2025 Oscars: ‘Universal Language’, ‘From Ground Zero’ & ‘Touch’ Join Heavy Favorites on Shortlist

As is the case every year out, films that had a legit chance of joining the shortlist pack of fifteen in Austria’s The Devil’s Bath, Belgium’s Julie Keeps Quiet, Mexico’s Sujo, Poland’s Under the Volcano and Portugal’s Grand Tour will not advance however films such as Iceland’s Touch, Palestine’s From Ground Zero, Thailand’s How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, Czech Republic’s Waves and Canada’s Universal Language have made the grade. Heavy favorites in Brazil’s I’m Still Here, Denmark’s The Girl with the Needle, Italy’s Vermiglio, Germany’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig and France’s Emilia Pérez plus dark horse picks of Latvia’s Flow and Senegal’s Dahomey are considered the front-runners in this category. Here are the 15: