Dominican Republic and Paraguay have announced their Academy Award submissions for this year's Oscars.

The Dominican Republic announced that it will send the critically acclaimed "Sand Dollars" starring Geraldine Chaplin. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and it is the latest in a line of LGBT films that will be screening for the Academy this year. Greece has already submitted "Xenia" another LGBT drama, which also looks like a strong contender.

The Dominican Republic has not submitted regularly, but they have submitted the past five years, and they have never been nominated. Perhaps with star power of Chaplin and the international acclaim of "Sand Dollars," the country's luck can change.

Meanwhile, Paraguay submitted "Cloudy Times," a documentary that is a co-production with Switzerland. The submission marks the first time the country has submitted to the Academy, and the film has a very good chance especially since it has already won a number of international prizes. The film premiered at the Visions du Reel, where it won the Regard Neuf award. It later went on to play at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Locarno Film Festivals. The film has also went on to win awards, including Le Prix Signis and Le Prix Lyceen du Documentaire at Cinelatino.

Other recent submissions included Bulgaria as the country selected "The Judgement." The movie premiered at the Sofia International Film Festival but has not really had an international run. Bulgaria has also never been nominated and has only made the shortlist once in 2009 for the film "The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner." That film was an international success, something that is important if a film is to be nominated for the Academy Awards.

Japan also announced its submission and chose "100 Yen Love." However, as usual the country failed to submit its international hit. The film was picked over the Cannes Film Festival selection "Our Little Sisters," which currently has U.S. distribution through Sony Pictures Classics and which could have easily been a strong contender.

"100 Yen Love" won Best Picture at the Tokyo Film festival and has also screened at festivals in Frankfurt, Edinburgh and Montreal.

Japan last won the Oscar in 2008 when it surprised audiences and critics with "Departures." The film beat out Palm d'Or winner "The Class," Berlin Film Festival selection "Revanche" and award winner "Waltz with Bashir." Since then, the country has only been shortlisted once more in 2010 for "Confessions."

Finally, Serbia submitted "Enclave," which has not received many international screenings. The country has never been nominated, but it made the shortlist in 2007 for "The Trap," which was at the Berlin Film Festival and Poland Film Festival.

This year's Oscar race is shaping up to be a strong one as many of this year's film have already picked up U.S. distribution and could pick up steam with a strong box office. Among the films include Hungary's "Son of Saul," which is currently the front runner, Germany's "Labyrinth of Lies," Austria's "Goodnight Mommy," Romania's "Aferim!" and China's "Wolf Totem."

The final day to submit for foreign countries is Oct. 1, and the Oscar nominations will be announced in January.

Related