( listen ) , /ˈɔːs-/ ; German : Österreich [ ˈøːstɐʁaɪ̯ç ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Austria ( German : Republik Österreich , listen ( help·info ) ) , is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe . It is composed of nine federated states ( Bundesländer ) , one of which is Vienna , Austria 's capital and its largest city . It is bordered by Germany to the northwest , Czech Republic to the north , Slovakia to the northeast , Hungary to the east , Slovenia and Italy to the south , and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west . Austria occupies an area of 83,879 km2 ( 32,386 sq mi ) and has a population of nearly 9 million people . While German is the country 's official language , many Austrians communicate informally in a variety of Bavarian dialects . Austria initially emerged as a margraviate around 976 and developed into a duchy and archduchy . In the 16th century , Austria started serving as the heart of the Habsburg Monarchy and the junior branch of the House of Habsburg - one of the most influential royal dynasties in history . As an archduchy , it was a major component and administrative centre of the Holy Roman Empire . Early in the 19th century , Austria established its own empire , which became a great power and the leading force of the German Confederation but pursued its own course independently of the other German states . Following the Austro-Prussian War and the compromise with Hungary , the Dual Monarchy was established . Austria was involved in World War I under Emperor Franz Joseph following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand , the presumptive successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne . After the defeat and the dissolution of the Monarchy , the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed with the intent of the union with Germany , which eventually failed because of the Allied Powers and the state remained unrecognized .
Welcome in Vienna ( German : Wohin und zurück - Teil 3 : Welcome in Vienna ) is a 1986 Austrian drama film directed by Axel Corti . The film was selected as the Austrian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee . It is the third film in the director 's six-hour , Where To and Back ( Wohin und zurück ) trilogy . It follows on from the first film , 1982 's Wohin und zurück - God Does Not Believe In Us Anymore ( German : Wohin und zurück - Teil 1 : An uns glaubt Gott nicht mehr - Ferry oder Wie es war ) , and the second film , 1986 's Wohin und zurück - Santa Fe ( German : Wohin und zurück - Teil 2 : Santa Fé ) . .The trilogy is loosely based on [ writer ] Trollers life as a Viennese Jew who fled Europe as a teenager , emigrated to the United States , and returned to Europe during World War II as an American soldier . Each of these full length feature films - which are connected to each other by an advancing chronology and a series of overlapping characters - are meant to be viewed together .
German ( Deutsch , pronounced [ dɔʏtʃ ] ( listen ) ) is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe . It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , South Tyrol in Italy , the German-speaking Community of Belgium and Liechtenstein . It is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland . The languages that are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch , including Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , Low German/Low Saxon , Luxembourgish , and Yiddish . There are strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish , Norwegian and Swedish , although those belong to the North Germanic group . German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language , after English . One of the major languages of the world , German is a native language to almost 100 million people worldwide and the most widely spoken native language in the European Union . German is the third most commonly spoken foreign language in the EU after English and French , making it the second biggest language in the EU in terms of overall speakers . German is also the second most widely taught foreign language in the EU after English at primary school level ( but third after English and French at lower secondary level ) , the fourth most widely taught non-English language in the US ( after Spanish , French and American Sign Language ) , and the second most commonly used scientific language as well as the third most widely used language on websites after English and Russian . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books , with one tenth of all books ( including e-books ) in the world being published in the German language . In the United Kingdom , German and French are the most sought-after foreign languages for businesses ( with 49% and 50% of businesses identifying these two languages as the most useful , respectively ) . German is an inflected language with four cases for nouns , pronouns and adjectives ( nominative , accusative , genitive , dative ) , three genders ( masculine , feminine , neuter ) , two numbers ( singular , plural ) , and strong and weak verbs .
Axel Corti ( born Axel Fuhrmanns ; 7 May 1933 - 29 December 1993 ) was an Austrian screenwriter , film director and radio host .
Belgium , [ A ] officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a country in Western Europe . It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north , Germany to the east , Luxembourg to the southeast , France to the southwest , and the North Sea to the northwest . It covers an area of 30,689 km2 ( 11,849 sq mi ) and has a population of more than 11.5 million , making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe , with a density of 376 per square kilometre ( 970/sq mi ) . The capital and largest city is Brussels ; other major cities are Antwerp , Ghent , Charleroi and Liège . The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds . It is divided into three highly autonomous regions : the Flemish Region in the north , Wallonia in the south , and the Brussels-Capital Region . Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region , as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita . Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or communities : the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community , which constitutes about 60 percent of the population , and the French-speaking Community , which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians . A small German-speaking Community , numbering around one percent , exists in the East Cantons . The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) , although French is the dominant language . Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .
The Cruel Embrace ( French : Les Noces barbares ) is a 1987 Belgian drama film directed by Marion Hänsel . The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
French ( le français [ lə fʁɑ̃sɛ ] or la langue française [ la lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire , as did all Romance languages . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the spoken Latin in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul . Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl - languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium , which French ( Francien ) has largely supplanted . French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders . Today , owing to France 's past overseas expansion , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French . French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents , most of which are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie ( OIF ) , the community of 84 countries which share the official use or teaching of French . It is spoken as a first language ( in descending order of the number of speakers ) in France , the Canadian provinces of Quebec , Ontario and New Brunswick as well as other Francophone regions , Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ) , western Switzerland ( cantons of Bern , Fribourg , Geneva , Jura , Neuchâtel , Vaud , Valais ) , Monaco , partly in Luxembourg , the states of Louisiana , Maine , New Hampshire and Vermont in the United States , and in northwestern Italy ( region of Aosta Valley ) , and by various communities elsewhere . In 2015 , approximately 40% of the francophone population ( including L2 and partial speakers ) lived in Europe , 35% in sub-Saharan Africa , 15% in North Africa and the Middle East , 8% in the Americas , and 1% in Asia and Oceania . French is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively , approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language .
Marion Hänsel ( born 12 February 1949 ) is a Belgian film director , producer , actress and screenwriter . Her film Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival .
