Panama has become the second Latin American country to submit a film to the Academy Awards.

The South American country submitted the film "Box 25," which is directed by Mercedes Arias and Delfina Vidal. The movie is a documentary, which has not been seen by many people. The announcement comes as no surprise, as the country began submitting last year, and film production in the country has also expanded.

It is the latest in a line of documentaries that have been submitted to the Academy this year. Switzerland submitted "Iraqi Odyssey" and Palestine submitted "The Wanted 18." Documentaries are usually hard to get nominated, but once in a while the Academy nominates one. Two years ago Cambodia was nominated for its documentary "The Missing Picture." However, that film had an advantage in that it won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard sidebar.

Neither one of these films has won such an award, and they will have a hard time convincing the Academy to nominate them in the Foreign Language category.

Meanwhile Sweden announced that it will submit last year's Golden Lion winner "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence." Magnolia opened the film earlier this year, and it received rave reviews. The film is a strong contender, especially since the movie had U.S distribution and had a solid box office.

Sweden has won three Academy Awards, and recently it was nominated in 2004 for "As it is in Heaven." Last year the country made the January shortlist with "Force Majeure." However, even though the movie was a strong contender and a Golden Globe nominee, the Academy snubbed it.

Perhaps Roy Andersson's "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence" could get the country's next nomination.

China also announced that it was submitting "Wolf Totem" as its official selection. The film was directed by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud and made its world premiere at the European Film Market.

Despite being a huge box office success in China, the film was met with lukewarm reception and faces an uphill battle to the nomination, especially with no major festivals on its resume.

Meanwhile Iraq submitted "Memories of Stone." The film premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. It also played at Abu Dhabi and UNESCO, and has been hailed. While the country has never been nominated, a strong campaign could help put Iraq in a good position.

Finland submitted "The Fencer," a film that premiered at the Munich International Film Festival. However, it has received very little international exposure.

To this point 15 countries have already submitted, and the competition is looking tough. Among the strongest contenders is Hungary's "Son of Saul." Ever since its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won universal acclaim and won the Grand Jury Prize, critics have hailed it as the front-runner.

Other strong contenders include Romania's "Aferim!," Croatia's "The High Sun" and Luxembourg's "Baby (a)lone." By far, Germany's selection was the most surprising, as it elected "Labyrinth of Lies" rather than the German Film Awards and Berlin Film Festival winner "Victoria."

Many countries have yet to submit, including Spain, France, Mexico, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Chile.

The Academy Award nominations will be announced Jan. 14 and the final day for the foreign countries to submit is Oct. 1.

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