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'Roma' (Mexico) -

This film–directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who also made ‘Y Tu Mamá También’–follows the love and life of an indigenous housekeeper who lives with an upper-middle-class Mexican family. After its release in 2018, the film became the first in Mexico’s history to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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'The Hunt' (Denmark) -

The only Danish film to appear on this list, ‘The Hunt’ was released in 2012 and depicts the horrendous turmoil and mass hysteria that is targeted at a kindergarten teacher after he is wrongfully accused of abusing a child in his class.

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'Cinema Paradiso' (Italy) -

This Italian production was released in 1988. It's a beautiful coming-of-age drama that centers around the friendship between a young boy and an elderly projectionist who works at the titular movie theater in their small Sicilian town. It has been cited by Empire Magazine as one of the greatest films of all time.

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'Amélie' (France) -

'Amélie' is a whimsical romantic comedy film that tells the story of a shy waitress who decides to help others. The film was released in 2001, and was nominated for multiple awards at the Oscars.

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'Pan's Labyrinth' (Spain) -

This dark fantasy film from 2006 was directed by Guillermo del Toro. The narrative mixes mythical fantasy with the real world as it details the story of a young girl who seeks out help for her sick mother.

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'In the Mood for Love' (Hong Kong) -

This romantic drama film follows a man and a woman whose spouses engage in an affair, leading to a gradual development of feelings between each other as well. Sight and Sound ranked it as one of the greatest films of all time.

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'City of God' (Brazil) -

This 2002 Brazilian movie was adapted from a novel and loosely based on real events. It is an epic action crime film that vividly portrays a suburb in Rio de Janeiro and its steady descent into organized crime over the course of two decades.

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'The Great Beauty' (Italy) -

Here is another film that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Set in Rome, this 2013 art drama film focuses on a journalist’s reflection of his life and the city’s high society as he approaches his 65th birthday.

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'The Lunchbox' (India) -

This 2013 Indian drama film received unanimous critical acclaim for its depiction of an unlikely relationship that forms between two characters after a mistaken lunchbox delivery.

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'Life is Beautiful' (Italy) -

To this day, this Italian production is considered one of the best films in cinematic history. It was released in 1997 and follows a bookshop owner as he tries to shield his son from the horrors of living in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was a commensurate success after its release, and, among its many awards, it won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

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'Y Tu Mamá También' (Mexico) -

This Mexican film–roughly translated as 'And Your Mother Too'–is a coming-of-age story about two teenage boys who venture out on a road trip with a woman in her late twenties. Although the film received critical acclaim upon its release in 2001, the story’s explicit depiction of intimacy and substance consumption was controversial.

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'A Separation' (Iran) -

Released in 2011, this social drama focuses on the conflict and desperation that unfolds after an Iranian middle-class couple decide to separate. It was the first Iranian film in history to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

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'Oldboy' (South Korea) -

Another South Korean production arrives on this list. ‘Oldboy’ is a 2003 action-thriller film that follows a man held captive for 15 years by an unknown person, and the journey of violence that unfolds after he is released.

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'The Motorcycle Diaries' (Argentina) -

This coming-of-age Spanish-language biopic brings to life the memoir that was written by 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara, who later became better known as the revolutionary leader Che Guevara. The movie received a standing ovation during its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.

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'A Fantastic Woman' (Chile) -

This film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and has been acclaimed as one of the best LGBTQ+ films of all time. The film, released in 2017, depicts a young transgender woman and the discrimination and prejudice that she faces after the death of her older boyfriend.

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'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' (Taiwan/China) -

This film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 and quickly became an international success, even going so far as to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie is a period piece set in 19th-century Qing Dynasty China, and follows the story of a stolen sword and the journey that a retired swordsman and his love interest take to retrieve it.

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'The Handmaiden' (South Korea) -

Directed by the same filmmaker who made ‘Oldboy,’ Park Chan-wook, this 2016 film is a psychological thriller about a con artist and a wealthy heiress who become entangled in a plot of deception and desire.

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'Society of the Snow' (Spain) -

A recent addition to the world of cinema, this Spanish film was released in 2023 and details the story of a Uruguayan rugby team and the events after Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains.

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'Kung Fu Hustle' (China) -

A murderous neighborhood gang and an aspiring gangster’s fierce journey towards self-discovery all come together in this 2004 martial arts film. The production’s use of special effects and Looney Toons has made it a hilarious addition to this list.

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'Train to Busan' (South Korea) -

This list would be somewhat incomplete if it didn’t feature at least one film about a zombie apocalypse! This South Korean action horror film from 2016 unfolds mainly on a high-speed railway train as passengers attempt to survive an onslaught of the undead.

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'The Lives of Others' (Germany) -

This German production was the first notable drama film to touch on the subject of the Berlin Wall, which had fallen 17 years prior to the release of the film in 2006. The story’s plot involves East Germany’s secret police and the inner workings of how they monitored residents of East Berlin, a story that earned the movie the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

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'Let the Right One In' (Sweden) -

This romantic horror film is based on a novel, both of which were written by the same person. The film premiered in 2008, and tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy and the friendship that he develops with a strange child in the early 1980s.

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'Rashomon' (Japan) -

The oldest film on this list is ‘Rashomon,’ which was released in 1950. It is a period drama film that follows different characters who tell differing accounts of a samurai’s murder in a forest.

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'The Grandmaster' (Hong Kong) -

This Chinese-language production, released in 2013, is a philosophical and historical drama film that follows the real-life story of the martial arts grandmaster Ip Man.

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'A Prophet' (France) -

This French film from 2009 depicts an Algerian-born petty criminal who is imprisoned and finds himself rising through the ranks of the prison hierarchy to eventually become a trafficker. It is another film considered by Empire Magazine to be one of the top 100 movies ever made.

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'Talk to Her' (Spain) -

In this Spanish production, two men form an unlikely friendship while they look after two comatose women. The film’s director and writer, Pedro Almodóvar, won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay after its release in 2002, which is one of the first times a non-English film has won the category.

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'Parasite' (South Korea) -

This dark comedy thriller, released in 2019, follows a poverty-stricken family as they slowly infiltrate the life of a wealthy one. An incredible feat for a foreign film, it won Best Picture at the Oscars.

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'The Wave' (Germany) -

This sociopolitical thriller film focuses on a history teacher’s experiment in manipulating the masses, his lessons in autocracy, and the journey that his students take in embracing fascism. The production created a lot of division in German audiences after its release in 2008, particularly regarding its morality.

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'Infernal Affairs' (Hong Kong) -

Another movie from Hong Kong to appear on this list, ‘Infernal Affairs’ (2002) is the first film in a trilogy, and follows an undercover police officer who infiltrates an organized crime syndicate in Hong Kong.

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'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' (France) -

BBC has ranked this movie as one of the "100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century." The 2007 French film is based on a memoir that details a man’s life after he suffers a stroke and falls into a pseudocoma–where he is aware but unable to move or communicate.

Sources: (Empire Magazine) (Sight and Sound) (BBC) (IMDb) (No Film School)

See also: Movies that keep you wondering long after the credits roll

© NL Beeld