Brazil ( Portuguese : Brasil ; Portuguese pronunciation : [ bɾaˈziw ] ) , [ nt 1 ] officially the Federative Republic of Brazil ( Portuguese : República Federativa do Brasil , listen ( help·info ) ) , is the largest country in both South America and Latin America . At 8.5 million square kilometers ( 3.2 million square miles ) and with over 211 million people , Brazil is the world 's fifth-largest country by area and the sixth most populous . Its capital is Brasília , and its most populous city is São Paulo . The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states , the Federal District , and the 5,570 municipalities . It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas ; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations , due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world . Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east , Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers ( 4,655 mi ) . It borders all other countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent 's land area . Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest , home to diverse wildlife , a variety of ecological systems , and extensive natural resources spanning numerous protected habitats . This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries , and is the subject of significant global interest and debate regarding deforestation and environmental protection . Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral , who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire . Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808 , when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro . In 1815 , the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal , Brazil and the Algarves .
Subway to the Stars ( Portuguese : Um Trem para as Estrelas ) is a 1987 Brazilian drama film directed by Carlos Diegues . It was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival . The film was selected as the Brazilian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Portuguese ( português or , in full , língua portuguesa ) is a Western Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula . It is the sole official language of Portugal , Brazil , Cape Verde , Guinea-Bissau , Mozambique , Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe . It also has co-official language status in East Timor , Equatorial Guinea and Chinese Macau . As the result of expansion during colonial times , a cultural presence of Portuguese and Portuguese creole speakers are also found in Goa , Daman and Diu in India ; in Batticaloa on the east coast of Sri Lanka ; in the Indonesian island of Flores ; in the Malacca state of Malaysia ; and the ABC islands in the Caribbean where Papiamento is spoken , while Cape Verdean Creole is the most widely spoken Portuguese-based Creole . A Portuguese-speaking person or nation is referred to as Lusophone ( Lusófono ) . Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the County of Portugal , and has kept some Celtic phonology and lexicon . With approximately 215 to 220 million native speakers and 250 million total speakers , Portuguese is usually listed as the sixth most natively spoken language in the world , the third-most spoken European language in the world in terms of native speakers , and the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere . It is also the second-most spoken language , after Spanish , in South America and all of Latin America , one of the 10 most spoken languages in Africa and is an official language of the European Union , Mercosur , OAS , ECOWAS and the African Union . The Community of Portuguese Language Countries is an international organization made up of all of the world 's officially Lusophone nations .
Carlos Diegues , also known as Cacá Diegues ( born May 19 , 1940 ) , is a Brazilian film director . He was born in Maceió , Alagoas , and is best known as a member of the Cinema Novo movement . He is popularly known for his unconventional , yet intriguing film techniques [ according to whom ? ] among other film producers of the Cinema Novo movement . Diegues is also widely known for his dynamic use visuals , ideas , plots , themes , and other cinematic techniques . He incorporated many musical acts in his film as he favored musical pieces to be complementary of his ideas . Diegues remains very popular and is regarded one the most cinematic producers of his generation . Of the Cinema Novo directors , he would go on to produce films , plays , musicals and other forms of entertainment in Brazil . Diegues ' contributions to Brazilian cinema developed the film industry . He would pioneer expensive film projects that domestic filmmakers had ever seen . Films such as Bye Bye Brazil were two million dollar projects and later on films such as God is Brazilian would be over 10 million dollars . This was a new era in Brazil as domestic directors had yet to produce any films with that kind of financial support .
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean , covering 9.98 million square kilometres ( 3.85 million square miles ) , making it the world 's second-largest country by total area . Its southern border with the United States , stretching some 8,891 kilometres ( 5,525 mi ) , is the world 's longest bi-national land border . Canada 's capital is Ottawa , and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto , Montreal , and Vancouver . As a whole , Canada is sparsely populated , with most of its land area dominated by forest and tundra . Its population is highly urbanized , with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities , and 70 percent residing within 100 kilometres ( 62 mi ) of the southern border . Canada 's climate varies widely across its vast area , ranging from Arctic climate in the north to hot summers in the southern regions , with four distinct seasons . Various indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European colonization . Beginning in the 16th century , British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast . As a consequence of various armed conflicts , France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 . In 1867 , with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation , Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces . This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom .
Night Zoo ( French : Un Zoo la Nuit ) is a 1987 Canadian film . It is directed and written by Jean-Claude Lauzon . It made its debut at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival . The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee . It was also the most successful film in the history of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television 's film awards program , winning a record 13 Genie Awards in every single category where it was nominated . The film garnered 14 nominations overall ; the film 's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu 's nod for Best Actor , as he lost to the film 's other Best Actor nominee , Roger Lebel .
Jean-Claude Lauzon ( September 29 , 1953 - August 10 , 1997 ) was a Canadian filmmaker . Born to a humble family in Montreal , Quebec , Canada , Lauzon worked a variety of odd jobs after dropping out of high school . He went on to study film at the Université du Québec à Montréal at the behest of Andre Petrowski , a member of the National Film Board of Canada . His two feature-length films , Night Zoo ( Un zoo la nuit ) , and Léolo , established him as one of the most important Canadian directors of his time . He was preparing his third film when he died , along with his girlfriend , Canadian actress Marie-Soleil Tougas , in a plane crash . On August 10 , 1997 , the Cessna 180K he was piloting flew into a mountainside in strong winds and rain near Kuujjuaq , Quebec while returning from a fishing trip . His film Léolo was nominated at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival for the Golden Palm Award , and is listed as one of Time 's All-TIME 100 Movies .
China ( Chinese : 中国 ; pinyin : Zhōngguó ) , officially the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) , is a country in East Asia and is the world 's most populous country , with a population of around 1.428 billion in 2017 . Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers ( 3,700,000 sq mi ) , it is the third largest country by area . [ j ] Governed by the Communist Party of China , the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , [ k ] five autonomous regions , four direct-controlled municipalities ( Beijing , Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ) , and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau . China emerged as one of the world 's first civilizations , in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain . For millennia , China 's political system was based on hereditary monarchies , or dynasties , beginning with the semi-mythical Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE . Since then , China has expanded , fractured , and re-unified numerous times . In the 3rd century BCE , the Qin reunited core China and established the first Chinese empire . The succeeding Han dynasty , which ruled from 206 BCE until 220 CE , saw some of the most advanced technology at that time , including papermaking and the compass , along with agricultural and medical improvements . The invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty ( 618-907 ) and Northern Song ( 960-1127 ) completed the Four Great Inventions . Tang culture spread widely in Asia , as the new Silk Route brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa . Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution , when the Republic of China ( ROC ) replaced the Qing dynasty . China , as a whole , was ravaged by feudal warlordism and Japan during World War II .
Hibiscus Town ( simplified Chinese : 芙蓉镇 ; traditional Chinese : 芙蓉鎮 ; pinyin : Fúróng zhèn ) is a 1986 Chinese film directed by Xie Jin , based on a novel by the same name written by Gu Hua . The film , a melodrama , follows the life and travails of a young woman who lives through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution and as such is an example of the scar drama genre that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s that detailed life during that period . The film was produced by the Shanghai Film Studio . The film won Best Film for 1987 Golden Rooster Awards and Hundred Flowers Awards , as well as Best Actress awards for Liu Xiaoqing at both ceremonies . It was also selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee . The village in Hunan province where the film was made , was initially known as Wang Village ( 王村 ; pinyin : Wáng cūn ) . In 2007 , the village was renamed Furong zhen ( 芙蓉镇 ) owing to this film .
Chinese ( simplified Chinese : 汉语 ; traditional Chinese : 漢語 ; pinyin : Hànyǔ ; literally : 'Han language ' ; or especially though not exclusively for written Chinese : 中文 ; Zhōngwén ; 'Chinese writing ' ) is a group of languages that forms the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages . Chinese languages are spoken by the ethnic Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in China . About 1.2 billion people ( around 16% of the world 's population ) speak some form of Chinese as their first language . The varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be regional variants of ethnic Chinese speech , without consideration of whether they are mutually intelligible . Due to their lack of mutual intelligibility , linguists generally describe them as distinct languages , perhaps hundreds , sometimes noting that they are more varied than the Romance languages . [ b ] Investigation of the historical relationships among the Sinitic languages is just getting started . Currently , most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups , based on often superficial phonetic developments , of which the most populous by far is Mandarin ( about 800 million speakers , e.g . Southwestern Mandarin ) , followed by Min ( 75 million , e.g . Southern Min ) , Wu ( 74 million , e.g . Shanghainese ) , Yue ( 68 million , e.g . Cantonese ) . These groups are unintelligible to each other , and generally many of their subgroups are mutually unintelligible as well ( e.g. , not only is Min Chinese a family of mutually unintelligible languages , but Southern Min itself is not a single language ) .
Xie Jin ( Chinese : 谢晋 ; 21 November 1923 - 18 October 2008 ) was a Chinese film director . He rose to prominence in 1957 , directing the film Woman Basketball Player No . 5 , and is considered one of the Third Generation directors of China . Most recently he was known for the direction of The Opium War . Xie was a popular director amongst the older generations of Chinese , with six of his films being voted Best Picture in the Hundred Flowers Awards . He was the only Chinese director to date to be a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Directors Guild of America .
Cuba ( /ˈkjuːbə/ ( listen ) ; Spanish pronunciation : [ ˈkuβa ] ) , officially the Republic of Cuba ( Spanish : República de Cuba ( help·info ) ) , is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos . Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea , Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet . It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula ( Mexico ) , south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas , west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands . Havana is the largest city and capital ; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey . The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometers ( 42,800 sq mi ) ( 109,884 square kilometers ( 42,426 sq mi ) without the territorial waters ) . The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean , with an area of 105,006 square kilometers ( 40,543 sq mi ) , and the second-most populous after Hispaniola , with over 11 million inhabitants . The territory that is now Cuba was inhabited by the Ciboney Taíno people from the 4th millennium BC until Spanish colonization in the 15th century . From the 15th century , it was a colony of Spain until the Spanish-American War of 1898 , when Cuba was occupied by the United States and gained nominal independence as a de facto United States protectorate in 1902 . As a fragile republic , in 1940 Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system , but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in a coup and subsequent dictatorship under Fulgencio Batista in 1952 . Open corruption and oppression under Batista 's rule led to his ousting in January 1959 by the 26th of July Movement , which afterwards established communist rule under the leadership of Fidel Castro . Since 1965 , the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba . The country was a point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States , and a nuclear war nearly broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 .
A Successful Man ( Spanish : Un hombre de éxito ) is a 1986 Cuban drama film directed by Humberto Solás . It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and it was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival . It won Best Production Design and Grand Coral - First Prize in the 1986 Havana Film Festival . The film was selected as the Cuban entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Humberto Solás ( 4 December 1941 - 18 September 2008 ) was a Cuban film director , credited with directing the film Lucía ( 1968 ) , which explored the lives of Cuban women during different periods in Cuban history . His cinematic style borrows from Luchino Visconti 's mise en scene and is permeated by sometimes heavy melodrama . He started making shorts at a very young age and directed his first medium length film Manuela in 1966 . The success of this film led him to direct Lucía , told in three stories in different moments of Cuban history , all seen through the eyes of a different woman named Lucia . Solás has won 13 awards for filmmaking and been nominated for an additional nine . His 1968 film Lucía won the Golden Prize and the Prix FIPRESCI at the 6th Moscow International Film Festival . His 1985 film A Successful Man was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival . In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival . He has twice served on the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival , in 1977 and 1997 . In 2003 , he founded Gibara 's Poor Cinema Festival , open to filmmakers with limited funds . Solás was awarded Cuba 's National Film Prize in 2005 . Humberto Solás died of cancer on September 18 , 2008 , at the age of 66 .
Czechoslovakia , or Czecho-Slovakia ( /ˌtʃɛkoʊsloʊˈvækiə , -kə- , -slə- , -ˈvɑː-/ ; Czech and Slovak : Československo , Česko-Slovensko ) , was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 , when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire , until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993 . From 1939 to 1945 , following its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany , the state did not de facto exist but its government-in-exile continued to operate . From 1948 to 1990 , Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a command economy . Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of May 1955 . A period of political liberalization in 1968 , known as the Prague Spring , was forcibly ended when the Soviet Union , assisted by several other Warsaw Pact countries , invaded Czechoslovakia . In 1989 , as Marxist-Leninist governments and socialism were ending all over Europe , Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their government in the Velvet Revolution ; state price controls were removed after a period of preparation . In 1993 , Czechoslovakia split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia .
Forbidden Dreams ( Czech : Smrt krásných srnců ) is a 1986 Czech drama film directed by Karel Kachyňa . It was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival . The film was selected as the Czechoslovak entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Czech ( /tʃɛk/ ; Czech čeština [ ˈtʃɛʃcɪna ] ) , historically also Bohemian ( /boʊˈhiːmiən , bə-/ ; lingua Bohemica in Latin ) is a West Slavic language of the Czech-Slovak group . Spoken by over 10 million people , it serves as the official language of the Czech Republic . Czech is closely related to Slovak , to the point of mutual intelligibility to a very high degree , as well as Polish . Like other Slavic languages , Czech is a fusional language with a rich system of morphology and relatively flexible word order . Its vocabulary has been extensively influenced by Latin and German . The Czech-Slovak group developed within West Slavic in the high medieval period , and the standardization of Czech and Slovak within the Czech-Slovak dialect continuum emerged in the early modern period . In the later 18th to mid-19th century , the modern written standard became codified in the context of the Czech National Revival . The main non-standard variety , known as Common Czech , is based on the vernacular of Prague , but is now spoken as an interdialect throughout most of the Czech Republic . The Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are also classified as Czech , although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak . Czech has a moderately-sized phoneme inventory , comprising ten monophthongs , three diphthongs and 25 consonants ( divided into hard , neutral and soft categories ) . Words may contain complicated consonant clusters or lack vowels altogether . Czech has a raised alveolar trill , which is known to occur as a phoneme in only a few other languages , represented by the grapheme ř. Czech uses a simple orthography which phonologists have used as a model .
Karel Kachyňa ( 1 May 1924 - 12 March 2004 ) was a Czech film director . His career spanned over five decades . He was married to Alena Mihulová . They had one daughter , Karolína , together . He was born in Vyškov , Czechoslovakia and died in Prague , Czech Republic . His 1961 film Pouta was entered into the 2nd Moscow International Film Festival . His 1986 film Forbidden Dreams was entered into the 15th Moscow International Film Festival .
Denmark ( Danish : Danmark , pronounced [ ˈtænmak ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Denmark , [ N 10 ] [ N 2 ] is a Nordic country in Northwest Europe . Denmark proper , which is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries , consists of a peninsula , Jutland , and an archipelago of 443 named islands , [ N 2 ] with the largest being Zealand , Funen and the North Jutlandic Island . The islands are characterised by flat , arable land and sandy coasts , low elevation and a temperate climate . The southernmost of the Scandinavian nations , Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway , [ N 11 ] and is bordered to the south by Germany . The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous territories in the North Atlantic Ocean : the Faroe Islands and Greenland . Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 ( 16,573 sq mi ) , land area of 42,394 km2 ( 16,368 sq mi ) , and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 ( 853,509 sq mi ) , and a population of 5.8 million in Denmark proper ( Danish egentlige Danmark ) ( as of 2020 [ update ] ) . The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 8th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea . Denmark , Sweden , and Norway were ruled together under one sovereign ruler in the Kalmar Union , established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523 . The areas of Denmark and Norway remained under the same monarch until 1814 , Denmark-Norway . Beginning in the 17th century , there were several devastating wars with the Swedish Empire , ending with large cessions of territory to Sweden . After the Napoleonic Wars , Norway was ceded to Sweden , while Denmark kept the Faroe Islands , Greenland , and Iceland . In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements , which were defeated in the First Schleswig War .
Babette 's Feast ( Danish : Babettes gæstebud ) is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel . The film 's screenplay was written by Axel based on the story by Isak Dinesen ( Karen Blixen ) . Produced by Just Betzer , Bo Christensen , and Benni Korzen with funding from the Danish Film Institute , Babette 's Feast was the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story . It was also the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film . The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1987 Cannes Film Festival .
Danish ( /ˈdeɪnɪʃ/ ( listen ) ; dansk pronounced [ ˈtænˀsk ] ( listen ) , dansk sprog [ ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔu̯ˀ ] ) is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people , principally in Denmark , Greenland and in the region of Southern Schleswig in northern Germany , where it has minority language status . Also , minor Danish-speaking communities are found in Norway , Sweden , Spain , the United States , Canada , Brazil , and Argentina . Due to immigration and language shift in urban areas , around 15-20% of the population of Greenland speak Danish as their first language . Along with the other North Germanic languages , Danish is a descendant of Old Norse , the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Era . Danish , together with Swedish , derives from the East Norse dialect group , while the Middle Norwegian language before the influence of Danish and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic . A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish as mainland Scandinavian , while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as insular Scandinavian . Until the 16th century , Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions . With the Protestant Reformation and the introduction of printing , a standard language was developed which was based on the educated Copenhagen dialect . It spread through use in the education system and administration , though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century . Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden , a nationalist movement adopted the language as a token of Danish identity , and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity , with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries . Today , traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared , though regional variants of the standard language exist . The main differences in language are between generations , with youth language being particularly innovative .
Axel Gabriel Erik Mørch better known as Gabriel Axel ( 18 April 1918 - 9 February 2014 ) was a Danish film director , actor , writer and producer , best known for Babette 's Feast ( 1987 ) , which he wrote and directed .
Finland ( Finnish : Suomi [ ˈsuo̯mi ] ( listen ) ; Swedish : Finland [ ˈfɪ̌nland ] ( listen ) , Finland Swedish : [ ˈfinlɑnd ] ) , officially the Republic of Finland ( Finnish : Suomen tasavalta , Swedish : Republiken Finland ( listen to all ) ) , [ note 1 ] is a Nordic country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea , Gulf of Bothnia , and Gulf of Finland , between Sweden to the west , Russia to the east , Estonia to the south , and north-eastern Norway to the north . The capital and largest city is Helsinki . Other major cities are Espoo , Tampere , Vantaa , Oulu , Turku , Jyväskylä , Lahti and Kuopio . Finland 's population is 5.52 million as of July 2019 , the majority of whom live in the central and south of the country and speak Finnish , a Finnic language from the Uralic language family , unrelated to the Scandinavian languages . Finland is the eighth-largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union . It is a parliamentary republic of 310 municipalities , and includes an autonomous region , the Åland Islands . Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area , which produces one third of the country 's GDP . Swedish is the second official language of Finland , which is mainly spoken in certain coastal areas and on Åland . A large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church . Finland was inhabited when the last ice age ended , approximately 9000 BC . Comb Ceramic culture introduced pottery 5200 BC and Corded Ware culture coincided with the start of agriculture between 3000 and 2500 BC . The Bronze Age and Iron Age were characterised by extensive contacts with other cultures in the Fennoscandian and Baltic regions .
The Snow Queen ( Finnish : Lumikuningatar ) is a 1986 Finnish fantasy film directed by Päivi Hartzell . The film was selected as the Finnish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Finnish ( suomi [ ˈsuo̯mi ] ( listen ) or suomen kieli [ ˈsuo̯meŋ ˈkie̯li ] ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside Finland . Finnish , along with Swedish , is an official language of Finland ; Finnish is also an official minority language in Sweden . In Sweden , both Standard Finnish and Meänkieli , its own language or a dialect of Finnish , are spoken . The Kven language , a dialect of Finnish or even a distinct language , is spoken in Northern Norway by a minority group of Finnish descent . The status of Kven and Meänkieli is debated . Finnish is a member of the Finnic language family and is typologically between fusional and agglutinative languages . It modifies and inflects nouns , adjectives , pronouns , numerals and verbs , depending on their roles in the sentence . Sentences are normally formed following the subject-verb-object syntax , although the extensive use of inflection allows them to be ordered otherwise . Words are written using a Latin-script alphabet derived from the Swedish alphabet , and are meant to be spelled exactly as they are pronounced , with each letter representing one phoneme . Vowel length and geminated consonants are distinguished , and its phonology includes a range of diphthongs , although vowel harmony limits which diphthongs are possible .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
Au revoir les enfants ( French pronunciation : ​ [ o ʁə.vwaʁ le zɑ̃.fɑ̃ ] , meaning Goodbye , Children ) is an autobiographical 1987 film written , produced and directed by Louis Malle . The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival .
Louis Marie Malle ( French : [ mal ] ; 30 October 1932 - 23 November 1995 ) was a French film director , screenwriter and producer . His film Le Monde du silence won the Palme d'Or in 1956 and the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1957 , although he was not credited at the ceremony ; the award was instead presented to the film 's co-director Jacques Cousteau . Later in his career he was nominated multiple times for Academy Awards . Malle is also one of only four directors to have won the Golden Lion twice . Malle worked in both French cinema and Hollywood , and he produced both French and English language films . His most famous films include the crime film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud ( 1958 ) , the World War II drama Lacombe , Lucien ( 1974 ) , the romantic crime film Atlantic City ( 1980 ) , the comedy-drama My Dinner with Andre ( 1981 ) , and the autobiographical film Au revoir les enfants ( 1987 ) .
West Germany was the informal name for the Federal Republic of Germany , a country in Western Europe , in the period between its formation on 23 May 1949 and German reunification on 3 October 1990 . During this Cold War period , the western portion of Germany was part of the Western Bloc . The Federal Republic was created during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States , the United Kingdom and France . Its ( provisional ) capital was the city of Bonn . The Cold War era West Germany is also retrospectively designated the Bonn Republic . At the onset of the Cold War , Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs . Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories , the Saarland and a divided Berlin . Initially , the Federal Republic of Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany , considering itself to be the sole democratically reorganised continuation of the 1871-1945 German Reich . It took the line that the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ) was an illegally constituted puppet state . Though the GDR did hold regular elections , these were neither free nor fair . From the West German perspective , the GDR was therefore illegitimate . Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952 , and the Saarland joined the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 .
Wings of Desire ( German : Der Himmel über Berlin , lit . 'Heaven Over Berlin ' ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders . The film is about invisible , immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its human inhabitants , comforting the distressed . Even though the city is densely populated , many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones . One of the angels , played by Bruno Ganz , falls in love with a beautiful , lonely trapeze artist , played by Solveig Dommartin . The angel chooses to become mortal so that he can experience human sensory pleasures , ranging from enjoying food to touching a loved one , and so that he can discover human love with the trapeze artist . Inspired by art depicting angels visible around West Berlin , at the time enclaved by the Berlin Wall , Wenders and author Peter Handke conceived of the story and continued to develop the screenplay throughout the French and German co-production . The film was shot by Henri Alekan in both colour and a sepia-toned black-and-white , the latter being used to represent the world as seen by the angels . The cast includes Otto Sander , Curt Bois and Peter Falk . For Wings of Desire , Wenders won awards for Best Director at both the Cannes Film Festival and European Film Awards . The film was a critical and financial success , and academics have interpreted it as a statement of the importance of cinema , libraries , the circus , or German unity , containing New Age , religious , secular or other themes . It was followed by a sequel , Faraway , So Close ! , released in 1993 .
Ernst Wilhelm Wim Wenders ( German : [ ˈvɪm ˈvɛndɐs ] ; born 14 August 1945 ) is a German filmmaker , playwright , author , and photographer . He is a major figure in New German Cinema . Among many honors , he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature : for Buena Vista Social Club ( 1999 ) , about Cuban music culture ; Pina ( 2011 ) , about the contemporary dance choreographer Pina Bausch ; and The Salt of the Earth ( 2014 ) , about Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado . One of Wenders ' earliest honors was a win for the BAFTA Award for Best Direction for his narrative drama Paris , Texas ( 1984 ) , which also won the Palme d'Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival . Many of his subsequent films have also been recognized at Cannes , including Wings of Desire ( 1987 ) , for which Wenders won the Best Director Award at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival . Wenders has been the president of the European Film Academy in Berlin since 1996 . Alongside filmmaking , he is an active photographer , emphasizing images of desolate landscapes . He is considered to be an auteur director .
Greece ( Greek : Ελλάδα ) , officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek : Ελληνική Δημοκρατία ) , historically also known as Hellas , is a country located in Southeast Europe . Its population is approximately 10.7 million as of 2018 ; Athens , the nation 's capital , is its largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula , Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe , Asia , and Africa . It shares land borders with Albania to the northwest , North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north , and Turkey to the northeast . The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland , the Ionian Sea to the west , the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km ( 8,498 mi ) in length , featuring many islands , of which 227 are inhabited . Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous , with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres ( 9,573 ft ) . The country consists of nine traditional geographic regions : Macedonia , Central Greece , the Peloponnese , Thessaly , Epirus , the Aegean Islands ( including the Dodecanese and Cyclades ) , Thrace , Crete , and the Ionian Islands . Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation , being the birthplace of democracy , Western philosophy , Western literature , historiography , political science , major scientific and mathematical principles , Western drama and the Olympic Games . From the eighth century B.C. , the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states , known as poleis ( singular polis ) , which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea . Philip of Macedon united most of the Greek mainland in the fourth century BC , with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the ancient world , from the eastern Mediterranean to India . Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century B.C. , becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor , the Byzantine Empire , which adopted the Greek language and culture .
Theofilos ( Greek : Θεόφιλος ) is a 1987 Greek drama film directed by Lakis Papastathis on the life of the Greek painter Theofilos Hatzimichail . It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival . The film was selected as the Greek entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Greek ( Modern Greek : ελληνικά , elliniká ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages , native to Greece , Cyprus , Albania and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea . It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language , spanning at least 3,500 years of written records . Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history ; other systems , such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary , were used previously . The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Armenian , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems . The Greek language holds an important place in the history of the Western world and Christianity ; the canon of ancient Greek literature includes works in the Western canon such as the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science , especially astronomy , mathematics and logic and Western philosophy , such as the Platonic dialogues and the works of Aristotle , are composed ; the New Testament of the Christian Bible was written in Koiné Greek . Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the study of the Greek texts and society of antiquity constitutes the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world , West Asia and many places beyond . It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire and develop into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language in two countries , Greece and Cyprus , a recognised minority language in seven other countries , and is one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . The language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece , Cyprus , Italy , Albania , and Turkey and by the Greek diaspora . Greek roots are often used to coin new words for other languages ; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary .
Hungary ( Hungarian : Magyarország [ ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ ] ( listen ) ) is a country in Central Europe . Spanning 93,030 square kilometres ( 35,920 sq mi ) in the Carpathian Basin , it borders Slovakia to the north , Ukraine to the northeast , Romania to the east and southeast , Serbia to the south , Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest , and Austria to the west . With about 10 million inhabitants , Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union . The official language is Hungarian , which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world , and among the few non-Indo-European languages to be widely spoken in Europe . Hungary 's capital and largest city is Budapest ; other major urban areas include Debrecen , Szeged , Miskolc , Pécs and Győr . The territory of modern Hungary was for centuries inhabited by a succession of peoples , including Celts , Romans , Germanic tribes , Huns , West Slavs and the Avars . The foundations of the Hungarian state were established in the late ninth century CE by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád following the conquest of the Carpathian Basin . His great-grandson Stephen I ascended the throne in 1000 , converting his realm to a Christian kingdom . By the 12th century , Hungary became a regional power , reaching its cultural and political height in the 15th century . Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , Hungary was partially occupied by the Ottoman Empire ( 1541-1699 ) . It came under Habsburg rule at the turn of the 18th century , and later joined Austria to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire , a major European power . The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I , and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon established Hungary 's current borders , resulting in the loss of 71% of its territory , 58% of its population , and 32% of ethnic Hungarians .
Diary for My Lovers ( Hungarian : Napló szerelmeimnek ) is a 1987 Hungarian drama film directed by Márta Mészáros . It was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival , where it won the Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement . The film was selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Hungarian ( magyar nyelv ( help·info ) ) is a Uralic language spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries . It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . Outside Hungary it is also spoken by communities of Hungarians in the countries that today make up Slovakia , western Ukraine ( Subcarpathia ) , central and western Romania ( Transylvania ) , northern Serbia ( Vojvodina ) , northern Croatia and northern Slovenia ( Mur region ) . It is also spoken by Hungarian diaspora communities worldwide , especially in North America ( particularly the United States and Canada ) and Israel . With 13 million speakers , it is the Uralic family 's largest member by number of speakers .
Márta Mészáros ( born 19 September 1931 ) is a Hungarian screenwriter and film director . The daughter of László Mészáros , a sculptor , Mészáros began her career working in documentary film , having made 25 documentary shorts over the span of ten years . Her full-length directorial debut , Eltavozott nap/The Girl ( 1968 ) , was the first Hungarian film to have been directed by a woman , and won the Special Prize of the Jury at the Valladolid International Film Festival . Mészáros ' work often combines autobiographical details with documentary footage . Prominent themes include characters ' denials of their pasts , the consequences of dishonesty , and the problematics of gender . Her films often feature heroines from fragmented families , such as young girls seeking their missing parents ( The Girl ) or middle-aged women looking to adopt children ( Adoption ) . Although Mészáros has made over fifteen feature films , she is arguably best known for Diary for My Children ( 1984 ) , which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival . It was the first entry in a trilogy of autobiographical films which also includes Diary for My Lovers ( 1987 ) and Diary for My Mother and Father ( 1990 ) . Throughout her career , Mészáros has won the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear awards at the Berlinale ; the Golden Medal at the Chicago International Film Festival ; the Silver Shell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival ; and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival . In 1991 she was a member of the jury at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival .
Iceland ( Icelandic : Ísland ; [ ˈistlant ] ( listen ) ) [ c ] is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic , with a population of 360,390 and an area of 103,000 km2 ( 40,000 sq mi ) , making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe . [ d ] The capital and largest city is Reykjavík . Reykjavik and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population . Iceland is volcanically and geologically active . The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields , mountains , and glaciers , and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands . Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate , despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle . Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly , with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate . According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island . In the following centuries , Norwegians , and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians , emigrated to Iceland , bringing with them thralls ( i.e. , slaves or serfs ) of Gaelic origin . The island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing , one of the world 's oldest functioning legislative assemblies . Following a period of civil strife , Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century . The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway , Denmark , and Sweden .
White Whales ( orig : Skytturnar ( pronunciation ( help·info ) ) ) the third film directed by Icelandic director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson in 1987 . Starring Eggert Guðmundsson , Þórarinn Óskar Þórarinsson , and Eggert Þorleifsson , this film features Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson , Sykurmolarnir , Bubbi Morthens , and MX-21 on the soundtrack . The film was selected as the Icelandic entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Icelandic ( /aɪsˈlændɪk/ ( listen ) ; Icelandic : íslenska pronounced [ ˈistlɛnska ] ( listen ) ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people , the vast majority of whom live in Iceland where it is the national language . It is most closely related to Faroese and Western Norwegian . The language is more conservative than most other Western European languages . While most of them have greatly reduced levels of inflection ( particularly noun declension ) , Icelandic retains a four-case synthetic grammar ( comparable to German , though considerably more conservative and synthetic ) and is distinguished by a wide assortment of irregular declensions . Since the written language has not changed much , Icelanders are able to read classic Old Norse literature created in the 10th through 13th centuries ( such as the Eddas and sagas ) with relative ease . Icelandic is closely related to , but not mutually intelligible when spoken with , the Faroese language whereas the written forms of the two languages are very similar . It is not mutually intelligible with the continental Scandinavian languages , and is farther away from the most widely spoken Germanic languages English and German than those three are . Aside from the 300,000 Icelandic speakers in Iceland , it is spoken by about 8,000 people in Denmark , 5,000 people in the United States , and more than 1,400 people in Canada , notably in the region known as New Iceland in Manitoba which was settled by Icelanders beginning in the 1880s . The state-funded Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies serves as a centre for preserving the medieval Icelandic manuscripts and studying the language and its literature . The Icelandic Language Council , comprising representatives of universities , the arts , journalists , teachers , and the Ministry of Culture , Science and Education , advises the authorities on language policy . Since 1995 , on 16 November each year , the birthday of 19th-century poet Jónas Hallgrímsson is celebrated as Icelandic Language Day .
Friðrik Þór Friðriksson ( born 12 May 1954 ; pronounced [ ˈfrɪðrɪk ˈθouːr ˈfrɪðrɪxsɔn ] ) , sometimes credited as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson , is an Icelandic film director and producer .
India ( Hindi : Bhārat ) , officially the Republic of India ( Hindi : Bhārat Gaṇarājya ) , is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh-largest country by area , the second-most populous country , and the most populous democracy in the world . Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south , the Arabian Sea on the southwest , and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast , it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west ; [ e ] China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the north ; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east . In the Indian Ocean , India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives ; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia . Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago . Their long occupation , initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers , has made the region highly diverse , second only to Africa in human genetic diversity . Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago , evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE . By 1200 BCE , an archaic form of Sanskrit , an Indo-European language , had diffused into India from the northwest , unfolding as the language of the Rigveda , and recording the dawning of Hinduism in India . The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern regions . By 400 BCE , stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism , and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen , proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity . Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin . Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity , but also marked by the declining status of women , and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief .
Nayakan ( transl . The Hero ; also spelt Nayagan ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Mani Ratnam . It stars Kamal Haasan and Saranya in lead roles . It is loosely based on the real-life Bombay underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar , and sympathetically depicts the struggle of South Indians living in Bombay ( now Mumbai ) . The film also stars Saranya Ponvannan in her film debut . Karthika , Nassar , Janagaraj , Delhi Ganesh and Tinnu Anand play significant roles . The soundtrack and the background score of the film , composed by Ilaiyaraaja were critically acclaimed and considered by critics as one of his best works to that point . Nayakan was released on 21 October 1987 on the occasion of Diwali and received critical acclaim . Haasan 's performance earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor . The film also earned the National Awards for Best Cinematography ( P. C. Sriram ) and Best Art Direction ( Thotta Tharani ) . The film was India 's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1988 at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not nominated . In 2005 , the magazine TIME included Nayakan in its list of All-Time 100 Best Films .
Tamil ( /ˈtæmɪl/ ; தமிழ் Tamiḻ [ t̪amiɻ ] , pronunciation ( help·info ) ) is a Dravidian language predominantly spoken by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka , and by the Tamil diaspora , Sri Lankan Moors , Chindians , and Douglas . Tamil is an official language in three countries : India , Sri Lanka and Singapore . In India , it is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry . Furthermore , Tamil is used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia , along with English , Malay and Mandarin . Tamil is spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala , Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India . Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world . A. K. Ramanujan described it as the only language of contemporary India which is recognizably continuous with a classical past . The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to it being described as one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world . A recorded Tamil literature has been documented for over 2000 years . The earliest period of Tamil literature , Sangam literature , is dated from ca . 300 BC - AD 300 .
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam ( born 2 June 1956 ) , commonly known by his screen name Mani Ratnam , is an Indian film director , screenwriter , and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema . In 2002 , the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri , acknowledging his contributions to film . Despite being born into a film family , Mani Ratnam did not develop any interest in films when he was young . Upon completion of his post graduation in management , he started his career as a consultant . He entered the film industry through the 1983 Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi . The failure of his subsequent films would mean that he was left with fewer offers . However , his fifth directorial outing , Mouna Ragam ( 1986 ) , established him as a leading filmmaker in Tamil cinema . He followed that with Nayakan ( 1987 ) . Mani Ratnam is well known for his Terrorism trilogy consisting of Roja ( 1992 ) , Bombay ( 1995 ) , and Dil Se . ( 1998 ) . He is married to actress Suhasini and has a son with her . He has won several film awards and nominations including six National Film Awards , six Filmfare Awards South and three Bollywood Filmfare Awards .
Indonesia ( /ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ ( listen ) IN-də-NEE-zhə ) , officially the Republic of Indonesia ( Indonesian : Republik Indonesia [ reˈpublik ɪndoˈnesia ] ( listen ) ) , [ a ] is a country in Southeast Asia , between the Indian and Pacific oceans . It is the world 's largest island country , with more than seventeen thousand islands , and at 1,904,569 square kilometres ( 735,358 square miles ) , the 14th largest by land area and 7th in the combined sea and land area . With over 267 million people , it is the world 's 4th most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country . Java , the world 's most populous island , is home to more than half of the country 's population . The country 's capital , Jakarta , is the second-most populous urban area in the world . The sovereign state is a presidential , constitutional republic with an elected legislature . It has 34 provinces , of which five have special status . The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea , East Timor , and the eastern part of Malaysia . Other neighbouring countries include Singapore , Vietnam , the Philippines , Australia , Palau , and India 's Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Despite its large population and densely populated regions , Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support a high level of biodiversity . The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas , coal , tin , copper , gold , and nickel , while agriculture mainly produces rice , palm oil , tea , coffee , cacao , medicinal plants , spices , and rubber . China , the United States , Japan , Singapore , and India are Indonesia 's major trading partners .
Nagabonar is a 1987 Indonesian comedy film directed by M.T . Risyaf . It was Indonesia 's submission to the 60th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film , but was not accepted as a nominee . In 2007 , the sequel named Nagabonar Jadi 2 released .
Indonesian ( bahasa Indonesia [ baˈha.sa in.doˈne.sja ] ) is the official language of Indonesia . It is a standardised variety of Malay , an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries . Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world . Of its large population , the majority speak Indonesian , making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world . Most Indonesians , aside from speaking the national language , are fluent in at least one of the more than 700 indigenous local languages ; examples include Javanese , Sundanese and Balinese , which are commonly used at home and within the local community . However , most formal education , and nearly all national mass media , governance , administration , judiciary , and other forms of communication , are conducted in Indonesian . The term Indonesian is primarily associated with the national standard dialect ( bahasa baku ) . However , in a more loose sense , it also encompasses the various local varieties spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago . Standard Indonesian is confined mostly to formal situations , existing in a diglossic relationship with vernacular Malay varieties , which are commonly used for daily communication . The Indonesian name for the language ( bahasa Indonesia ) is also occasionally found in English and other languages .
Israel , formally known as the State of Israel ( Hebrew : מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל ) , is a country in Western Asia , located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea . It has land borders with Lebanon to the north , Syria to the northeast , Jordan on the east , the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west , respectively , and Egypt to the southwest . The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area . Israel 's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv , while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , although the state 's sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition . [ fn 4 ] Israel has evidence of the earliest migration of hominids out of Africa . Canaanite tribes are archaeologically attested since the Middle Bronze Age , while the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age . The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE . Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian , Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces . The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE , which in 63 BCE however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE , and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea . Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction , the expulsion of the Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina . Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries . In the 7th century CE , the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099 , followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187 .
I Do n't Give a Damn ( Hebrew : לא שם זין , translit . Lo Sam Zayin ) is a 1987 Israeli drama film directed by Shmuel Imberman , and starring Ika Zohar , Anat Waxman , and Shmuel Vilozni . It is based on a novel by Dahn Ben Amotz , and was adapted for the screen by Hanan Peled . The film , about a war veteran who becomes wheelchair-ridden after being shot in the stomach , is described by author Gönül Dönmez-Colin as an excellent example of Israeli war cinema where young men are instructed to commit their body to injury and death and in fact abandon it in the name of the belief in the , as it were , sacred idea of the nation-state .
Hebrew ( /ˈhiːbruː/ ; עִבְרִית , Ivrit Hebrew pronunciation : [ ivˈʁit ] or [ ʕivˈɾit ] ( listen ) ) is a Northwest Semitic language native to Israel . In 2013 , Modern Hebrew was spoken by over nine million people worldwide . Historically , it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors , although the language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Tanakh itself . [ note 1 ] The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE . Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family . Hebrew is the only Canaanite language still spoken , and the only truly successful example of a revived dead language . Hebrew had ceased to be an everyday spoken language somewhere between 200 and 400 CE , declining since the aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt . [ note 2 ] Aramaic and , to a lesser extent , Greek were already in use as international languages , especially among elites and immigrants . Hebrew survived into the medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy , rabbinic literature , intra-Jewish commerce and poetry . With the rise of Zionism in the 19th century , it was revived as a spoken and literary language , becoming the main language of the Yishuv , and subsequently of the State of Israel . According to Ethnologue , in 1998 , Hebrew was the language of five million people worldwide . After Israel , the United States has the second-largest Hebrew-speaking population , with about 220,000 fluent speakers , mostly from Israel .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
The Family ( Italian : La famiglia ) is a 1987 Italian film , directed by Ettore Scola and starred by Vittorio Gassman , Fanny Ardant , Philippe Noiret and Stefania Sandrelli . It was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival .
Italian ( italiano [ itaˈljaːno ] ( listen ) or lingua italiana [ ˈliŋɡwa itaˈljaːna ] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family . Italian descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire and , together with Sardinian , is by most measures the closest language to it of the Romance languages . Italian is an official language in Italy , Switzerland ( where it is the first language in Canton Ticino and in the districts of Moesa and Bernina in Canton Graubünden ) , San Marino and Vatican City . It has an official minority status in western Istria ( Croatia and Slovenia ) . It formerly had official status in Albania , Malta , Monaco , Montenegro ( Kotor ) and Greece ( Ionian Islands and Dodecanese ) , and is generally understood in Corsica ( due to its close relation with the Tuscan-influenced local language ) and Savoie . It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa , where it still plays a significant role in various sectors . Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia . Italian is included under the languages covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Romania , although Italian is neither a co-official nor a protected language in these countries . Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both Italian ( either in its standard form or regional varieties ) and other regional languages . Italian is a major European language , being one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and one of the working languages of the Council of Europe . It is the fourth most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 69 million native speakers ( 13% of the EU population ) and it is spoken as a second language by 16 million EU citizens ( 3% ) . Including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries ( such as Switzerland and Albania ) and on other continents , the total number of speakers is around 90 million .
Ettore Scola ( Italian pronunciation : [ ˈɛttore ˈskɔːla ] ; 10 May 1931 - 19 January 2016 ) was an Italian screenwriter and film director . He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film A Special Day and over the course of his film career was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
Zegen ( Japanese : 女衒 ZEGEN ) is a 1987 Japanese black comedy film by director Shohei Imamura . It was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival . The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 60th Academy Awards , but was not accepted as a nominee .
Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo [ ɲihoŋɡo ] ( listen ) ) is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people , primarily in Japan , where it is the national language . It is a member of the Japonic ( or Japanese-Ryukyuan ) language family , and its relation to other languages , such as Korean , is debated . Japanese has been grouped with language families such as Ainu , Austroasiatic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance . Little is known of the language 's prehistory , or when it first appeared in Japan . Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words , but substantial texts did not appear until the 8th century . During the Heian period ( 794-1185 ) , Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese . Late Middle Japanese ( 1185-1600 ) included changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language , and the first appearance of European loanwords . The standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo ( modern Tokyo ) region in the Early Modern Japanese period ( early 17th century-mid-19th century ) . Following the end of Japan 's self-imposed isolation in 1853 , the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly . English loanwords , in particular , have become frequent , and Japanese words from English roots have proliferated . Japanese is an agglutinative , mora-timed language with simple phonotactics , a pure vowel system , phonemic vowel and consonant length , and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject-object-verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words , and sentence structure is topic-comment .
Shohei Imamura ( 今村 昌平 , Imamura Shōhei , 15 September 1926 - 30 May 2006 ) was a Japanese film director . A key figure in the Japanese New Wave , who continued working into the 21st century , Imamura is the only director from Japan to win two Palme d'Or awards .